Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 9,014.
Fair Oaks gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $200K, 2.2 years of the Atlanta metro’s $90K median household income. It grades B− overall, ranked 66th of 258 in Georgia. The low prices come with trade-offs. Residents are less healthy than 85% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. On the plus side, its public schools beat 79% of Georgia towns on state tests and graduation. Only 19 of Georgia’s 374 towns score higher on hazard risk. Glover-McLeod-Garrison House and William Gibbs McAdoo House is on the National Register of Historic Places. On the outdoors, just 36 of Georgia’s 374 towns do worse.
Where Fair Oaks beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Fair Oaks Elementary School | PK–5 | 703 |
| Green Acres Elementary School | PK–5 | 584 |
| Pearson Middle School | 6–8 | 806 |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Georgia), ordered by how far Fair Oaks is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 3,181 in 1950, 9,028 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 2005 and 5 maps from 1954 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Fair Oaks. Close and well known come first.
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaMercedes-Benz Stadium
5 mi Stadium & arenaTruist Park
Big draw11 mi Theme parkSix Flags Over Georgia
Big draw24 mi MountainStone Mountain
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaState Farm Arena
14 mi Zoo & aquariumGeorgia AquariumMercedes-Benz Stadium: Atlanta Falcons, CC BY 3.0 · Truist Park: Thechased at English Wikipedia, CC BY 4.0 · Six Flags Over Georgia: hagerman, CC BY 2.0 · Stone Mountain: KyleAndMelissa22, Public domain · State Farm Arena: Hermann Luyken, CC0 · Georgia Aquarium: Diliff, CC BY 2.5
Fair Oaks is unincorporated, so Cobb County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Fair Oaks.
Fair Oaks pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices, has homes that are cheap against local pay and has hotter summers than most of the country, though not than most of Georgia.
Fair Oaks’ FEMA risk score is 6 of 100, where Georgia’s towns sit at 29 of 100 and U.S. towns at 44 of 100.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its A− for schools comes with a B for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $200K.
Its public schools are run by the Cobb County school district. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pearson Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 806 | – |
| The Stonehaven School PrivateLargest high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 300 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within GA on state tests and graduation
29% of Fair Oaks adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance, against 14% in Georgia’s towns and 8.1% across U.S. towns. 72% of Fair Oaks adults had a checkup this year. Fair Oaks beats the Georgia average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 19.
| Fair Oaks | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 14% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 22% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 72% | 79% | 79% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 38% | 33% |
| What stands out | Fair Oaks | GA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 3.9% | 7% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 18.5% | 24.6% |
| More uninsured adults | 29.1% | 13.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
July afternoons average 88.4°: hotter than most of the country, but cooler than 91% of Georgia places with climate records; January nights average 32.7°.
Fair Oaks has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Fair Oaks’ January low is 33°F. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Fair Oaks | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 33°F | 33°F | 22°F |
| July high | 88°F | 90°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Fair Oaks for work: only 2% work in town. 24% of residents live below the poverty line in Fair Oaks. The top destinations are Atlanta (14%), Marietta (12%) and Smyrna (5%).
| Fair Oaks | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 24% | 15% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.6% | 9.2% | 8% |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $63,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 2.2 years of the Atlanta metro’s $90K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 93% of Georgia towns; that ratio is one input to its B for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $1,038, against $2,341 across Georgia, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
17 within 15 miles of the center of Fair Oaks
About 6 of every 100 Fair Oaks residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Georgia.
Place in Georgia, United States
Fair Oaks is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 9,028 at the 2020 census. Fair Oaks lies just outside the city limits of Smyrna and Marietta, and the area uses "Smyrna" or "Marietta" for its mailing addresses. The area was named for its many mature native oak trees. This, however, is threatened by nearby Dobbins Air Reserve Base and new Federal Aviation Administration regulations regarding flight paths for takeoff and landing. In 2005, the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly passed a resolution in support of the community, which was built in the early 20th century, well before the military base.[1]…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Fair Oaks.
Fair Oaks reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Fair Oaks with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Fair Oaks grades B− overall, better than 54% of U.S. towns and #66 of 258 in Georgia. It grades C− for health and A− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a C−.
The typical home is worth about $200,000, 39% below the Georgia typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
