Moving to
Fairburn.

All Fairburn data Compare Fairburn

16,831people live here $91,897median household income▲ 14% above US $1,479median rent per monthNear US average $271,800median home value▼ 18% below US

What it's like to live in Fairburn

Fairburn is a small city in Georgia with home prices that remain within reach, county unemployment below the national average, household incomes running above the national average, and crime rates well below the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Fairburn deals with commute times longer than most cities, air quality that falls short of national benchmarks, and above-average rainfall.

The good

Affordable home prices
Low unemployment in the county
Higher-than-average incomes
Low crime rates
Highly educated workforce
Low student-teacher ratio

The not so good

Above-average commute times
Air quality concerns
Above-average rainfall

How Fairburn compares

Median household income

Fairburn$91,897

Georgia avg$77,353

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Fairburn$1,479

Georgia avg$1,393

US$1,413

Median home value

Fairburn$271,800

Georgia avg$303,300

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Fairburn

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

To rent

$2,958

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

Income to keep rent under 30%: $59,160 a year
43% of Fairburn renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$54,360

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $27,180
Homes cost 3.0× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of livingNear US average

$1,479/mo median rent

Rent is pretty middle of the road, at $1,479 a month median. Not a bargain, not a budget-buster. About typical for a city this size. Home prices are reasonable, with a median around $271,800. Not a steal, but not intimidating either.

Median home value $271,800 · 43% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

3.5% county unemployment

Unemployment in Fulton County is 3.5%, 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.

Fulton County (county-wide)

Safety▼ 39% below US

200 violent crimes per 100k

Pretty safe, all things considered. Violent crime sits below the national average, nothing alarming, just ordinary city-life awareness.

Property crime 1093/100k · Fairburn Police Department · 2025 data

Getting around▲ 27% above US

33 min average commute

Traffic is a real factor here. The 32.9 minute average means plenty of commuters are pushing 45 to 60 minutes on a bad day. Proximity to work matters more here than it might elsewhere. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 21% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

70%

Work from home

21%

Carpool

5.9%

Public transit

1.5%

Other

1.2%

Walk

0.8%

Climate

Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 89°F, and winters are chilly but manageable, with lows around 38°F. Rainfall is regular throughout the year.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforceNear US average

39% bachelor's degree or higher

Education levels run about average, with 39% college-educated. It's a mix of white-collar and blue-collar work, which can be an asset or a limitation depending on the field.

Schools

2 public schools inside the boundary

There are 2 public schools inside the boundary and 3 private schools. The student-to-teacher ratio is 14:1, 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 Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park (19 miles away). There are 8 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Fairburn's strongest points are home prices that remain within reach and county unemployment below the national average; the main tradeoffs are commute times longer than most cities and air quality that falls short of national benchmarks. A year of median rent ($1,479/mo) equals 19% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit anyone prioritizing low crime and remote workers (21% of workers here already work from home). It may be a harder fit for people who dread long commutes.

See all the data for Fairburn →·All Georgia cities →