Riverdale Homes for Sale

What Riverdale is like

Clayton County was created on November 30, 1858 – Georgia’s 125th county – out of parts of Fayette and Henry counties, and named for Augustin Smith Clayton, a Virginia-born statesman who served in Congress in the 1830s. Jonesboro is the county seat.

Riverdale was founded in 1886, when the railroad reached the area, and incorporated in 1908. It is named for W. S. Rivers, who owned the town site and gave the land to the railroad company. The 2020 census counted 15,129 residents.

The city is about 12 miles south of downtown Atlanta and sits just south of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. For a great many buyers here, that proximity is the entire proposition: airport employees, airline crews, and anyone whose work takes them through the south side of I-285 regularly.

City limits and the mailing address

Clayton County has both incorporated cities – Jonesboro, Morrow, Forest Park, Lake City, Lovejoy and Riverdale – and unincorporated county in between. The Riverdale mailing address covers more ground than the city of about 15,000 people does.

That means a home advertised as being in Riverdale may be in the city or in unincorporated Clayton County. The difference shows up in who provides some services, in the tax bill and in which code enforcement and permitting office you deal with. Confirm it for any house you are serious about.

Riverdale Town Center

Riverdale Town Center on Church Street, just off Highway 85, is the civic center of the city: an outdoor amphitheater used for concerts and community events, a splash pad, fitness studios running public classes, and an art studio and entertainment lounge available for private rental. The city runs a regular events program there, from Fun Fridays to job fairs to a Halloween event.

It is a useful thing to know about when you are comparing towns, because it is where the city’s public life actually happens. If you are looking at homes in Riverdale, go to something at the Town Center before you decide.

The Highway 85 corridor and the hospital

Highway 85 is the commercial spine of Riverdale, and most of the city’s shopping and services sit on or just off it. Highway 139 and Highway 138 are the other state routes through the area.

Southern Regional Medical Center on Upper Riverdale Road is the hospital serving this part of the south metro. It has been open since 1971, is licensed for 331 beds, and is part of Prime Healthcare. Its emergency department is the closest one for most Riverdale addresses, which is worth knowing when you are weighing one south metro town against another.

Neighborhoods and housing

Riverdale is mostly single-family subdivisions of varying ages, with townhomes and some multifamily in the mix. Because the city grew in several waves from the 1960s onward rather than all at once, the age and condition of the housing varies a great deal street to street.

The city’s parks – Travon D. Wilson Memorial Park, Church Park and Banks Park – are spread around the city rather than concentrated in one place, so most neighborhoods have one within a short drive.

Because the stock is so mixed, an inspection matters more here than in a town where everything was built in the same decade. The live listings at the top of this page show what is on the market in Riverdale now.

Schools

Public schools are run by Clayton County Public Schools. The two high schools serving the city are Riverdale High School and Charles Drew High School.

Attendance follows the address, so confirm the zoned elementary, middle and high schools for a particular house with the district, and get current performance information from the district or the Georgia Department of Education rather than from a listing.

Getting around

Hartsfield-Jackson is immediately north of the city, and downtown Atlanta is about 12 miles up the road. I-75 runs northeast of the city limits and I-285 crosses just north of the airport, so both are short drives rather than long ones.

On the surface, Highway 85 runs northwest toward the airport and College Park and southeast toward Fayetteville, and Highway 138 crosses east toward Jonesboro and Stockbridge. Tara Boulevard – US-19/41 – is a few minutes east through Jonesboro for anyone heading south toward Hampton and Griffin.

Nearby towns

• Jonesboro
• Union City
• Fairburn
• Fayetteville