Suppose real estate is the most significant investment a majority of people make in their lifetime. In that case, it’s best to understand the places in Georgia with best potential return on investment.
After working in real estate adjacent roles for over a decade, I had the hypothesis that the best place to buy for a return on investment would be up-and-coming cities. Smaller cities where crime might be high now, but people still move to.
To test my hypothesis, we are going to look at places in Georgia that are growing faster than average, but where home prices are below average, and crime rates are higher than average.
In everyday terms, these might be “deals”. The best deal in Georgia at the moment according to Saturday Night Science? That would be Oakwood.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The methodology that wen’t into this can be a bit complicated, so we’ll break it down for you in as much detail as we can below.
For more Georgia reading:
- Best Counties To Live In Georgia
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Georgia
- Best Places To Retire In Georgia
The 10 Best Cities To Buy A House In Georgia For 2024
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2. Rockmart
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Population: 5,113
Median Home Price: $243,156
Population Change: 9.4%
Home Price Change: 1.5%
More on Rockmart: Crime | Real Estate
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Population: 5,115
Median Home Price: $470,119
Population Change: 5.2%
Home Price Change: 5.7%
More on Senoia: Data | Real Estate
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7. Glennville
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Population: 5,204
Median Home Price: $175,954
Population Change: 34.4%
Home Price Change: 7.7%
More on Glennville: Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Population: 5,163
Median Home Price: $128,968
Population Change: 0.5%
Home Price Change: 7.5%
More on Camilla: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Population: 5,635
Median Home Price: $130,583
Population Change: 0.1%
Home Price Change: 0.7%
More on Eastman: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Population: 5,497
Median Home Price: $279,727
Population Change: 1.1%
Home Price Change: 3.7%
More on Jackson: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
Methodology: How do you determine the best places to buy a home in Georgia for 2024?
We were in real estate for almost five years and have worked on this site for another 9. Suffice it to say we’ve put a lot of thought into finding an excellent place to buy a home.
So all that thinking has come to this moment where we get to spell out how we’d approach finding an up-and-coming place to live in Georgia. Put differently, the analysis will try to find places in Georgia with undervalued homes relative to pent-up demand using Saturday Night Science.
To do that, we looked at the most recent American Community Survey Census data for 2018-2022 and compared it to the previous vintage. Specifically, we used the following criteria:
- Y-o-Y Change In Population (People want to live here)
- Y-o-Y Change In Median Home Prices (People are willing to pay for it)
- Home Prices Relative To The State Average (It’s still kinda cheap)
We want places that are growing, have seen home prices increase in recent years, and are still “cheap” for Georgia with the following caveats:
- Home prices had to be within 20% of the state average (Much lower than that, and you get to some of the more dangerous places)
- Home prices increased in the last year, and
- Above 5,000 people (Bigger cities have more data points)
So of the 0 cities and towns in Georgia, only 132 places made it through our initial filters to even be considered.
We then ranked each place from 1 to 132 for the above criteria, with 1 being the best. We averaged the rankings to create a “best place to buy” index, with the place having the lowest index being the best.
Turns out that Oakwood is the best potential gem in the not-so-rough in the Peach State.
Summary: The Best Places To Purchase A House In Georgia for 2024
There’s our analysis of the best places to buy a house in Georgia. And, to be clear, we aren’t necessarily saying these places are the best places to live, just that it looks like they might be in a couple of years based on the data.
In fact, every place in the following table meets our criteria, so even though it may not look super long, remember we started off with all 0 places in the state.
The best cities to buy a house in Georgia are Oakwood, Rockmart, Senoia, Social Circle, Blakely, Temple, Glennville, Camilla, Eastman, and Jackson.
So if we’d could rent or buy in these cities, we’d definitely buy.
For more Georgia reading, check out:
Best Places To Buy A Home In Georgia
| Rank | City | Population | Median Home Price | Population Change | Home Price Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oakwood | 5,132 | $300,859 | 5.7% | 2.8% |
| 2 | Rockmart | 5,113 | $243,156 | 9.4% | 1.5% |
| 3 | Senoia | 5,115 | $470,119 | 5.2% | 5.7% |
| 4 | Social Circle | 5,011 | $341,806 | 2.4% | 2.8% |
| 5 | Blakely | 5,299 | $116,893 | -0.2% | 2.2% |
| 6 | Temple | 5,395 | $278,708 | 5.9% | 1.2% |
| 7 | Glennville | 5,204 | $175,954 | 34.4% | 7.7% |
| 8 | Camilla | 5,163 | $128,968 | 0.5% | 7.5% |
| 9 | Eastman | 5,635 | $130,583 | 0.1% | 0.7% |
| 10 | Jackson | 5,497 | $279,727 | 1.1% | 3.7% |
| 11 | Byron | 5,687 | $247,988 | 2.4% | 5.1% |
| 12 | Adel | 5,571 | $147,659 | 2.1% | 2.9% |
| 13 | Waynesboro | 5,720 | $149,567 | -0.4% | 1.8% |
| 14 | Sandersville | 5,727 | $125,457 | -0.8% | -1.9% |
| 15 | Sylvester | 5,622 | $138,016 | -0.9% | 3.7% |
| 16 | Dacula | 6,906 | $445,387 | 3.1% | -0.7% |
| 17 | Stone Mountain | 6,638 | $281,949 | 0.2% | -2.1% |
| 18 | Lovejoy | 10,429 | $287,995 | 2.2% | 4.3% |
| 19 | Cumming | 7,371 | $574,758 | 7.0% | 4.3% |
| 20 | Thomson | 6,839 | $168,618 | -0.8% | 5.6% |
| 21 | Hapeville | 6,566 | $273,382 | 0.2% | -3.6% |
| 22 | Eatonton | 6,369 | $384,922 | 1.4% | 2.0% |
| 23 | Barnesville | 6,200 | $189,049 | -2.1% | 5.6% |
| 24 | Dahlonega | 7,083 | $344,023 | 9.5% | 4.4% |
| 25 | Commerce | 7,391 | $296,250 | 2.5% | 3.0% |
| 26 | Bremen | 7,209 | $263,114 | 2.0% | 2.9% |
| 27 | Morrow | 6,563 | $227,622 | -0.1% | 3.5% |
| 28 | Lafayette | 6,929 | $157,051 | 0.0% | 4.3% |
| 29 | Swainsboro | 7,542 | $106,598 | 1.5% | 4.6% |
| 30 | Tyrone | 7,710 | $479,618 | 1.2% | 4.2% |
| 31 | Auburn | 7,794 | $334,190 | 5.0% | 2.2% |
| 32 | Locust Grove | 9,367 | $329,824 | 6.2% | -0.6% |
| 33 | Austell | 8,109 | $295,883 | -1.0% | 1.9% |
| 34 | Centerville | 8,220 | $209,922 | 1.6% | 6.9% |
| 35 | Hampton | 8,244 | $330,762 | 1.0% | 2.4% |
| 36 | Flowery Branch | 9,700 | $413,457 | 5.5% | 1.4% |
| 37 | Toccoa | 9,055 | $200,804 | 0.1% | 4.4% |
| 38 | Fitzgerald | 8,972 | $109,147 | -0.6% | -3.1% |
| 39 | Thomaston | 9,720 | $160,205 | 0.6% | 6.2% |
| 40 | Fort Valley | 8,821 | $140,206 | -0.1% | 3.4% |
| 41 | Port Wentworth | 11,103 | $269,354 | 5.7% | 5.5% |
| 42 | Garden City | 10,352 | $212,631 | 0.9% | 13.2% |
| 43 | Cairo | 10,091 | $158,232 | -0.0% | 3.0% |
| 44 | Jesup | 9,820 | $176,163 | -0.8% | 3.9% |
| 45 | Fort Oglethorpe | 10,203 | $226,881 | 0.1% | 5.7% |
| 46 | Cedartown | 10,166 | $182,273 | 0.7% | 3.0% |
| 47 | Doraville | 10,691 | $352,077 | 0.8% | 1.0% |
| 48 | Vidalia | 10,732 | $169,711 | 0.9% | 4.3% |
| 49 | Cusseta-Chattahoochee County Unified Government | 9,402 | $167,824 | -1.4% | -0.7% |
| 50 | Cordele | 10,210 | $124,602 | -1.0% | 3.4% |
| 51 | Douglas | 11,694 | $152,646 | 0.1% | 0.4% |
| 52 | Jefferson | 13,496 | $376,132 | 6.0% | 0.3% |
| 53 | Braselton | 13,804 | $436,475 | 7.6% | 0.5% |
| 54 | Bainbridge | 14,234 | $158,360 | 0.2% | 7.5% |
| 55 | Loganville | 14,287 | $382,369 | 3.5% | -0.5% |
| 56 | Clarkston | 14,553 | $273,169 | 0.7% | 2.6% |
| 57 | Lilburn | 14,741 | $385,612 | 2.2% | 1.7% |
| 58 | Richmond Hill | 16,703 | $394,939 | 5.1% | 6.0% |
| 59 | Monroe | 15,036 | $342,225 | 2.5% | 2.2% |
| 60 | Waycross | 13,856 | $119,877 | -0.3% | 2.1% |
| 61 | Dallas | 14,126 | $346,508 | 3.1% | -2.0% |
| 62 | Holly Springs | 16,675 | $411,079 | 5.6% | 3.0% |
| 63 | Moultrie | 14,533 | $124,960 | -0.6% | 0.5% |
| 64 | Covington | 14,190 | $292,367 | 0.9% | 0.2% |
| 65 | College Park | 14,113 | $292,210 | 0.6% | -2.7% |
| 66 | Grovetown | 16,049 | $287,518 | 2.8% | 2.2% |
| 67 | Americus | 16,020 | $110,914 | -0.8% | 1.8% |
| 68 | Powder Springs | 16,930 | $358,104 | 1.4% | 0.4% |
| 69 | Riverdale | 14,933 | $236,180 | -0.5% | 1.6% |
| 70 | Conyers | 17,415 | $303,333 | 1.8% | -0.5% |
| 71 | Dublin | 15,985 | $172,018 | -0.5% | 0.5% |
| 72 | Villa Rica | 17,354 | $312,462 | 2.9% | 0.6% |
| 73 | Fairburn | 16,469 | $331,795 | 1.6% | -1.7% |
| 74 | Buford | 17,222 | $468,970 | 2.4% | 0.5% |
| 75 | Brunswick | 15,243 | $227,011 | 3.2% | 3.4% |
| 76 | Norcross | 17,530 | $314,441 | 0.7% | 1.9% |
| 77 | Winder | 18,414 | $326,583 | 3.6% | 2.6% |
| 78 | Calhoun | 17,184 | $252,141 | 1.6% | 5.1% |
| 79 | Tifton | 17,059 | $183,657 | -0.3% | 3.5% |
| 80 | Perry | 21,279 | $242,812 | 5.2% | 6.0% |
| 81 | Kingsland | 18,563 | $277,021 | 1.9% | 7.6% |
| 82 | Fayetteville | 19,010 | $410,964 | 2.0% | 2.9% |
| 83 | St. Marys | 18,507 | $288,009 | 1.7% | 7.2% |
| 84 | Milledgeville | 17,021 | $186,766 | -1.5% | -0.6% |
| 85 | Thomasville | 18,744 | $203,661 | -0.5% | 3.5% |
| 86 | Forest Park | 19,619 | $177,768 | -1.2% | 2.9% |
| 87 | Snellville | 20,895 | $350,856 | 2.1% | -0.6% |
| 88 | Suwanee | 21,238 | $578,726 | 3.0% | 3.8% |
| 89 | Cartersville | 23,103 | $304,822 | 2.1% | 0.9% |
| 90 | Union City | 26,869 | $247,142 | 2.3% | -0.5% |
| 91 | Acworth | 22,318 | $400,640 | -0.1% | 1.9% |
| 92 | Griffin | 23,485 | $236,940 | 0.8% | 3.2% |
| 93 | Sugar Hill | 24,947 | $443,468 | 1.4% | 1.2% |
| 94 | Pooler | 26,264 | $340,383 | 3.9% | 6.5% |
| 95 | Decatur | 24,421 | $309,943 | 0.4% | -1.5% |
| 96 | Mcdonough | 29,134 | $347,529 | 2.0% | 0.1% |
| 97 | Carrollton | 26,622 | $269,476 | -0.6% | 1.0% |
| 98 | Stockbridge | 28,858 | $298,450 | 1.0% | 0.8% |
| 99 | Canton | 33,499 | $478,892 | 3.6% | 3.5% |
| 100 | Duluth | 31,742 | $418,705 | 0.7% | 2.7% |
