The 10 Best Places To Live In Georgia For 2024

The 10 Best Places To Live In Georgia For 2024

More on Johns Creek: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Georgia’s 1st Johns Creek should be called “Johns Golf Courses.” Home of six big league golf courses and home prices around $658,732, you can imagine the HOAs and security surrounding this place. You’ll be happy to know, everyone involved seems to be doing their job because the crime rate here is the 4th in the state and 75% below the national average.

If you made a pros and cons list of why you should live in Johns Creek, your “con” column would probably be empty and your “pros” column would be filled with the following: it’s one of the safest places in Georgia, it’s one of the best places to raise a family in the state, and there’s a bunch of cool stuff to do here. In fact, the perfect day in Johns Creek might be spent hitting the links during the day and spending the evening soaking up the night-life in one of the city’s world class restaurants.

Folks, Johns Creek really does check all of the boxes.

More on Dunwoody: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Dunwoody is by far one of the best places in Georgia–the 2nd best place in this southern charm–and the numbers prove it. In fact, this suburb of Atlanta in DeKalb County scored a 9/10 on our SnackAbility scale with an emphasis on jobs, education, and amenities to name a few.

Dunwoody is a vibrant, exciting place, and its locally owned restaurants and boutiques make living here a one-of-a-kind experience and a year-round mecca of fun. It also doesn’t hurt that the famous Brook Run Park is inside the city’s limits or that you’re in close proximity to Georgia State Perimeter College. And, you’re going to want that education to “keep up with the ‘smart’ Jones” here: virtually every one of Dunwoody’s adults has a college degree. (If we had a “smartest places in the United States” list, Dunwoody would probably be number one.)

If living in Dunwoody is starting to sound like the dream, pay careful attention to this: the unemployment rate here is the 5th lowest in the state and 45% of Dunwoody’s working class earn a household income above $100,000/year.

More on Sandy Springs: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

LIfe is pretty peachy keen in Georgia’s 3rd best place to live, Sandy Springs. Sandy Springs is one of the biggest cities in the state, the biggest city to make our top ten list, and a Georgia city with one of the biggest personalities. Besides Sandy Springs’ strong sense of community and well-defined neighborhoods, the 107,221 residents here can’t find enough reasons to get together every year. If you decide to buy your forever home in Sandy Springs you’ll be front and center to some super fun amenities like the annual Sandy Springs Artsapalooza and/or the Slingin’ Wings Festival every March.

Located just minutes from Atlanta, Sandy Springs has over 950 acres of nature–it’s “A Place Where You [Can] Put Your Phone Down & Enjoy Life Again.” And we suggest that you don’t take this motto lightly, you wouldn’t want to miss out on one of the most snack worthy cities in the state. More importantly, we wouldn’t want you to miss out on a city whose crime rate is 23% below the national average or a city that takes education seriously. Not only do 75% of the residents here have a college degree, the city itself holds one of the state’s 13 Blue Ribbon Schools (Heards Ferry Elementary School).

More on Milton: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Not only is Milton the 4th best place to live in The Empire State of the South, it was “named best quality of life in Georgia.” We were not surprised as Milton’s job market is strong and the city’s unemployment number (3.2%) is well below the national average. Milton’s household income is $142,845 making it the 2nd highest in the state. In fact, this Atlanta suburb is one of the richest places in the state.

But, don’t be afraid to look at rentals in Milton if dropping the median home price of $142,845 on a home right out of the gate is intimidating: rental property here is priced below the state’s average at $1,765/month. Whatever you decide, just know that Milton takes your safety very seriously. The crime rate here is 70% below the national average making it one of the safest places in the state.

So, if quality of life, value, and a commitment to “expectations, promises, and community’ are what you desire, then Milton is where you belong.

More on Alpharetta: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

There aren’t many things as sweet as a Georgia peach, but Georgia’s 5th best place to live, Alpharetta is pretty close.

Alpharetta is for the people who want to live to live the Atlanta lifestyle without paying Atlanta prices. This city of 65,884 residents in Fulton County has focused on the important stuff like, keeping their crime rate well below the state and national level and making education a priority, so that you can focus your time on living the Alpharetta dream. And that Alpharetta dream list usually includes making time to bike and hike the Big Creek Greenway and/or taking your family to Tybee Island for an Atlantic Coast beach vacation.

But, you’re going to have to make $141,402/year to afford the cost of living in this sweet peach of a place. And, plan on paying upwards of $671,145 for a casa here as Alpharetta has the 3rd highest home price in the state.

More on Woodstock: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

How do you get your hands on one of the fastest growing cities in Georgia? Well, you could start in the 6th best place to live in the Peach State, Woodstock.

You won’t have to stop showering or live like a true hippie to be part of the “in crowd” in this Woodstock, but you will have get a job that pays at least $100,913/year if you want to settle into one of Woodstock’s humble abodes at the median home price of $434,309. And lucky for you, Woodstock has the job market cornered with the 18th lowest unemployment rate in the state.

Incidentally, if you do find yourself wanting to camp now and again like a 1960s hippie, some of the best places in Woodstock are the Victoria Campground and the Camp Allatoona Aquatics Base. More importantly, whether it’s camping or relaxing at home, you’ll be able to rest easy knowing that Woodstock’s crime rate is the 17th lowest in the state making this city one of the safest places in Georgia.

More on Holly Springs: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Holy moly, Holly Springs is a great place to live.

Holly Springs is well-regarded in Georgia for its impressive 108,332 median income and $411,079 median home value. The town offers residents a secure environment with the lowest violent crime and #2 lowest total crime in the Peach State.

Located just south of Cherokee County’s center, Holly Springs is miles north of Atlanta, providing its 16,675 residents with a suburban lifestyle, but urban opportunities. Notably, the city is connected by Interstate 575, facilitating a convenient 35 minute commute and access to nearby Canton and Woodstock.

More on Tyrone: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

An Atlanta suburb, Tyrone is the 8th best place to call home in Georgia. What’s great about Tyrone is that you don’t have to always turn to the big city for your entertainment needs. Tyrone has the Legacy Theater for those who crave live shows, and Shamrock Park is equally attractive for solo joggers as it is for families.

58% of adults in Tyrone are highly educated, so brush up on your trivia before going to a pub quiz night here. Smart people don’t usually go around committing crimes, and that’s reflected in Tyrone’s crime numbers — the town has the 5th lowest violent crime rate in all of Georgia.

Besides intelligent neighbors and safe streets, Tyrone stands out for its rock-solid economy. Tyrone has the 3rd lowest poverty rate and 17th lowest unemployment rate statewide. And folks aren’t just scraping by here, either. Tyrone’s residents enjoy the 8th highest median household income in Georgia at $112,898. Homes in Tyrone sell for a median price of $479,618.

More on Roswell: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

If you can’t get “Georgia [off your] mind,” it’s probably because you just recently visited the state’s 9th best place to live, the historic Roswell. While there, you probably noticed that Roswell has everything: it’s a shopaholics paradise, an outdoor enthusiasts dream, and the historic district here will keep a true history buff entertained indefinitely.

But, we know those are not the only deciding factors when choosing where to live, so the following information should be quite valuable. One, Roswell has the 46th lowest unemployment rate in the state (4.3%). Two, plan for a job that makes the city’s median household income, $122,924/year, so that you can afford the $610,721 median home price here. And three, after you get the first two locked in, be prepared to live like an Atlanta Housewife because you’ll be living in one of the richest places in Georgia.

More on Decatur: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

“Everything truly is greater in Decatur,” and that is why this city is Georgia’s 10th best place to live. But, a city’s motto is just a motto if it doesn’t have the numbers to back it. And, well, Decatur has the numbers.

This suburb of Atlanta has some of the highest home values in the state, and the median home price of $309,943 here is not slowing down the process. In fact, once a well priced home hits Decatur’s hot real estate market, they are pending within days. This is because everyone wants a piece of Decatur’s peach pie in the sky. Incidentally, this pie is attracting the largest numbers of youngsters (the median age in Decatur is 38) making it one of the best places for singles in the state.

A word to the wise in “[The] City of Homes, Schools, and Places of Worship,” you’re going to need a job that pays at least $129,992/year to offset Decatur’s cost of living; and if you don’t already have one, be prepared to battle Decatur’s above average unemployment rate of 3.8%.

Methodology: How We Calculated The Best Cities To Live In Georgia

Now that we had our set of the best possible cities, it was time to rank them using Saturday Night Science.

We ranked each place in Georgia across a number of criteria from one to 126, with one being the best.

We then took the average rank across all criteria, crowning the city posting the lowest overall score, the “Best Place To Live In Georgia.”

The criteria we looked to determine the best places were:

• Median Home Values
• Median Income
• Population Density (Higher is better)
• Unemployment Rate
• Commute Time
• Crime
• Education Levels
• Health Insurance Coverage
• Poverty rates

Sources of criteria include the New Census Data, FBI Crime Data, and Zillow. We updated this article for 2024. This report is our tenth time ranking Georgia’s best places to live.

If your city or town isn’t among the top 10, jump down to the bottom of the post to see a detailed chart of the best places in Georgia. Otherwise, buckle up for a ride down good living lane with Johns Creek at the end of the cul-de-sac.

Best Places To Live In Georgia Table