Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town in Georgia, home to 9,014 people.
Fair Oaks does especially well on schools: its public schools beat 79% of Georgia towns on state tests and graduation. This Georgia town grades B− overall, better than 54% of U.S. towns, and ranks 66th of 258 in Georgia. Walkability is a strength too: it is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns. The weak point is health: residents are less healthy than 85% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Homes run about $200K for a typical one, 2.2 times the Atlanta metro’s $90K median household income. Incomes are weaker too — the median household income is $63K, and 24% of residents live below the poverty line. On the outdoors, just 36 of Georgia’s 374 towns do worse. Glover-McLeod-Garrison House and William Gibbs McAdoo House is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · health, CDC PLACES · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · home values, Zillow · USGS PAD-US · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Fair Oaks beats most towns.
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.
FEMA puts 37% of Fair Oaks’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 23% to tornadoes. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 94% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
That grade 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 the 4 schools are below, and why each made the list. Public school enrollment in Fair Oaks: 2,093 students across 3 schools.
| 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
Among adults in Fair Oaks, 43% sleep under 7 hours, where Georgia’s towns sit at 40% and U.S. towns at 36%. Only 3 of the 261 Georgia towns we compare have a lower share of adults who had a checkup this year than Fair Oaks. 33% of adults worry about having enough food here. This Georgia town does better than the Georgia average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and worse 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°.
Snow is a rarity. For Fair Oaks, the peak summer temperature is 88°F.
| 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
For working residents in Fair Oaks, the share who work locally is 1.6%. The top destinations are Atlanta (14%), Marietta (12%) and Smyrna (5%). Half of commuters travel less than 11 miles.
| 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.
In Fair Oaks, 37% of households own their home. Fair Oaks’ midpoint rent stands at $1,314 a month. A home in Fair Oaks typically sold within 76 days of listing.
| Fair Oaks | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 37% | 58% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,314 a month | $1,152 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · 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.
