Buford vs Alpharetta

These two towns have a lot of similarities- great schools, great shopping, and a high price tag. I have people reaching out all the time asking for more information on these two towns because they’ve heard me talk about how great they both are before here on my channel, or they’ve seen these towns come up while they were researching great places to live in Georgia. Let’s put them head to head and figure out which one might be better for you and your family.

Buford, which majority of is located in Gwinnett county, kind of sits right on the edge of the suburbs before you start to get into more of the busy Atlanta feel. There’s a tiny portion of the town in Hall county, but most of it lies in Gwinnett, which is actually the second-most populous county in Georgia with over 950,000 residents.

Buford sits on the southern end of Lake Lanier and is very popular with people who want to live on the lake but need to commute into the city. It’s cheaper than living directly in Atlanta and comes with a pretty easy commute. This makes it a super popular area to live in. 

Alpharetta is located in northern Fulton County and is 26 miles north of downtown Atlanta. The town has a population of just over 69,000 residents and feels like an extension of Atlanta. You have all of the luxuries of living in the big city- meaning a wider variety of stores, more accessible access to everything, more people, and more traffic. Since Alpharetta is even closer to Atlanta than Buford is, it’s an even more popular place for those that work in the city but don’t want to live right in it.

We have talked about Buford city schools many times before here on the channel. They are some of the most outstanding ranked schools in the state, with great sports programs to boot. Another great thing is that Buford City Schools are public, but it is complicated to find a home that would put you in the district because the demand is insane. You can, however, pay $2,000 in tuition every year to attend the schools… if you can get on the waiting list and meet the required qualifications.

Depending on where in the town you live, your kids can also attend Flowery Branch, Mountain View, Lanier, and Mill Creek. Buford isn’t the only town with great schools, however. Alpharetta also has very highly rated schools, like Alpharetta High School, ranked the #3 best public high school in the state on niche.com and a 9/10 on greatschools.com. They also have Chattahoochee High School, which received a 9/10 on great schools. Whether you live in Alpharetta or Buford, your kids can get an excellent education. 

These two towns both have in common is incredible shopping and activities. Buford has the Mall of Georgia, Target, Costco, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, and tons more. There are also a plethora of restaurants and different dining options in Buford. The most significant difference between shopping in Alpharetta and Buford is that Alpharetta has many more large-scale stores than Buford.

They have a great outdoor shopping center called Avalon, where you’ll find stores like Chanel, Tesla, Peloton, and more luxury brands like those. Buford has a lot more of your everyday shopping, if you will, and Alpharetta has some fantastic, more upscale stores and restaurants. Of course, they have a Target and all of those kinds of stores as well.

There’s also an astonishing mixed-use development called Halcyon that has shopping, sit down and counter service restaurants, apartments, and the Big Creek Greenway trailhead… it’s kind of like everything you could ever need right in one area. So although Buford has a massive mall, I will have to give the point here to Alpharetta for shopping.

Both towns have a Top Golf, a popular attraction around here, and it’s described as a “premier golf entertainment complex.” Both towns also have a downtown area with more small businesses and restaurants, and both have fantastic parks and amenities. Even though these are bigger towns, you will still find plenty of parks, playgrounds, walking trails, etc., to keep you outdoors and active. Buford does have parts of town that sit on Lake Lanier, which is a big bonus point for Buford.

One of the most significant differences between Buford and Alpharetta is the cost of homes. When filming this video, there are 536 homes on the market in Buford with a median sales price of $356,000. Since this is the median price, I think you’ll be looking closer to the mid 400 range, depending on where you want to be in Buford. The school district is the most significant factor and what kind of property you’re looking for.

There are currently 744 homes listed for sale in Alpharetta, with a median sales price of $525,000. This is a significant difference. On bestplaces.net, where they use a scale of 100 to describe the overall cost of living in an area compared to the national average, the state of Georgia as a whole has a score of 93.4, which is below that national average of 100. Buford receives a 101.1 rating which is just above the national average. Alpharetta has an overall ranking of 124.8, with home prices ranking a whopping 168.5.

Alpharetta is the quintessential suburb of Atlanta. You get all of the perks of living in a city, but it also comes with those steep home prices.

Buford is also considered a bigger city, but Alpharetta it’s just that much closer to Atlanta and more upscale, if you will. Suppose you want to maintain a little distance between where you live and Atlanta.

Buford might be a better choice. If you are going to commute into Atlanta and with that bigger city feel without fully committing to living there, Alpharetta would be a better choice for you.

As I mentioned, both of these towns have excellent schools and shopping and things like that, but they both have the negative drawbacks of being bigger cities… The biggest ones are cost and traffic. You will run into traffic, and a lot of it, in both of these towns, but that’s just something you get used to living in a bigger city.

These are both highly sought-after cities, but one thing you have to keep in mind with both of them is that they will come at a hefty price. Everyone wants to be in these areas because of their great schools, but you have to remember that you will pay a pretty penny to be in these areas.