QoL Rank
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Georgia

Georgia has a quality of life score of 35/100 (D, below average) and ranks #45 of 51 states. Its strongest category is safety (43) and its weakest is quality of life (24). Its top-rated larger counties are Oconee County, Forsyth County, Union County.

  • Safety: 43
  • Cost of living: 39
  • Education: 31
  • Quality of life: 24

Key figures: violent crime 308.2 per 100,000 people a year (US 345.2); median rent $1,393 a month; median home value $303,300; median household income $74,521; life expectancy 75.6 years.

Counties in Georgia, best first

  1. Oconee County 73
  2. Forsyth County 72
  3. Union County 68
  4. Chattahoochee County 67
  5. Columbia County 64
  6. Harris County 63
  7. Cherokee County 60
  8. Dade County 60
  9. Fayette County 59
  10. Lee County 59
  11. Catoosa County 59
  12. Jackson County 58
  13. Dawson County 57
  14. Houston County 57
  15. Monroe County 57
  16. Habersham County 56
  17. Cobb County 56
  18. Schley County 56
  19. White County 56
  20. Effingham County 55
  21. Lumpkin County 55
  22. Camden County 55
  23. Jones County 53
  24. Glascock County 53
  25. Pike County 52
  26. Greene County 52
  27. Murray County 52
  28. Coweta County 51
  29. Paulding County 51
  30. Long County 51
  31. Pierce County 51
  32. Bryan County 51
  33. Walker County 51
  34. Gwinnett County 49
  35. Walton County 49
  36. Morgan County 48
  37. Fannin County 48
  38. Rabun County 48
  39. Gilmer County 48
  40. Whitfield County 48
  41. Bacon County 47
  42. Brantley County 47
  43. Pickens County 47
  44. Gordon County 46
  45. Madison County 46
  46. Lamar County 46
  47. Stephens County 46
  48. Clay County 46
  49. Carroll County 45
  50. Coffee County 45
  51. Bartow County 45
  52. Wilcox County 45
  53. Hart County 45
  54. Tift County 45
  55. Echols County 44
  56. Lanier County 44
  57. Barrow County 44
  58. Banks County 44
  59. Crawford County 44
  60. Chattooga County 44
  61. Bleckley County 44
  62. Quitman County 44
  63. Atkinson County 43
  64. Irwin County 43
  65. Hall County 43
  66. Floyd County 43
  67. Douglas County 43
  68. Charlton County 43
  69. Oglethorpe County 43
  70. Turner County 42
  71. Heard County 42
  72. Towns County 42
  73. Wilkes County 42
  74. Fulton County 42
  75. Calhoun County 42
  76. Haralson County 42
  77. Bulloch County 42
  78. Chatham County 41
  79. Webster County 41
  80. Clarke County 41
  81. Thomas County 41
  82. Glynn County 40
  83. Montgomery County 40
  84. Lincoln County 40
  85. Berrien County 40
  86. Grady County 39
  87. Lowndes County 39
  88. Wayne County 39
  89. Toombs County 39
  90. Marion County 38
  91. Appling County 38
  92. Franklin County 38
  93. Elbert County 38
  94. Jeff Davis County 37
  95. Butts County 37
  96. Liberty County 37
  97. Colquitt County 37
  98. Emanuel County 37
  99. Muscogee County 37
  100. Putnam County 37
  101. Stewart County 36
  102. Wheeler County 36
  103. Dooly County 36
  104. Jasper County 36
  105. Henry County 36
  106. Worth County 36
  107. Laurens County 36
  108. Johnson County 36
  109. DeKalb County 35
  110. Wilkinson County 35
  111. Tattnall County 35
  112. Peach County 34
  113. Pulaski County 34
  114. Sumter County 34
  115. Rockdale County 34
  116. Washington County 33
  117. Twiggs County 33
  118. Randolph County 33
  119. Telfair County 33
  120. Evans County 33
  121. Ware County 33
  122. Decatur County 32
  123. Clinch County 32
  124. Newton County 32
  125. Troup County 32
  126. Brooks County 32
  127. Dodge County 32
  128. Jefferson County 32
  129. McIntosh County 32
  130. Upson County 31
  131. Treutlen County 31
  132. Talbot County 31
  133. Ben Hill County 30
  134. Baldwin County 29
  135. Jenkins County 29
  136. Candler County 29
  137. Cook County 29
  138. Richmond County 28
  139. Warren County 28
  140. Polk County 28
  141. Clayton County 28
  142. Burke County 28
  143. Seminole County 28
  144. Bibb County 27
  145. Mitchell County 27
  146. Dougherty County 27
  147. Taylor County 26
  148. Terrell County 26
  149. McDuffie County 25
  150. Miller County 25
  151. Screven County 25
  152. Macon County 25
  153. Crisp County 25
  154. Spalding County 24
  155. Meriwether County 24
  156. Early County 24
  157. Hancock County 16
  158. Baker County –
  159. Taliaferro County –

Your priorities

Choose how much each category counts toward the overall score. The map, rankings and every place’s overall score update as you go.

About the data

Every county is compared with every other US county, and every state with the other states.

Each measure becomes a percentile from 0 to 100, where 100 is always best. For crime, deaths, disaster risk, costs and commutes, the lowest value is best. A category score averages its measures’ percentiles and is then scaled so all four categories have the same spread around 50, so each counts equally. The overall score is the average of the four. 50 is a typical place, and most land between 35 and 65. Your priorities lets you weight the categories differently.

Grades: A 65 and up, B 55–64, C 45–54, D 35–44, F under 35.

Each category lists a county’s own figures next to its state’s and the US figures. Under the state and US columns, Difference shows whether the county is higher or lower, as a share of that figure (hover for the exact gap). Rank shows where it ranks instead: “ranked 75%” means it does better than 75% of the counties in its state, or in the US. A green arrow or dot means the county does better, red means worse.

Compare puts any two places side by side, counties or states, in any state. The better value in each row is highlighted.

A county gets an overall score only if all four categories have data and at least 60% of the measures are present. Small counties often have suppressed data, and without this rule they rank at the top on just a few numbers. Top 10 lists only include counties with at least 10,000 people.

What’s measured

Limitations

Sources