Safest Counties in Georgia: 35 Ranked (2026)
The 35 Georgia counties where police report enough to the FBI to build a reliable rate, ranked by violent crime, with home prices, asking rents and incomes where available.
Georgia has 159 counties. Thirty-five of them clear the reporting bar this page uses, and the gap between the quietest, Forsyth at 55 violent offenses per 100,000, and the busiest, Bibb at 1,298, is 23 to one. What homes closed at over the last 12 months sits beside the rate where Resideline has enough sales to publish a median: 74,408 closing records tracked in the 19 counties that clear that bar.
The crime rates here are built from the 7,933,520 residents those police agencies actually report on, over the months they reported. Each figure is a single county-wide figure, so treat this as a way to narrow a search rather than a verdict on any street.
We do not treat missing or conflicting crime data as zero. A county appears here only when its reporting clears our reliability threshold, and we set aside results that conflict materially with the state's own records. Whether a county is ranked depends on its crime reporting alone; whether it shows a price depends on whether Resideline tracked enough closings there.
The ranking
| # | County | Violent per 100k | Property per 100k | Median closed price | Median asking rent | Median income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forsyth | 55 | 316 | n/a | n/a | $152,036 |
| 2 | Effingham | 60 | 404 | $333,000 | $2,055 | $92,674 |
| 3 | Fayette | 62 | 650 | n/a | n/a | $117,563 |
| 4 | Jackson | 64 | 470 | n/a | n/a | $92,131 |
| 5 | Columbia | 65 | 489 | n/a | n/a | $96,487 |
| 6 | Cherokee | 88 | 496 | n/a | n/a | $116,493 |
| 7 | Walton | 104 | 463 | n/a | n/a | $88,303 |
| 8 | Chatham | 111 | 369 | n/a | n/a | $74,037 |
| 9 | Barrow | 128 | 1,074 | $370,000 | $2,200 | $89,040 |
| 10 | Catoosa | 138 | 696 | n/a | n/a | $73,900 |
| 11 | Bulloch | 143 | 946 | n/a | n/a | $56,738 |
| 12 | Bryan | 146 | 640 | $399,999 | $2,200 | $107,486 |
| 13 | Camden | 184 | 677 | $320,000 | $1,850 | $73,643 |
| 14 | Carroll | 192 | 1,038 | n/a | n/a | $75,188 |
| 15 | Cobb | 200 | 1,036 | $415,000 | $2,230 | $102,071 |
| 16 | Gwinnett | 202 | 1,038 | n/a | n/a | $89,709 |
| 17 | Bartow | 216 | 1,374 | $329,995 | $1,950 | $82,311 |
| 18 | Hall | 233 | 955 | $390,000 | $2,000 | $86,461 |
| 19 | Newton | 240 | 1,155 | n/a | n/a | $80,129 |
| 20 | Rockdale | 259 | 1,478 | $305,000 | $1,950 | $76,560 |
| 21 | Douglas | 272 | 1,557 | n/a | n/a | $77,579 |
| 22 | Coweta | 279 | 864 | $403,550 | $2,199 | $96,188 |
| 23 | Paulding | 288 | 717 | n/a | n/a | $95,196 |
| 24 | Henry | 302 | 1,320 | $329,000 | $2,095 | $89,273 |
| 25 | Lowndes | 308 | 2,416 | n/a | n/a | $60,185 |
| 26 | Clarke | 364 | 2,223 | $343,000 | $1,600 | $54,739 |
| 27 | Muscogee | 370 | 1,925 | n/a | n/a | $57,609 |
| 28 | Floyd | 376 | 1,334 | $250,000 | $1,500 | $64,134 |
| 29 | Whitfield | 379 | 1,104 | $255,000 | $1,400 | $67,190 |
| 30 | Spalding | 437 | 1,441 | $260,000 | $1,300 | $62,732 |
| 31 | Troup | 493 | 2,306 | $254,888 | $1,345 | $61,476 |
| 32 | Fulton | 518 | 2,428 | $450,000 | $2,103 | $100,751 |
| 33 | DeKalb | 595 | 3,134 | $370,000 | $1,950 | $81,452 |
| 34 | Dougherty | 995 | 2,884 | $149,900 | $945 | $50,559 |
| 35 | Bibb | 1,298 | 3,496 | $197,888 | $1,250 | $50,751 |
A closer look at the 12 safest counties
1. Forsyth County
At 55 violent offenses per 100,000, Forsyth sits in the lowest quarter of the places on this list. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. Median household income is $152,036, roughly 187 percent of the level across this list. Property crime is low too, at 316 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.3 times the median comparable US county.
2. Effingham County
Effingham's violent crime rate is 60 per 100,000 residents, the lowest quarter among the Georgia counties Resideline can measure. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. At $333,000, its median closed price is unremarkable against the rest of this list. The ratio of price to local household income is 3.6, among the gentlest on this list. At $2,055 a month in asking rent, the gross return here is in the top quarter of the counties measured. Its property rate is also among the lowest here, 404 per 100,000, or 0.3 times the median comparable US county. For prices at street level, see Guyton, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
3. Fayette County
Fayette records 62 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the lowest quarter of the Georgia counties measured here. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. Households there earn a median of $117,563, about 144 percent of the median for these counties. Property crime is low too, at 650 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.5 times the median comparable US county.
4. Jackson County
Police in Jackson reported 64 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the lowest quarter of this list. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. Its property rate is also among the lowest here, 470 per 100,000, or 0.4 times the median comparable US county.
5. Columbia County
At 65 violent offenses per 100,000, Columbia sits in the lowest quarter of the places on this list. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. Households there earn a median of $96,487, about 118 percent of the median for these counties. Its property rate is also among the lowest here, 489 per 100,000, or 0.4 times the median comparable US county.
6. Cherokee County
Cherokee records 88 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the lowest quarter of the Georgia counties measured here. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Median household income is $116,493, roughly 143 percent of the level across this list. Its property rate is also among the lowest here, 496 per 100,000, or 0.4 times the median comparable US county.
7. Walton County
At 104 violent offenses per 100,000, Walton sits in the lowest quarter of the places on this list. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. Property crime is low too, at 463 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 0.4 times the median comparable US county.
8. Chatham County
Chatham's violent crime rate is 111 per 100,000 residents, the lowest quarter among the Georgia counties Resideline can measure. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. Its property rate is also among the lowest here, 369 per 100,000, or 0.3 times the median comparable US county.
9. Barrow County
At 128 violent offenses per 100,000, Barrow sits in the lowest quarter of the places on this list. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. Homes there closed at a median of $370,000, about 112 percent of the median across this list. Property offenses run at 1,074 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. Asking rents run about $2,200 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Winder, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
10. Catoosa County
Catoosa's violent crime rate is 138 per 100,000 residents, the middle range among the Georgia counties Resideline can measure. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Its property rate, 696 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties.
11. Bulloch County
At 143 violent offenses per 100,000, Bulloch sits in the middle range of the places on this list. The median comparable US county records 245, so it is quieter than most of the country too. Households there earn a median of $56,738, about 70 percent of the median for these counties. Property offenses run at 946 per 100,000, in the middle of this list.
12. Bryan County
Police in Bryan reported 146 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the middle range of this list. That is below the median comparable US county, which records 245. Homes changed hands at a median $399,999, around 121 percent of what the rest of this list recorded. A typical home costs 3.7 years of the median household's income, the low end of this list. Its property rate is among the lowest here, 640 per 100,000, or 0.5 times the median comparable US county. The median rental listing asks $2,200 a month. For prices at street level, see Richmond Hill, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.
The large counties
Four counties here have more than 500,000 residents. Their median violent rate is 360 per 100,000 against 233 for the smaller counties on the list, and the quietest of them is Cobb at 200. It closes homes at a median of $415,000.
The counties we cannot rank
Larger Georgia places are missing from the table above. Every one with more than 150,000 residents is listed here with the reason.
- •Clayton, with about 298,000 residents, reports 61 percent of its population through the FBI program, below the 90 percent we require.
- •Richmond, with about 206,000 residents, reports 51 percent of its population through the FBI program, below the 90 percent we require.
- •Houston, with about 175,000 residents, reports 70 percent of its population through the FBI program, below the 90 percent we require.
How to read this list
The right way to use this is to narrow the list, then check the address. Averages at this scale hide the variation that actually matters once you are choosing between two houses.
Prices and rents are as of September 9, 2026, from closings and rental listings Resideline tracks over the previous 12 months; a price is shown where at least 100 closings were tracked and a rent where at least 50 listings were. Rent figures are the median asking rent on listings, not lease figures. Crime is the 2025 FBI Crime Data Explorer release, measured for the whole county over the months each agency reported, and violent crime means murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Household income is the Census SAIPE 2024 estimate of the county's median household income; population is the Census 2024 estimate. Where this page compares a rate with the median comparable US county, that figure (245 violent and 1188 property offenses per 100,000) is the median across the 874 US counties with at least 50,000 residents whose agencies reported on 90 percent or more of them for the year.
Sources and related pages
- •Crime: FBI Crime Data Explorer, agency-level offense counts for 2025, aggregated by county over the months each agency reported.
- •Income: Census SAIPE 2024, county median household income.
- •Population: Census county population estimates, vintage 2024.
- •Prices and rents: Resideline's tracked closings and rental listings, 12 months to September 2026.
- •Related: Safest counties by state; Does crime actually lower home prices?; Georgia housing market; Safest counties in Alabama; Safest counties in Florida; Safest counties in North Carolina; Safest counties in South Carolina; Safest counties in Tennessee.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the safest county in Georgia?
Of the 35 Georgia counties measured here, Forsyth County records the lowest violent crime rate at 55 offenses per 100,000 residents, against 245 for the median comparable US county.
Is this every county in Georgia?
No. It covers 35 of the state's 159 counties, the ones where police agencies report at least 90 percent of the population to the FBI, the area has at least 50,000 residents, and the resulting rate falls inside the sanity bounds we apply. Whether Resideline has enough sales there decides only whether a price is shown. The larger places that miss those bars are listed on the page with the reason.
Is this crime rate for my neighborhood?
No. The FBI publishes these figures for whole counties, so every part of a county carries the same number here, from its densest district to its farmland. It is useful for narrowing a search and not a substitute for looking at a specific address.
Are these rents asking rents or lease rents?
They are the median asking rent on rental listings in the county over the last 12 months. That is what landlords advertised, a guide to the market rather than a lease figure.
About the author
Jeffrey Batista
Jeffrey Batista is the founder of Resideline, a real estate technology company building institutional grade valuation and investment analysis tools for real estate investors.
A software engineer with more than 10 years of experience, Jeffrey has worked across full stack development, infrastructure, data engineering, machine learning, and large scale systems. He left his engineering career to build Resideline full time.
Jeffrey is also a real estate investor with nearly a decade of hands on experience buying, renovating, managing, and analyzing residential properties. His experience on both sides of the industry, as an engineer and an investor, led him to build Resideline after seeing how fragmented and outdated many of the tools available to individual investors were.
Today, he leads the development of Resideline's proprietary data infrastructure, automated valuation models, rental analytics, and investment underwriting technology.