I pulled up a map of Atlanta and gave my honest thoughts on every neighborhood on it. If you are trying to figure out where to live here and have no mental map of the city yet, this is the orientation I wish every out-of-state buyer got before booking a tour.
Everything below is how each area looked and priced when I filmed this in mid-2023. Treat every budget figure as a snapshot from that year and check current numbers before acting on any of them.
Two Things To Know First
The perimeter is the dividing line. I-285 is the interstate loop circling the city, and people here use it to say whether you are “in town” or “out of town” in the suburbs. Some areas below are not in the city of Atlanta at all. Some are unincorporated DeKalb County, some are cities in their own right. I group them the way people actually live here.
Atlanta is very micro. Things change rapidly from street to street. Investors like to grade a whole neighborhood, and that fails here. When I mention an area with higher crime statistics, that does not mean you cross it off: I have found amazing pockets inside neighborhoods most people rule out on the name alone. Everything below is a generality, and you need boots on the ground telling you about the exact street.
The North Side: Brookhaven, Chamblee and Doraville
Typically the north side is more affluent, with a stronger economy, better schools and more desirability.
Brookhaven is high end and extremely desirable, a good option if you are priced out of Buckhead. Safe, with MARTA connectivity, which is very convenient. MARTA is Atlanta’s rail and bus system. Historic Brookhaven is very expensive, and Oglethorpe University is here. The downside: very trafficky and not super walkable. You are close to Buford Highway, my favorite place to eat.
Chamblee and Doraville are some of the fastest growing areas in metro Atlanta. I love them for Buford Highway and its affordable ethnic food, particularly Asian and Latin American. They are cheaper than neighboring areas and denser, with more apartment and condo buildings going up and less on the single-family side. In 2023 I helped a couple get under contract on a Doraville townhome in the mid $200,000s: not heavily upgraded, but livable and in a nice community.
Ashford Park is similar to Brookhaven. Across this section, safety is not a concern, schools tend to be good, and there are strong private and charter options.
Northeast: Tucker, North Lake and North Druid Hills
South into North Lake, Embry Hills and Tucker it becomes more of a mixed bag, especially outside the perimeter. In 2023 you needed a budget starting in the low $400,000s for a move-in ready home. Good value against Brookhaven, and an easy commute if you work at Emory.
Briarcliff Woods, Oak Grove, Sagamore Hills and North Druid Hills are expensive. A detached home in 2023 meant the high $400,000s and realistically at least the $500,000 range. North Druid Hills is a great area I have worked in a lot. The downside is that the traffic is pretty treacherous.
Buckhead: The Most Expensive Part of the City
Tuxedo Park is literally the most expensive, most desirable place to live in Atlanta: multi-million-dollar homes, private security, and some of the richest people in the city. Tuxedo Park, Buckhead Village, Chastain Park, West Paces, Peachtree Hills and Lindbergh are all Buckhead neighborhoods. Buckhead is a commercial and shopping hub with Lenox Square, Phipps Plaza and a lot of corporate headquarters, and it has been called the Beverly Hills of the South.
In 2023 a starter home here ran at least the $600,000s and usually much higher, with something better than decent in the $700,000 to $900,000 range. Heading east toward Emory you get larger lots, less density and more value: entry in the high $400,000s, with $500,000 to $700,000 the sweet spot.
Midtown and Piedmont Park
Piedmont Heights, Morningside and Lenox Park are super desirable and expensive. Midtown is a commercial and arts district with more to do than probably anywhere else in the city: the High Museum, the Beltline, the Fox Theatre, the restaurants.
Midtown is denser, so a single-family detached home in 2023 started around the high $700,000s if not the $800,000s. This applies everywhere in town: attached housing changes the math completely. If a condo or townhome works for you, you can live in almost any of these neighborhoods on a far more reasonable budget.
Decatur: The In-Town Schools Exception
The city of Decatur is technically a suburb, but it is a 15-minute drive to downtown. It is one of the only areas inside the perimeter with really good, highly rated public schools, which is why so many people want to live here, and it has a dense, walkable downtown with some of the best restaurants in the city.
Here is the trap. Most places in unincorporated DeKalb County carry a Decatur mailing address but are not in the city of Decatur. You might live in Belvedere Park with a Decatur address and not get those schools. The closer you are to downtown Decatur, the more expensive homes get.
Winnona Park, College Heights and Oakhurst are desirable, family oriented and walkable with great public schools. If you want to be truly in town while raising a family, this is the first place I would look.
In-Town East: Kirkwood, Inman Park and the Beltline
In 2023 these ran the high $400,000s or more, depending on attached versus detached:
- Lake Claire, expensive and desirable, quieter but still very in town.
- Kirkwood, come up a lot in the last five to seven years, hip and desirable for younger buyers with plenty of families too.
- Edgewood, growing, with a lot of shopping.
- Cabbagetown and Reynoldstown, both being reshaped by the development along Memorial Drive.
- Inman Park, one of the most desirable in-town neighborhoods, period, with walkability and Beltline connectivity.
- Old Fourth Ward, home to the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park where he grew up, plus a lot of nightlife. Very desirable and very expensive.
- Little Five Points, a funky, diverse, walkable pocket with good bars and shopping.
The Beltline is the thing to understand before you buy anywhere in the city. It is probably the most popular amenity in Atlanta: walking trails on a former railway corridor that was ripped up and paved over, connecting neighborhoods that were never connected before. Every neighborhood it runs through has skyrocketed in value and will continue to. Go to beltline.org and learn where it runs.
South of I-20: Grant Park, Summerhill and Peoplestown
This is my section of town. Grant Park is my favorite park in the city, heavily wooded and gorgeous, and the neighborhood is expensive. In 2023 you needed the $400,000s for a two-bedroom, with most homes $600,000 to $800,000.
Summerhill is more affordable and changing like crazy, with Georgia State University now where the Braves used to play. In 2023 you could still get in around the $400,000s to $500,000s, and I do not expect that to last. Peoplestown, where I live, was in the $400,000s: a good option if you cannot quite afford Grant Park but want to enjoy it.
Ormewood Park, Boulevard Heights, Chosewood Park and Woodland Hills are good value if you are priced out of Grant Park or Cabbagetown. There is a federal penitentiary near Chosewood Park, which is not a big deal, and it is still pretty desirable.
East Atlanta Village is known for nightlife and is denser and walkable. The downside is more petty crime. Do not walk to your car alone at night from a club there, and do not leave anything visible in your car. That second one goes for all of Atlanta.
Further East and Due South
Heading east on Memorial it opens up and gets more affordable:
- Belvedere Park, a mixed bag that continues to gentrify. In 2023 you could still get in around the high $300,000s to low $400,000s. Close to the city of Decatur, close to downtown, roughly equidistant from Buckhead and the airport.
- Mountain Brook is sneaky. Few homes come up for sale, but if you need a larger home with a two or three car garage it could work, and the architecture feels more suburban than what you usually see in town.
- Candler-McAfee and Gresham Park, completely fine places to live with good value.
- Panthersville, lower income and technically higher crime. I do not think you should cross it off. At a $300,000s to low $400,000s budget, with more space and a larger lot, it can work well.
- East Lake Terrace is really coming up, and I am a big fan of Scottdale and Avondale Estates for affordability, safety and easy access to downtown Decatur.
South of Peoplestown, once you cross the railroad tracks into South Atlanta, it gets dicier in spots and you have to be intentional about which street you are on. It is improving. Lakewood Heights has the Lakewood Amphitheater. Polar Rock, Browns Mill Park, Rosedale Heights and Lakewood do have statistically higher crime, which does not mean you cannot find a great place to live. Glenrose Heights, Orchard Knob and South River Gardens are where you look on a high $200,000s to low $300,000s budget.
The Tri-Cities: Hapeville, East Point and College Park
I love the Tri-Cities. Hapeville is a city of the arts, East Point and College Park both have MARTA connectivity, and historic College Park has multi-million-dollar homes. There is a ton of economic development. The architecture is the draw for me: hundred-plus-year-old all-brick homes with pine floors, 12-foot ceilings and fireplaces in every room, far more character than the cookie-cutter suburbs. Hartsfield-Jackson airport is right there, which matters if you work for Delta or travel a lot.
Sylvan Hills, Capitol View and Capitol View Manor are worth a hard look. The Beltline runs right there, the historic homes are beautiful, and in 2023 you were probably in the $400,000s.
The West Side: Where I Would Buy
West of the Tri-Cities is a pocket I would be careful with: Greenbriar, Meadow Lake Estates, Colonial Homes, Campbellton Road, Adams Park and Venetian Hills. I am not discouraging you from living there. I am telling you that statistically these are slightly higher crime and lower income, and that they are food deserts, meaning no easy access to grocery stores. Go to the street at different times of day, talk to the neighbors, and decide for yourself. Fort McPherson is not a place you can live: Tyler Perry owns it and it is Tyler Perry Studios.
If I could purchase real estate anywhere in the city, it would be the west side. Oakland City is changing tremendously because the Beltline runs through it, and the projection is that in ten years it looks much closer to Inman Park.
The West End has gorgeous homes and good value, though it is a mixed bag that may not suit you without a tolerance for city living. Mozley Park, Ashview Heights and everything from Westview to Westlake are historic neighborhoods with a lot of Civil Rights Movement history, close to Georgia Tech and to several HBCUs, the historically Black colleges and universities, including Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse. Westlake has tons of 1960s and 1970s homes with great character.
Past Joseph E. Boone you get into Bankhead, English Avenue and Vine City, traditionally some of the highest crime areas inside the perimeter. That is changing because of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the tourism, Georgia Tech and the Georgia Aquarium nearby: a total dichotomy of poverty and crime alongside a lot of new development.
Northwest: Atlantic Station, Grove Park and Vinings
- Home Park, essentially a college town where Georgia Tech students live.
- Atlantic Station, a big shopping area and a swanky option if you want a high-rise close to retail.
- Knight Park and Howell Station, genuinely desirable.
- Grove Park, which Westside Reservoir Park is going to change significantly. It is the largest park in the city and not completely open yet.
- Collier Heights, Center Hill and Harbor Homes, a mixed bag that gets dicier heading west.
- Dixie Hills, number one on my list of Atlanta’s most dangerous neighborhoods. Driving through it you see a lot of abandoned apartment buildings. Hartland Terrace and Florida Heights nearby are not so bad.
Just north of that it gets swanky again. Vinings is one of the most expensive, most desirable areas in the city, with Truist Park where the Braves play. Vinings, River Oaks Estates, Mount Paran and Northside are Buckhead-adjacent, and Paces is incredibly expensive. That whiplash is the point: extremely nice areas sit right next to areas that are not yet developed.
The Broad Strokes
A lot of the money and desirability is north and east, and the rougher areas tend to be west and south. That is why people divide north of I-20 from south of I-20, even though I live south of I-20 and there are great neighborhoods here.
Those are broad strokes. Some people think the neighborhood I live in is incredibly dangerous and would never live there. I have never had an incident, and it is an expensive, desirable area now.
When you are ready to narrow this down to the three neighborhoods that fit your budget, your commute and your family, book a Zoom call with me. I love it when my viewers become clients.
More reading: relocating to Atlanta from out of state, a fuller guide to Atlanta neighborhoods and suburbs, what it is actually like living in Atlanta, and buying or selling a home in Atlanta.