Some of you might be asking yourself, at this very moment, is Georgia a good place?
The answer is unequivocally yes… if you know where to locate the best counties to live in Georgia.
Lucky for you, we’re here to help you identify the best counties to live in the Peach State based on the most recently available data from the Census. And this isn’t our first rodeo — we’ve been using Saturday Night Science to rank places for years.
The question becomes if you wanted to relocate to the best part of Georgia, where would you go? To answer that, we looked at crime, cost of living, and demographic data for all 159 counties in the state.
Oconee County is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in Georgia. And you should avoid Macon County if you can — at least according to the data.
$121,217 median income · 3.0% unemployment
$143,784 median income · 3.5% unemployment
$111,978 median income · 3.8% unemployment
$95,548 median income · 3.1% unemployment
$108,115 median income · 3.2% unemployment
$78,111 median income · 2.4% unemployment
$89,168 median income · 3.3% unemployment
$103,408 median income · 5.3% unemployment
$92,991 median income · 3.5% unemployment
$83,183 median income · 2.7% unemployment
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Georgia’s statewide median.
Georgia statewide median: $77,353
Georgia statewide median: $332,063
Georgia statewide median: 5.1%
On the map
Where Georgia’s best counties are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How do you determine which Georgia county is the best?
To give you the best county in Georgia, we have to look at a handful of metrics that signal the quality of a place. To do that, we made assumptions about what’s in a “best county” and what isn’t. For reference, we are trying to make the kind of argument you’d make at a bar using facts, Saturday Night Science.
With that in mind, we went to two of the best data sources on the internet. Namely, the American Community Survey data and FBI Crime data for the most recent period.
We paid particular attention to:
- Violent Crime Rates
- Property Crime Rates
- Median Home Values
- Median Income
- Unemployment Rates
- Adult Education Levels
- Health Insurance Coverage
- Poverty Rates
We then ranked each county in Georgia across each of the criteria from one to 159, with one being the best.
Taking the average rank across all criteria, we created a quality of life score with the county posting the lowest overall score being the “Best County To Live In Georgia.”
The result is some of the safest, quietest, and best counties to raise a family in the Peach State.
We updated this article for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the best counties to live in Georgia.
Read on to see why Oconee County is the best county, while Macon County is probably in contention for being the worst county in Georgia.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Best Counties In Georgia
Click any column to sort. Search by county name.
| Rank | County | Population | Median Income | Median Home Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oconee County | 43,551 | $121,217 | $549,859 |
| 2 | Forsyth County | 267,287 | $143,784 | $617,620 |
| 3 | Fayette County | 122,244 | $111,978 | $516,926 |
| 4 | Coweta County | 152,852 | $95,548 | $389,088 |
| 5 | Cherokee County | 281,032 | $108,115 | $473,571 |
| 6 | Morgan County | 21,078 | $78,111 | $461,165 |
| 7 | Lee County | 33,626 | $89,168 | $262,790 |
| 8 | Bryan County | 48,263 | $103,408 | $401,106 |
| 9 | Dawson County | 30,242 | $92,991 | $451,202 |
| 9 | Monroe County | 29,664 | $83,183 | $331,065 |
| 11 | Paulding County | 178,909 | $98,031 | $343,557 |
| 12 | Jackson County | 84,757 | $89,544 | $405,865 |
| 13 | Columbia County | 162,434 | $95,592 | $330,939 |
| 14 | Cobb County | 775,208 | $102,738 | $423,365 |
| 15 | Harris County | 36,086 | $97,302 | $370,750 |
| 16 | Fulton County | 1,076,561 | $95,292 | $420,013 |
| 17 | Pickens County | 34,951 | $78,930 | $389,761 |
| 18 | Oglethorpe County | 15,509 | $75,034 | $311,226 |
| 19 | Effingham County | 69,143 | $88,438 | $340,218 |
| 20 | Greene County | 20,109 | $86,272 | $625,073 |
| 21 | Jones County | 28,673 | $75,500 | $245,644 |
| 22 | Pike County | 19,903 | $86,719 | $377,607 |
| 23 | Henry County | 249,960 | $83,146 | $319,448 |
| 24 | Dade County | 16,165 | $64,568 | $250,676 |
| 25 | Catoosa County | 68,634 | $74,639 | $292,646 |
| 26 | Houston County | 169,649 | $80,698 | $253,969 |
| 27 | Camden County | 56,970 | $74,378 | $304,930 |
| 28 | Union County | 26,304 | $66,176 | $378,668 |
| 29 | Rabun County | 17,312 | $67,493 | $401,297 |
| 30 | Lamar County | 19,571 | $67,062 | $284,782 |
| 31 | Walton County | 103,313 | $84,945 | $383,943 |
| 32 | Towns County | 12,913 | $59,135 | $394,376 |
| 33 | Putnam County | 22,855 | $72,096 | $407,863 |
| 34 | Barrow County | 89,886 | $80,653 | $346,652 |
| 35 | Lumpkin County | 34,505 | $77,448 | $389,150 |
| 36 | Banks County | 19,264 | $77,063 | $356,294 |
| 37 | Gwinnett County | 979,864 | $87,890 | $409,565 |
| 38 | Glynn County | 85,447 | $69,799 | $359,653 |
| 39 | Gilmer County | 32,426 | $74,499 | $419,353 |
| 40 | Douglas County | 147,888 | $82,984 | $299,871 |
| 41 | Hart County | 26,939 | $59,385 | $314,970 |
| 42 | White County | 28,810 | $70,666 | $322,492 |
| 43 | Rockdale County | 95,281 | $77,247 | $302,273 |
| 44 | DeKalb County | 765,351 | $80,644 | $391,732 |
| 45 | Bartow County | 113,113 | $82,243 | $323,724 |
| 46 | Crawford County | 12,225 | $67,116 | $203,224 |
| 47 | Newton County | 118,152 | $77,179 | $291,876 |
| 48 | Pierce County | 20,202 | $60,517 | $225,378 |
| 49 | Fannin County | 25,742 | $57,073 | $495,868 |
| 50 | Butts County | 26,496 | $69,241 | $275,700 |
| 51 | Chatham County | 300,879 | $71,097 | $341,126 |
| 52 | Hall County | 212,705 | $80,901 | $389,659 |
| 53 | Haralson County | 31,285 | $72,127 | $273,587 |
| 54 | McDuffie County | 21,718 | $56,733 | $205,409 |
| 55 | Lincoln County | 7,854 | $56,907 | $257,600 |
| 56 | Walker County | 68,762 | $59,469 | $240,509 |
| 57 | Habersham County | 47,793 | $67,309 | $320,309 |
| 58 | Liberty County | 67,397 | $60,456 | $245,159 |
| 59 | Troup County | 70,330 | $56,776 | $234,726 |
| 60 | Carroll County | 124,569 | $73,714 | $288,080 |
| 61 | Chattahoochee County | 8,887 | $61,042 | $147,432 |
| 62 | Jasper County | 15,929 | $60,134 | $323,013 |
| 63 | Thomas County | 45,777 | $60,736 | $225,976 |
| 64 | Heard County | 11,773 | $65,868 | $273,954 |
| 65 | Glascock County | 2,932 | $54,934 | $188,511 |
| 66 | Bleckley County | 12,430 | $62,008 | $180,888 |
| 67 | Peach County | 28,560 | $71,293 | $231,672 |
| 68 | Gordon County | 59,100 | $63,650 | $275,373 |
| 69 | Long County | 18,374 | $68,808 | $280,776 |
| 70 | Pulaski County | 9,939 | $50,406 | $184,216 |
| 71 | Floyd County | 99,693 | $65,565 | $231,489 |
| 72 | McIntosh County | 11,312 | $50,273 | $282,131 |
| 73 | Madison County | 31,528 | $61,963 | $323,909 |
| 74 | Dooly County | 10,984 | $60,987 | $132,234 |
| 75 | Lowndes County | 119,965 | $58,541 | $227,597 |
| 76 | Clarke County | 129,609 | $53,625 | $330,455 |
| 77 | Murray County | 40,562 | $69,253 | $243,848 |
| 78 | Polk County | 43,785 | $58,515 | $221,062 |
| 79 | Bulloch County | 82,683 | $58,810 | $283,278 |
| 80 | Schley County | 4,513 | $56,875 | $187,756 |
| 80 | Clay County | 2,850 | $49,147 | $163,622 |
| 82 | Elbert County | 19,849 | $58,450 | $180,334 |
| 83 | Muscogee County | 203,711 | $58,073 | $186,079 |
| 84 | Tift County | 41,438 | $53,255 | $207,542 |
| 85 | Upson County | 28,029 | $55,429 | $182,589 |
| 86 | Echols County | 3,709 | $59,489 | $174,637 |
| 87 | Spalding County | 68,892 | $62,071 | $233,219 |
| 88 | Brantley County | 18,315 | $58,239 | $186,765 |
| 88 | Stephens County | 27,012 | $54,754 | $240,436 |
| 90 | Baldwin County | 43,642 | $54,403 | $235,709 |
| 91 | Screven County | 14,130 | $52,792 | $179,535 |
| 92 | Taliaferro County | 1,558 | $52,500 | $142,797 |
| 93 | Candler County | 11,043 | $49,581 | $219,367 |
| 94 | Miller County | 5,850 | $51,425 | $165,035 |
| 95 | Laurens County | 49,798 | $55,010 | $181,394 |
| 96 | Wilkinson County | 8,747 | $45,465 | $146,794 |
| 96 | Richmond County | 206,069 | $55,637 | $186,702 |
| 98 | Meriwether County | 20,929 | $57,340 | $210,136 |
| 99 | Whitfield County | 103,598 | $67,070 | $250,403 |
| 100 | Wilkes County | 9,549 | $52,043 | $170,174 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS + FBI crime data via Saturday Night Science. All 159 Georgia counties.
Summary
Summary: The Best Counties In Georgia To Call Home For 2026
Living in Georgia can vary from one part of the state to the next — who woulda thought?
The best counties in Georgia are Oconee County, Forsyth County, Fayette County, Coweta County, Cherokee County, Morgan County, Lee County, Bryan County, Dawson County, and Monroe County.
But now you know the outstanding parts and the parts to avoid, and that’s why you came here to learn at the end of the day.
You are welcome.
