Moving to
Scottdale.

All Scottdale data Compare Scottdale

10,542people live here $85,610median household incomeNear US average $1,583median rent per month▲ 12% above US $357,100median home valueNear US average

Scottdale is an unincorporated community in DeKalb 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 Scottdale

Scottdale is an unincorporated community in Georgia with county unemployment below the national average, a highly educated workforce, 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. Scottdale deals with commute times longer than most cities, air quality that falls short of national benchmarks, a population that has been shrinking, and above-average rainfall.

The good

Low unemployment in the county
Highly educated workforce
Low student-teacher ratio

The not so good

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

How Scottdale compares

Median household income

Scottdale$85,610

Georgia avg$77,353

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Scottdale$1,583

Georgia avg$1,393

US$1,413

Median home value

Scottdale$357,100

Georgia avg$303,300

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Scottdale

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

To rent

$3,166

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

Income to keep rent under 30%: $63,320 a year
47% of Scottdale renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$71,420

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $35,710
Homes cost 4.2× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 12% above US

$1,583/mo median rent

Rent is pretty middle of the road, at $1,583 a month median. Not a bargain, not a budget-buster. About typical for a city this size. Home prices run above average, with a median around $357,100. Buyers should expect to stretch their budget here.

Median home value $357,100 · 47% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

3.6% county unemployment

Unemployment in DeKalb County is 3.6%, 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.

DeKalb County (county-wide)

Safety

716 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

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

Property crime 3351/100k · Policed by DeKalb County Police Department (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting around▲ 16% above US

30 min average commute

Traffic is a real factor here. The 30.1 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. 7 in 10 workers drive to work; 20% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

66%

Work from home

20%

Carpool

5.3%

Other

3.6%

Walk

2.6%

Public transit

2.2%

Climate

Summers are warm, with highs around 88°F, and winters are chilly but manageable, with lows around 35°F. Rainfall is regular throughout the year.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▲ 48% above US

53% bachelor's degree or higher

This is a highly educated city, with over half the adult population holding a college degree. That tends to shape the job market and the broader culture, and it's a solid indicator of a strong professional scene.

Schools

2 public schools inside the boundary

There are 2 public schools inside the boundary. The student-to-teacher ratio is 12:1, 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 (7 miles away). There are 7 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Scottdale's strongest points are county unemployment below the national average and a highly educated workforce; the main tradeoffs are commute times longer than most cities and air quality that falls short of national benchmarks. A year of median rent ($1,583/mo) equals 22% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit remote workers (20% of workers here already work from home) and college-educated professionals.

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