Best PlacesWilkinson County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Wilkinson 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.
Wilkinson County ranks 2,902nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The schools pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on affordable childcare.
The best neighborhoods in Wilkinson 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.
Wilkinson County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wilkinson County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$502 a month, better than 90% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 81% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 77% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 71% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 70% of counties
Where Wilkinson County ranks low
- School gradeD−, better than only 2% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 7% of counties
- Household income$50,461 median, better than only 9% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 9% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Wilkinson County
A household needs to earn about $23,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wilkinson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,461, 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 Wilkinson County's effective rate of 0.88%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wilkinson County
Wilkinson County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wilkinson County.
Who works in Wilkinson County, and how
Work in Wilkinson County centers on health care & social 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 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Wilkinson County
Wilkinson County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Wilkinson County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Wilkinson County growing, and who is moving in?
Wilkinson County has lost about 7% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Macon, GA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Wilkinson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Wilkinson County, month by month
Wilkinson County sees roughly 83 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 47° | 39° |
| April | 77° | 65° | 54° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 79° | 67° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Wilkinson County
The nearest airport, Middle Georgia Regional, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International, about 88 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wilkinson County
Schools across Wilkinson County average a D−, better than 2% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Northwest Laurens ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Jeffersonville ElementaryD− · 14% proficient
- Wilkinson County Elementary SchoolD− · 12% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wilkinson County Middle SchoolD− · 14% proficient
- Twiggs Middle SchoolF · 9% proficient
Top high schools
- Wilkinson County High SchoolD− · 12% proficient
- Twiggs County High SchoolF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wilkinson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wilkinson 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 Wilkinson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Wilkinson County
Is Wilkinson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wilkinson County ranks 2,902nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and tree cover, and lowest on the schools and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wilkinson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $88,646. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $50,461 median income, cost of living beats 14% of counties.
Is Wilkinson County safe?
Wilkinson County is safer than 19% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $432 per resident a year.
Compare Wilkinson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wilkinson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wilkinson 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.
Wilkinson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wilkinson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wilkinson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wilkinson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wilkinson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wilkinson 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.