Gwinnett · Hall · The Mall of Georgia city
About Buford
Buford is an incorporated city in northeast Georgia that spans two counties at once: Gwinnett and Hall. It grew up around the railroad that reached the area in 1871, took its name from a railroad official, and is anchored today by the Mall of Georgia at I-85 Exit 115 and a historic Main Street downtown that the mall era never erased.
Buford is a full-service city: it runs its own police, water, sewer, and sanitation, and it operates one of the few independent city school districts in the region. The county line that runs through the city decides which county's schools and taxes your address follows, so the first question for any Buford address is which side of the line it sits on.
What it is
A railroad city with a two-county footprint
Buford was named for Algernon Sidney Buford, a railroad official on the Atlanta to Richmond line, and it was incorporated as the Town of Buford by the Georgia General Assembly on August 24, 1872. A new charter in 1896 renamed it the City of Buford. The rail line, later part of the Richmond and Danville system, is the reason the settlement existed at all.
Today the city crosses Gwinnett and Hall counties. That has a practical effect on the ground: your address side decides which county's school district, ballot, and tax digest you fall under. The city itself provides the utility and service layer underneath both sides.
How it works
A commission city and the county split
The city provides
- Police, water, sewer, and sanitation through city departments.
- Parks and recreation, including Buford City Park.
- Its own school district for addresses inside the city limits.
The counties keep
- The public schools for addresses outside the city limits, by county.
- Property tax, elections, and county-level services.
- Part of the fire and emergency response, by county.
Where it sits
The interstate junction and the old main street
Buford sits where I-85 and I-985 meet, about forty miles northeast of Atlanta. The Mall of Georgia anchors the interstate side at Exit 115, Lake Lanier runs along the north end of the city, and the historic Main Street downtown holds the restaurants and the old storefronts that predate the mall.
Straight answers
Questions people actually ask
Is Buford really in two counties?
Yes. Gwinnett and Hall counties both run inside the city limits. The line predates the city's modern growth, and the city simply grew across it.
Which county is my address in?
That is the first check for any Buford address. The county line decides the school district, the ballot, and parts of your taxes, and a Buford mailing address does not reliably tell you which side you are on. The county assessor maps and the school district boundary maps are the sources to check before you commit. The schools page lays out the split.
Does the city provide its own services?
For the core utilities, yes: police, water, sewer, and sanitation are city services, and the city maintains its own parks. Schools and county-level services run through whichever county your lot sits in. The government page explains the whole picture.
Where it sits
Lake Lanier, downtown, and the mall
Lake Lanier
The lake runs along the city's north end, with the south-shore ramps and parks in the Buford orbit and Lanier Islands a short drive up the shoreline.
Downtown Buford
Main Street holds the historic storefronts, the breweries, and the restaurants that the mall era never erased.
The Mall of Georgia
The mall district at I-85 Exit 115 anchors the city's retail side, one of the largest malls in the Southeast.
Neighborhood orientation
Buford's living map runs from the lake side north to the mall corridor west and Main Street downtown, with the county line running through all of it.
An editorial guide, not a listings site. Updated September 13, 2026. Real-estate guidance on this page is provided by Rob Dietrich, REALTOR® with eXp Realty, LLC.