This city didn’t exist thirteen years ago. In 2012, a group of residents voted to break away from unincorporated DeKalb County and form their own city instead. Today Brookhaven has one of the highest median household incomes in the metro, a $50 million NBA training facility, and a golf clubhouse dating back to 1928. Here’s everything you need to know about living here: the history, the homes and prices, the schools, and the parks that make it one of the most sought after addresses north of the city.
A City With Roots Going Back Two Hundred Years
Brookhaven sits in the northeastern corner of DeKalb County, just northeast of Atlanta, covering about 11.86 square miles. It’s bordered by the Fulton County line to the west, unincorporated DeKalb to the south, Chamblee and Clairmont Road to the east, and Dunwoody and I-285 to the north. The city only became official on December 17, 2012, after residents voted for incorporation that July, making it DeKalb County’s eleventh city and one of the newest in the metro.
The area’s story goes back much further. Creek people originally lived here, and European settlement began around 1810 with a plantation established by John Evins. The Goodwin family arrived in the 1830s, and a train station called Goodwin’s opened in 1873. Around 1900, Atlanta residents started building summer cottages here, and the community grew from there. A nine-hole golf course opened in 1912 and later expanded to eighteen holes, becoming the Capital City Country Club, whose 1928 clubhouse is on the National Register of Historic Places. The area actually incorporated once before, as the City of North Atlanta in 1924, before disincorporating in 1965 and re-forming as Brookhaven in 2012.
What It Costs to Live in Brookhaven
Brookhaven mixes ranch homes and mid-century construction in older pockets with newer construction and townhomes near Town Brookhaven, plus condos and luxury apartments along the busier corridors. As of this writing, the median sale price is around $798,000, up 7.4 percent year over year, with a median price per square foot of $309. Homes are averaging 19 days on market, up 26 percent from 2025, though that’s still fast by any normal measure. The market currently scores about 71 out of 100 on Redfin’s compete scale.
Broken down by size and style, here’s what that actually looks like:
— Small bungalows and cottages, roughly 1,000 to 1,700 square feet: typically $400,000 to $600,000.
— Midsize family homes, roughly 1,800 to 3,000 square feet, often updated or newer construction: typically $600,000 to $900,000, with some newer builds pushing past $1 million.
— Larger manor-style and estate homes, 3,500 square feet and up: typically starting around $1.6 million, with the newest, largest estates reaching $4 to $4.8 million.
Whatever budget you’re working with, there’s a real lane for it in Brookhaven, from a starter bungalow all the way up to a brand new estate. And across the board, sellers are getting close to full price, with homes closing at roughly 97 to 99 percent of list price on average.
Schools
Brookhaven falls under the DeKalb County School District (always verify your zone by address, since Brookhaven sits at the edge of a few different clusters). Ashford Park Elementary is the neighborhood’s own school, right in the heart of Brookhaven, followed by Chamblee Middle School. Most of Brookhaven feeds into Chamblee Charter High School, though some pockets closer to the southern edge are zoned for Cross Keys High School instead. Ashford Park in particular is a big draw for young families, since it’s a well regarded elementary school sitting inside a walkable, established neighborhood.
Parks and Points of Interest
Brookhaven has some of the best park space of any city its size in the metro. Murphey Candler Park is the anchor at 135 acres, with a lake, sports fields, and trails. Blackburn Park adds tennis courts, a pool, and sports fields across about 49.5 acres, while Lynwood Park and Briarwood Park round things out at 17 and 18 acres respectively. The Peachtree Creek Greenway, a multi-use trail system, is being built out to eventually connect to the Atlanta BeltLine, a big long-term win for walkability here.
On the retail and lifestyle side, Town Brookhaven anchors the city with 600,000 square feet of shopping, dining, and residential units in one walkable center. And in a sign of how this city has positioned itself over the last decade, the Atlanta Hawks built a $50 million training facility right here in Brookhaven.
Is Brookhaven Right for You?
Brookhaven is probably the spot for you if you want strong schools and established, tree-lined neighborhoods without living inside the city core, you want walkable retail and dining at Town Brookhaven plus real park access, and you’re comfortable in a competitive market and want a city that’s clearly investing in its own future. It’s probably not the fit if you’re looking for bargain pricing (this is one of the pricier corners of DeKalb County) or you want the density and nightlife of Midtown or Old Fourth Ward, since Brookhaven has a more suburban, settled feel.
So that’s Brookhaven: a city that’s only been official since 2012, built on land with roots going back over two centuries, and today one of the more competitive, higher income markets in all of DeKalb County. Strong schools, real park space, a walkable town center, and a community that voted to take its future into its own hands.
If Brookhaven sounds like it could be your next home, whether you are moving in 9 days or 9 months, reach out anytime. I’m Butch Whitfield with Harry Norman Realtors, and I specialize in Atlanta’s intown and close-in neighborhoods, including off market and unlisted homes you won’t find anywhere else. And if you are buying or selling, contact me anytime!
