Best PlacesWaycross, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Waycross, 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.
Waycross ranks 2,045th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Waycross
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.
Waycross' strengths and weaknesses
Where Waycross ranks high
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 98% of cities
- Short commute20.5 minutes each way, better than 85% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 83% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 74% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 74% of cities
Where Waycross ranks low
- Household income$51,226 median, better than only 2% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 2% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 3% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Waycross
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Waycross home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,226, 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 Waycross' 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 Waycross
Waycross runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Waycross.
Who works in Waycross, and how
Work in Waycross 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 Waycross
Waycross has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of cities and more parkland per resident than 90% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Waycross and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Waycross, month by month
Waycross 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 Waycross
The nearest airport, Brunswick Golden Isles, is about 53 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Waycross
Schools across Waycross average a C, better than 29% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Midway Elementary SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Hoboken Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Blackshear Elementary SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pierce County Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Brantley County Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Clinch County Middle SchoolC− · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Pierce County High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Ware County High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Brantley County High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Waycross school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Waycross 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 Waycross against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Waycross suits
Common questions about living in Waycross
Is Waycross a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Waycross ranks 2,045th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and state finances, and lowest on low incomes and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Waycross expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $125,359. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $51,226 median income, cost of living beats 3% of cities.
Is Waycross safe?
Waycross is safer than 16% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $454 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Waycross?
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 66% of cities.
Is Waycross good for families?
Schools beat 29% of cities, crime safety beats 16%, and childcare runs $502 a month.
Compare Waycross with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Waycross. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Waycross 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.
Waycross detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Waycross: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Waycross: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Waycross: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Waycross: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Waycross 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.