Best PlacesValdosta, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Valdosta metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by Ebyabe, CC BY-SA 2.5, via wiki
Valdosta ranks 332nd of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on low incomes and the cost of living against local pay. It does better on fast internet, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in the Valdosta metro
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.
The best areas in Valdosta
The towns and districts of the Valdosta metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Hahira
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and crime runs lower.
Lakeland & Ray City
It is quieter and schools score higher.
Lake Park
More homes sit empty and fewer adults hold degrees.
Downtown Valdosta
Commutes are shorter, though fewer residents vote.
Quitman
Health outcomes score lower and heat risk is higher.
Scores across Valdosta run from about the 1st to the 89th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Valdosta's strengths and weaknesses
Valdosta ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Fast internet, affordable childcare, and short commutes carry most of that.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: low incomes, the cost of living against local pay, and walkability all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Valdosta ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 94% of metro areas
- Cheap childcare$619 a month, better than 90% of metro areas
- Short commute20.6 minutes each way, better than 79% of metro areas
- State fiscal healthBetter than 77% of metro areas
- QuietBetter than 76% of metro areas
Where Valdosta ranks low
- Household income$63,081 median, better than only 6% of metro areas
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of metro areas
- WalkabilityBetter than only 8% of metro areas
- BikingBetter than only 9% of metro areas
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 12% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Valdosta
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Valdosta home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,081, 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 Valdosta's effective rate of 0.80%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Valdosta
Valdosta runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Valdosta.
Who works in Valdosta, and how
Work in Valdosta centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Valdosta
Valdosta has less parkland per resident than most metro areas and more late-night spots per resident than 98% of metro areas. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Valdosta and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Valdosta growing, and who is moving in?
Valdosta has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Atlanta, GA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Valdosta go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Valdosta, month by month
Valdosta sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 67, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67° | 52° | 39° |
| April | 83° | 68° | 53° |
| July | 94° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 85° | 70° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Valdosta
The nearest airport, Valdosta Regional, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 98 miles away.
The best schools in and around Valdosta
Schools across Valdosta average a C+, better than 38% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Hahira Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Scintilla Charter AcademyA− · 61% proficient
- Westside Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hahira Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Pine Grove Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Lowndes Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Lowndes High SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Lanier County High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Madison County High SchoolC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Valdosta school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Valdosta 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 Valdosta against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Valdosta suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 7% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Valdosta
Is Valdosta a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Valdosta ranks 332nd of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on fast internet, affordable childcare, and short commutes, and lowest on low incomes and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Valdosta expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $206,033. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $63,081 median income, cost of living beats 8% of metro areas.
Is Valdosta safe?
Valdosta is safer than 32% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $359 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Valdosta?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 67 with lows near 39. That works out to about 86 pleasant days a year, more than 48% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Valdosta?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Hahira, Lakeland & Ray City, and Lake Park. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Valdosta good for families?
Schools beat 38% of metro areas, crime safety beats 32%, and childcare runs $619 a month.
Is Valdosta good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 8% of metro areas, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 94% of metro areas. About 7% of workers already work from home.
Compare Valdosta with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Valdosta. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Valdosta 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.
Valdosta detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Valdosta: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Valdosta: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Valdosta: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Valdosta: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Valdosta 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.