Where should you live around Atlanta if you’re moving here from out of state? This is my beginner’s map of the suburbs outside the Perimeter, direction by direction, as I saw it when I filmed this in 2023. It covers roughly the area within 45 minutes to an hour of the city, with a few places further out.
The Perimeter is I-285, the loop around the city. Inside it is ITP (inside the perimeter). Outside it is OTP (outside the perimeter): suburbs, exurbs (communities beyond the close-in suburbs) and cities in their own right. I covered ITP in an earlier video. If you want to be in town, start with Atlanta neighborhoods explained.
Narrow the Search First
One of the biggest challenges when we help clients move here from out of state is that there are so many great options. Multiple locations will probably work for your family, so you go through a process of elimination: budget, schools or the overall vibe you want.
If your search area is too large, it’s overwhelming, stressful and not effective. Whether you’re renting or buying, narrow it to two to four neighborhoods you can focus on and get to know. If you’re still working out the basics of relocating, start with my relocation guide.
One Caveat Before the Map
I’m speaking in generalities and broad strokes. I may call an area technically higher crime, lower income or weaker on public schools. That does not mean it’s not a great place to live.
It comes down to the street and the little micro area: how the homes are maintained, what kind of neighbors you have, the foot traffic, the traffic patterns and the amenities nearby. A mixed bag could still be a fantastic place to live. It doesn’t mean it’s dangerous or unsafe, and everyone has a different tolerance for city versus suburban living.
Which Counties Have the Better School Reputations
For whatever reason, the more desirable areas, the higher-income areas and many of the better-school areas are congregated north of the city, from Marietta and Alpharetta over to Lawrenceville and everywhere in between.
On the north side, Cobb, Cherokee, Forsyth and Gwinnett counties typically have good reputations for schools, and North Fulton does as well. Douglas, Fulton, Clayton and DeKalb are more of a mixed bag. That doesn’t mean there are no great schools in those counties. It means you need to research the assigned schools if that matters to you.
My go-to resource is the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, at schoolgrades.georgia.gov. It’s the state’s own data, and I like it better than third-party aggregator websites, because those rarely show how they determine their grades.
When I filmed this in 2023, per that site, the county grades were: Fulton B, DeKalb C, Gwinnett B, Cobb B, Clayton D, Fayette B and Henry C. Check the site for current grades.
North of the City
Alpharetta is probably the single most desirable suburb around Atlanta, mainly because of the things to do. Avalon, downtown Alpharetta and a lot of other amenities make it fun for the whole family, and the commute into town is reasonable if you work there or just like to enjoy Atlanta.
Another big benefit of the north side is the North Georgia mountains: the Blue Ridge Mountains, vineyards, incredible trails, Lake Lanier and Lake Allatoona. There’s great nature in every direction, but the north is probably the best.
Marietta and Lawrenceville are the two areas I help families buy in more than any other: good affordability, quality public schools and a reasonable commute into the city.
- Kennesaw is to the northwest, with a college nearby. It’s a desirable, quickly growing area, as is Acworth.
- Woodstock has one of the best downtowns of any Atlanta suburb, and people absolutely love it. It’s a good bit further from Atlanta, so if you’re commuting it’s probably not the best place to live.
- Roswell is a place I talk about all the time. The Chattahoochee River runs through it, and if you have a family and love outdoor activities, I think it should be high on your list. Downtown Roswell is quaint, with great restaurants.
- Sandy Springs is just outside the Perimeter and hugely convenient because it has MARTA rail (Atlanta’s public transit system). You still need a car to live in Atlanta, but here you can really cut down on car use. People love it.
- Johns Creek is a sister city to Alpharetta. It can be more expensive, and in some cases slightly more diverse, with a higher Asian population. It’s a pretty well-to-do area.
Here’s the downside of the north side. Sandy Springs and Dunwoody sit in the belly of the beast for traffic. When you hear about Atlanta traffic, other than the downtown connector, a lot of that mess is centered on the northern corridor: GA-400 North, I-75 North and I-85 North. A lot of people make that commute, and there was a lot of highway construction in the Sandy Springs and Dunwoody area when I filmed this in 2023.
On price, as of 2023, in Alpharetta and Johns Creek a starter home was probably in the mid $400,000s, and you’d need a budget in the $600,000s to get modern finishes and a larger home. These are expensive areas. See also my comparison of Alpharetta and Roswell.
Northeast and East
Duluth has some of the best food anywhere outside the Perimeter, with a large Asian population. Duluth and Doraville are two of the best places for food around Atlanta.
Suwanee is very family oriented. It has a big green space, an amphitheater and a place to play near downtown Suwanee, and it’s consistently named one of the best suburbs for families. It’s probably a 50-minute drive to Atlanta, with a beautiful green atmosphere.
Buford has some of the highest-rated public schools in the state of Georgia. It can be a mixed bag on crime, but it’s a popular spot because of the schools.
Lawrenceville, Snellville, Loganville and Grayson are similar to each other. They won’t have amazing downtowns or incredible amenities, but they have pretty decent affordability and a reasonable commute into the city. As of 2023, you could start in the high $300,000s and do very well with a budget in the $400,000s.
Tucker is absolutely exploding, and I’m helping a lot of people buy and sell there right now (2023). It has great proximity to the city. It’s unincorporated DeKalb, meaning no city government of its own, so the public works and schools aren’t as great, but there’s good affordability and a lot of convenience.
Stone Mountain is an incredible amenity for a lot of Atlantans, but it’s very much a mixed bag, with some lower-income areas. Be familiar with the street you’re looking on and make sure the homes are maintained. You can get good value: as of 2023 you could still buy there in the low $300,000s in many instances.
Heading south from there you get into Lithonia and Conyers. They’re perfectly great places to live, just a bit lower income and working class, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Conyers is growing like crazy and has a lot of multi-family properties, so if you’re an investor looking for multi-family deals, take a look (see my investing page). You hop on I-20 West to get into town, so the convenience is decent.
Further out east, Oxford and Covington are growing like crazy. There’s an Emory campus out there and a lot of businesses setting up shop. Covington in particular is growing like wild.
South of the City
As you go south it gets less dense and more wide open. Stockbridge and McDonough are growing quite a bit, with a lot of development, and McDonough is another popular area for families.
In a lot of instances, the areas directly outside the Perimeter, other than on the north side, are higher crime with lower-quality public schools. Prices are often a little lower, but be careful about exactly where you look. Things tend to get better the further out you go: further out east it’s typically lower crime, and the same goes for the south.
- Union City, Forest Park, Riverdale and Morrow are a bit more dense, with great convenience to the city. On the south side, easy access to the airport is a big plus if you work at Hartsfield-Jackson, work for Delta or travel constantly. Union City is more industrial, with a lot of car dealerships and businesses.
- Fairburn is where you can very often get new construction in the $300,000s (as of 2023).
- Fayette County is where the schools get a little better: Fayetteville, Peachtree City and Tyrone. Peachtree City is famous as a golf cart community. These areas are nicer and a bit more expensive, with a decent amount to do, though not the level of amenities you’ll see to the north or in the city.
- Palmetto is growing quite a bit, with a lot of new construction communities.
If you want new construction on a budget, look south and west. If you have a lower budget, or want more land or isolation, the south can be a great place to look. To be close to the city on a lower budget, look closer in, at places like Union City or Riverdale. For the typical suburban-slash-rural feel, go further out toward Fayetteville, Hampton, Peachtree City, Tyrone and Palmetto.
West of the City
Some of the areas just west of the Perimeter can be high crime. There’s no other way to say it, so be careful. Further out west it gets less dense and more spread out, with more new construction communities.
I have friends in Douglasville. It’s quiet, they have their own little lake area and over an acre of land. They love it, and it’s not a killer drive into the city. I’m a big fan of Douglasville, and I think there’s really good value there.
Austell, Powder Springs, Lithia Springs and Dallas have a lot of new construction communities going in, and they often won’t break the bank. There’s not a ton going on out here, but you do have Six Flags Over Georgia, and it’s easy to catch a Braves game at Truist Park near Smyrna. It gets more rural the further west you go.
The Northwest: Marietta, Smyrna and Mableton
Marietta is very popular with families. Smyrna is where the Braves play, a lot of businesses are headquartered there, and it has a nice mix of attached and detached housing. Mableton is in this area too. I’m a big fan, and there’s some really good value there.
How to Choose
If schools don’t matter to you, you have far more options. Otherwise, here is how I’d work through it:
- Schools. If schools are really important, that crosses a bunch of places off the list.
- Budget. If you need a $350,000 home, we can probably cross Alpharetta off and look east, west or south.
- Vibe. For more of a rural, country feel, go further out west or south. For the typical suburban-slash-megalopolis feel, go further out east and northeast. For the sweet spot, the best of both worlds, with suburbs that have a lot to do and are close to the city, look just north of the Perimeter.
There are great neighborhoods, towns, exurbs and cities in every direction around Atlanta, so it comes down to your priorities. For more, see my picks for the best Atlanta suburbs, fastest-growing Atlanta suburbs and the full Atlanta neighborhoods and suburbs guide.
Talk It Through With Me
I didn’t explain every suburb around Atlanta, but I hope this gives you enough general knowledge to make the best decision for your family. If you’re buying or selling anywhere in the Atlanta area, I’d love to hear from you. Book a call with me on the contact page, or read more about buying and selling a home in Atlanta.