Best PlacesWestwood, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Westwood, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Westwood ranks 35,005th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Westwood
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.
Westwood's strengths and weaknesses
Where Westwood ranks high
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 92% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 87% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 120 pleasant days a year, better than 80% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 79% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 76% of towns
Where Westwood ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 14% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 15% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 19% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Westwood
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Westwood home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,689, 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 Westwood's effective rate of 0.92%, 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 Westwood
Westwood runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Westwood.
Who works in Westwood, and how
Work in Westwood centers on manufacturing 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 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Westwood
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Westwood.
What the weather is like in Westwood, month by month
Westwood sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs February through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 51° | 41° |
| April | 80° | 67° | 56° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 74° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Westwood
The nearest airport, Southwest Georgia Regional, is about 54 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Jacksonville International, about 128 miles away.
The best schools in and around Westwood
Schools across Westwood average a D+, better than 15% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Irwin County Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Top middle schools
- Irwin County Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Ben Hill County Middle SchoolD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Irwin County High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Fitzgerald High School School College And Career AcademyD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Westwood school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Westwood 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 Westwood against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Westwood
Is Westwood a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Westwood ranks 35,005th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a strong job market, and the weather, and lowest on education levels and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Westwood expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $143,576. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $61,689 median income, cost of living beats 33% of towns.
Is Westwood safe?
Yes, Westwood is safer than 64% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $254 per resident a year.
Compare Westwood with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Westwood. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Westwood 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.
Westwood detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Westwood: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Westwood: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Westwood: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Westwood: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Westwood 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.