Best PlacesTownsend, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Townsend, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Townsend ranks 47,623rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Townsend
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Townsend's strengths and weaknesses
Where Townsend ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of towns
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 92% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 74% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 67% of towns
Where Townsend ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Short commute42.7 minutes each way, better than only 3% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Townsend
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Townsend home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,561, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Townsend's effective rate of 0.76%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Townsend
Townsend runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Townsend.
Who works in Townsend, and how
Work in Townsend centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Townsend
Townsend has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of towns. The coast is about 47 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Townsend and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Townsend, month by month
Townsend sees roughly 90 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 64, with lows near 42. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 64° | 52° | 42° |
| April | 79° | 67° | 56° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 74° |
| October | 81° | 70° | 61° |
Flying in and out of Townsend
The nearest airport, Brunswick Golden Isles, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 74 miles away.
The best schools in and around Townsend
Schools across Townsend average a C−, better than 19% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Todd Grant Elementary SchoolD+ · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mcintosh County Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- Long County Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Long County High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Mcintosh AcademyC · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Townsend school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Townsend measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Townsend against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Townsend
Is Townsend a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Townsend ranks 47,623rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, affordable childcare, and state finances, and lowest on disaster risk and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Townsend expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $216,871. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $67,561 median income, cost of living beats 38% of towns.
Is Townsend safe?
Townsend is safer than 29% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $356 per resident a year.
Compare Townsend with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Townsend. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Townsend represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Townsend detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Townsend: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Townsend: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Townsend: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Townsend: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Townsend detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.