Moving to
Fair Oaks.

9,014people live here $62,996median household income▼ 22% below US $1,314median rent per monthNear US average

Fair Oaks is an unincorporated community in Cobb County, GA. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Fair Oaks

Fair Oaks is an unincorporated community in Georgia with county unemployment below the national average, a growing population, and schools with smaller class sizes than the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Fair Oaks deals with household incomes below the national average, college degree attainment below the national average, a poverty rate above the national average, and a rent burden that leaves many renters stretched thin.

The good

Low unemployment in the county
Growing population
Low student-teacher ratio

The not so good

Below-average household incomes
Low college degree attainment
High poverty rate
High rent burden for renters
Above-average rainfall
Car-dependent — few commuters use transit

How Fair Oaks compares

Median household income

Fair Oaks$62,996

Georgia avg$77,353

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Fair Oaks$1,314

Georgia avg$1,393

US$1,413

What it takes to move to Fair Oaks

Based on Fair Oaks's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$2,628

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $52,560 a year
56% of Fair Oaks renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of livingNear US average

$1,314/mo median rent

Cost of living works in this city's favor. Median rent sits around $1,314 a month, nothing that raises eyebrows. Solid value overall.

56% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

3.2% county unemployment

Unemployment in Cobb County is 3.2%, a little below the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Cobb County (county-wide)

Safety

182 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Fair Oaks doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Cobb County Police Department jurisdiction as a whole, which runs below the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 958/100k · Policed by Cobb County Police Department (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting aroundNear US average

27 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 26.9 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 6% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

61%

Carpool

24%

Other

8.0%

Work from home

5.8%

Walk

1.0%

Public transit

0.3%

Climate

Summers are warm, with highs around 83°F, and winters are chilly but manageable, with lows around 34°F. It's a wet climate overall.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 54% below US

16% bachelor's degree or higher

This is a working-class city, and college degree rates reflect that. Trades, manufacturing, and service industries tend to dominate the local economy, which is a strength for some fields and a real constraint for others.

Schools

3 public schools inside the boundary

There are 3 public schools inside the boundary and 1 private school. The student-to-teacher ratio is 11:1, well below the national average of 16:1. Smaller class sizes are generally a positive sign for a district.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park (4 miles away). There are 8 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Fair Oaks's strongest points are county unemployment below the national average and a growing population; the main tradeoffs are household incomes below the national average and college degree attainment below the national average. A year of median rent ($1,314/mo) equals 25% of the median household income here, more than the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit job seekers (county-wide unemployment is low). It may be a harder fit for anyone who doesn't drive.

See all the data for Fair Oaks →·All Georgia cities →