Marietta

Home to a thriving city square, steeped in history and famous for having a really distinctive KFC, Marietta’s not a bad place to live: In fact, it’s one of the best. A recently released list included the Atlanta suburb as one of the top-10 cities to live in all of America. It was Georgia’s only entry on the list. Zillow and Yelp, Inc. crowned Marietta as one of the top ten cities in the nation to be named as a suburb with urban amenities and a big city feel. Marietta was the only city in Georgia to be named in this list and only one of two cities in the southeast.

Zillow states, “Increased opportunities to work remotely are pushing more Americans to rethink how and where they want to live. But even if there’s less of a need to live as close to urban job centers, traditional urban amenities — think restaurants, nightlife, museums, and sports venues — remain a big draw, and demand for city living remains high.”

Marietta boasts strong schools, youth sports, and great shopping and dining. With a population of about 67,000, Marietta is considered one of Georgia’s best-managed cities and has garnered national recognition for offering a high quality of life for its residents. The city is located about 20 miles northwest of Atlanta and is the county seat of Cobb County.

For healthcare, Marietta is served by WellStar Kennestone Hospital, which offers a full range of inpatient and outpatient services, including emergency care, cardiac and stroke care, orthopedic surgery, and obstetrics. The hospital is one of the city’s largest employers.

At $319,000, Marietta’s median home value is slightly higher than in Atlanta proper, where the median sale price is about $302,000.