Located just off of Highway 316 in eastern Gwinnett County, Dacula, Georgia was a small, quiet town for years but has become increasingly developed and increasingly popular with families. Homes are a bit more affordable than what you’ll find over in Suwannee, Buford, or Sugar Hill, so Dacula can be a great choice for families who want to live in Gwinnett County and take advantage of the great public school system but need to make their housing budget stretch.

I love helping you navigate those hurdles and close on a great home for your family. I’d love to hear from you and hear what your struggles have been when it comes to your move and what you are hoping to find in a your new home.

In this video I’m going to talk about Dacula, but I have lots of other videos on my channel covering other cities in Gwinnett and I’ve also got videos on cities in northern Fulton County and Forsyth County. Hopefully you will find those helpful.

With just over 7,000 residents, Dacula is one of the smallest cities in Gwinnett County. Located a few miles past Lawrenceville and just off Highway 316, until fairly recently Dacula was considered “way out there”.  As Gwinnett’s population continues to grow, Dacula has started to grow as well over the past few years and new neighborhoods are going up left and right thanks to the previously undeveloped land in the area.

So, what do people love about living in Dacula? What are some potential cons? I’ll tell you!

Con 1: Highway 316. As I’ve said a few times, Dacula is off of Highway 316, a busy road that runs from I-85 all the way to Athens. Rapid population growth has made 316 a road that almost no one enjoys driving on regularly. If you talk to anyone who drives on 316 on a daily basis, there’s a good chance they’ll tell you 316 is their least favorite thing about where they live.

Part of the problem is the road is simply not meant to handle its current volume of vehicular traffic. There are multiple traffic lights that create bottle necks as well as multiple intersections without traffic signals that have become particularly dangerous. Unfortunately, 316 has a reputation locally as a dangerous road thanks to the number of serious traffic accidents that have occurred.

The government is aware of this and slowly but surely traffic signals are being added to the smaller intersections and intersections with traffic signals are being converted to overpasses, both of which improve traffic flow and help make the roadway safer. The downside of that project is that each overpass takes a long time to build and there are many more to go before the project is completed. Last I checked, the completion date is a few years from now, with an estimated date of 2028.

On the positive side, if you want to avoid 316 completely, your commute will be a few minutes longer but there are multiple ways you can get to I-85 pretty quickly and just avoid 316 and its headaches altogether.

Pro 1: Parks. Dacula is home to some great parks! There are a few, but Little Mulberry Park stands out as one of the best. Want to go fishing? You’ll find a lake where fishing is allowed, just make sure you have a valid Georgia fishing license. Those are very affordable and you can buy one online from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and it is good for an entire year.

Have a horse? Little Mulberry has a parking area for trailers and a 5.47 mile long equestrian path.

There are also about 3 miles of hiking trails and 5.5 miles of multi-use trails perfect for walking, running, or biking. The best part is the hiking and multi-use trails connect to each other and make it easy to customize your adventure.

There’s also an 18-hole disc golf course and a nature preserve. Plus, you’ll find the usual park features of playgrounds, pavilions, and picnic areas.

Do be sure to look at a park map before you go. As you can see by the one on my screen, there are three different entrances, and you’ll want to make sure to park at the right entrance for what you are planning to enjoy during your visit to the park.

There are a couple of other parks you can enjoy in Dacula. Rabbit Hill park is smaller, and home to the city’s soccer, baseball, and football fields as well as a dog park. If you have children in youth sports, chances are you’ll be spending a good bit of time at Rabbit Hill. There’s a playground and two paved trails as well.

Dacula park, right in downtown Dacula, is where you’ll head for tennis, pickleball, swimming in the summer, the community garden, or to take a class in the activity building.

As small as it is, there are some really awesome parks in Dacula thanks to the very robust Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation Department.

Con 2: No real downtown. Now this isn’t necessarily a con, but most of the surrounding communities have fun downtowns where you can park, browse the shops, and then choose a restaurant for dinner. Dacula’s downtown is tiny and is a mish-mash of homes, primarily fast food dining, and service oriented businesses. It is definitely not walkable and there aren’t any boutiques or other stores designed for browsing and impulse buying.

There’s also not a central gathering area for the community to gather for city sponsored events.

Those things aren’t bad, but if you are hoping for that walkable, small-town feeling downtown then you’ll either need to drive to Lawrenceville, Monroe, Winder or Braselton for the closest walkable downtowns or may want to consider purchasing a home elsewhere if being close to downtown shopping and dining is high on your must-have list.

Pro 2: Affordability. Now, I know affordability is a relative term and means different things to different people but compared to the North Metro area as a whole, Dacula is one of the more affordable areas when it comes to buying a home. In October 2022, the median home sold price in Dacula was $413.3k compared to $428.9k in Braselton, $450k in Buford, or $435k in Duluth.

So, as you can see, housing in Dacula isn’t necessarily cheap, but is certainly more affordable than most nearby areas.

Con 3: Traffic.  As tends to happen in growing areas, population growth has outpaced road widening and improvements, so there tends to be a good bit of traffic on some of the local roads during peak morning and evening traffic times that can be especially frustrating if you have to travel a road that simply has too much volume, or if you need to take a left hand turn at a busy intersection without the aid of a traffic light, 4-way stop, or roundabout.  On a positive note, Gwinnett County does do a great job of improving roads when needed, but of course that doesn’t happen instantly.

Local traffic certainly isn’t bad compared to some of the suburbs closer to Atlanta, but during peak traffic times you can easily add 10-15 minutes to your commute, which can be frustrating.

Pro 3: Schools. It is hard to go wrong with Gwinnett County Schools as the county has a great reputation. The city limits of Dacula are served by Dacula High School, but Archer High School and Mill Creek High School also serve homes with Dacula addresses. All have good reputations, but as always, do your research and make sure the schools serving your potential new home are a good fit for your family.

If you are planning to go the private school route, Hebron Christian Academy is a large private school in Dacula that attracts families from all over the area and living in Dacula make it a very easy drive to and from school.

Dacula is a great place to live no matter what your price range is for your new home, as there are older, more modest neighborhoods and new neighborhoods with luxury homes and everything in between. But, it is an especially great place to consider calling home if you want to take advantage of the Gwinnett County School system but need something more affordable but have found it hard to find homes in your price range in places like Suwanee or Buford.

Dacula is also a great place to live if you want to drive by cows or open fields on occasion or get other glimpses of Gwinnett’s rural past.

You’ll have great parks nearby no matter where you live in Gwinnett thanks to its over 50 parks, but Little Mulberry Park in Dacula stands out as a particularly great park and one of the best in the county.

If anything I said about Dacula caught your attention and made you want to see what the market looks like in your price range, please reach out! My info is on the screen and it would be an honor to help you find a home that not only meets your needs, but that you will truly enjoy calling home.

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• Median Home Value
• $449,900
• Median Rent
• $1,927