Snellville

Overview

Snellville is a short drive south of my home base in Lawrenceville: GA 124 connects the two in about 7 miles. The city covers about 10.6 square miles in southern Gwinnett County, centered on the crossroads where US 78 meets GA 124.

The big news is downtown. The Grove at Towne Center, a new city center planned since the late 1990s, is now open around a park, with a library branch, restaurants and events.

History in brief

Before European settlers arrived, the Muscogee (Creek) people lived in this area. In the 1870s, two young friends from London, Thomas Snell and James Sawyer, came here and went into business together. In 1879 they opened a store at what is now the southwest corner of US 78 and GA 124.

Snellville was incorporated in 1923, with Tom Snell’s nephew, Gladstone Snell, as its first mayor. After World War II, more residents took jobs outside farming, and the town began to change into a bedroom community, a place where people live and commute elsewhere for work. In the late 1950s, brothers Jimmy and Wayne Mason began building brick homes in the area, and the city grew by more than 200 percent.

The City Hall in the photo was dedicated on March 12, 2006. The city’s motto: “Snellville, Where Everybody’s Proud to be Somebody.”

Downtown & things to do

• The Grove at Towne Center. A $140 million public-private partnership of the city, Gwinnett County, MidCity Real Estate Partners and CASTO. Ground was broken in March 2021, and the grand opening celebration was on May 2, 2026.
• What’s there. A central park with a splash pad and a performance pavilion, nine new buildings, a 750-space parking deck, a Gwinnett County Public Library branch and The Tomlin apartments. Bronze statues of Snell and Sawyer stand in The Grove.
• Food. Places now open include a brewery, pizza, dumplings, a taqueria, barbecue, Mediterranean food and dessert shops.
• Events. The 2026 calendar includes the Downtown Tunes concert series, movies on the lawn and holiday events.
• Farmers’ market. First and third Saturdays of each month, 9 a.m. to noon, October 2026 through April 2027, in the City Hall parking lot (2342 Oak Road).

Parks & outdoors

• T.W. Briscoe Park (city). A 6-acre lake, a 1.2-mile paved walking trail, an outdoor pool, three playgrounds, ball fields, pavilions, and tennis and basketball courts.
• Lenora Park (county). A recreation center with a gym, a fishing lake, a dog park area, an 18-hole disc golf course, a 1.5-mile paved trail, six lighted pickleball courts and an outdoor pool.

Getting around

US 78 runs through the middle of the city: west toward downtown Atlanta, east toward Loganville and Monroe. GA 124 crosses it in the center of town and runs north to Lawrenceville and south toward Lithonia.

Ride Gwinnett has a microtransit zone in Snellville: shared rides you book in the Ride Gwinnett app or by phone, $3 per trip, Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

My advice: before you make an offer, drive from the home to work at the time you’d really be commuting.

Homes & the market

Here’s where Snellville stood in September 2026:

• Median sale price: $377,320, down 3.9% from a year earlier (Redfin, last three months of sales). The median for all of Gwinnett County was $409,085.
• Typical home value: $350,225, down 2.3% (Zillow Home Value Index).
• Pace: homes sold after about 48 days (53 a year earlier), for 98.3% of the list price on average. 79 homes sold in September, compared with 85 in September 2025 (Redfin).

Homes for sale by ZIP code, September 2026 (Realtor.com). These ZIP codes reach beyond the city limits.

ZIP	Homes for sale	Median list price
30039	195	$384,855
30078	170	$409,875

Types of homes: Census estimates for 2020–2024 show about 88% of the city’s housing units are single-family detached houses and about 3% are townhomes or other attached homes. About 44% were built between 1970 and 1989, about 41% between 1990 and 2009, and about 10% in 2010 or later. The Tomlin added 288 apartments at The Grove.

Check the county. Some homes with a Snellville mailing address are in DeKalb or Rockdale County, outside the city. The county affects property taxes, schools and which programs you can use, so check the tax record yourself. Never rely on verbal promises: make sure everything is in writing.

Buying your first home? Gwinnett’s Homestretch program has a price cap of $371,000 for an existing home and $425,000 for new construction, and the home must be in Gwinnett County. Read my down payment help guide, and confirm with a licensed lender whether you qualify.

Schools

The City of Snellville is served by Gwinnett County Public Schools. Assignments depend on the exact address, so check any home with the district’s school locator. If a home with a Snellville address is in DeKalb or Rockdale County, check with that county’s district instead. For public data on any Georgia public school, see the state’s K-12 Report Card.

What’s next

• Briscoe Park Community Center: The city has been building a center of about 34,000 square feet at T.W. Briscoe Park, with two indoor multi-sport courts, an indoor walking track and activity rooms. The $11.3 million project is funded mostly by a voter-approved sales tax for recreation (SPLOST). Construction was set to start in May 2025 and last through summer 2026; check the city’s updates page for the opening date.
• More at The Grove: The city lists a 9,000-square-foot event space as coming soon.

Want to be close to The Grove, with its park, splash pad and library? Text me or book a free call and we’ll look at homes near downtown Snellville that fit your budget.