Best PlacesWare County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ware County, 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.
Ware County ranks 2,877th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The cost of living against local pay pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on affordable childcare.
The best neighborhoods in Ware County
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.
Ware County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ware County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 90% of counties
- Short commute20.6 minutes each way, better than 75% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 69% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 69% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 111 pleasant days a year, better than 68% of counties
Where Ware County ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 4% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Household income$50,359 median, better than only 9% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 14% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ware County
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ware County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,359, 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 Ware County's effective rate of 0.84%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ware County
Ware County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ware County.
Who works in Ware County, and how
Work in Ware County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Ware County
Ware County has more parkland per resident than 74% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Ware County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Ware County growing, and who is moving in?
Ware County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Pierce County, GA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ware County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ware County, month by month
Ware County sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 67, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs February through May and October through December.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67° | 52° | 40° |
| April | 83° | 68° | 55° |
| July | 95° | 83° | 74° |
| October | 84° | 70° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Ware County
The nearest airport, Brunswick Golden Isles, is about 54 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 65 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ware County
Schools across Ware County average a C, better than 37% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Waresboro Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Williams Heights Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Memorial Drive Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Waycross Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Ware County Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Ware County High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ware County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ware County 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 Ware County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Ware County suits
Common questions about living in Ware County
Is Ware County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ware County ranks 2,877th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and clean air, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ware County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $124,859. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $50,359 median income, cost of living beats 4% of counties.
Is Ware County safe?
Ware County is safer than 20% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $457 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ware County?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 67 with lows near 40. That works out to about 111 pleasant days a year, more than 68% of counties.
Is Ware County good for families?
Schools beat 37% of counties, crime safety beats 20%, and childcare runs $502 a month.
Compare Ware County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ware County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ware County 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.
Ware County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ware County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ware County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ware County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ware County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ware County 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.