Community 02 · Gwinnett County

Mulberry.

Name: Mulberry
Address: GA

Mulberry is Gwinnett County's newest city, incorporated in 2024 and fully operational since January 1, 2025. Roughly 41,000 residents live across about 26 square miles straddling both sides of Interstate 85 at the county's northern edge. This is the working brief: cityhood, taxes, the market and the commute, read like a local.

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Relocating to Mulberry? Read Rob's moving guide.

Market Intelligence

Mulberry, read like a local

Mulberry incorporated in 2024, and the ground is settling along predictable lines: established neighborhoods, builder programs turning over new construction, and larger homes and acreage carrying the higher end of the range. The practical draw is geographical, Gwinnett County Public Schools, Interstate 85 running through town on both sides, and Lake Lanier a short drive north.

The tax picture is part of the identity. Mulberry operates as a low-service city with no city property tax, so the day-to-day conversation with buyers is about which services come from the county and what the city will add when voters say so. The status is not itself a price story; it is a location story that is still being written.

The strategy read: this brief is the working file, kept current as the market moves. Use it to shortlist, then bring your questions to the fifteen-minute call, where the real plan gets built.

At a glance

Incorporated in 2024, fully operational since January 1, 2025
Largest city in Gwinnett by land area, on both sides of Interstate 85
About 41,000 residents, bordering Hall and Barrow counties and the City of Braselton
No city property tax; additional services require a referendum

The Commute

Interstate 85 cuts through Mulberry, with direct runs south toward the Mall of Georgia corridor and the north Atlanta job centers, and north toward Lake Lanier. Downtown Atlanta runs roughly 50 minutes on a clear day.

Getting Around

Getting around Mulberry

Mulberry is a car-first city, and Interstate 85 running through the middle of it is the whole commute story in one line. The detail below is the verified version: the roads that carry the traffic, realistic drive times at the times people actually drive, the transit that exists and what it does not reach, and the airport math.

The roads

Interstate 85: Runs north-south through the heart of Mulberry. The Hamilton Mill Road interchange, Exit 120, sits inside the city, and the I-85 express lanes were extended to that interchange, so the paid lanes run from Mulberry toward Atlanta.
State Route 20 (Buford Drive): The main east-west artery through the Buford and Mulberry area, crossing I-85 at Exit 115, the Mall of Georgia interchange, just south of the city. It is the practical connector to the mall corridor and the retail around it.
Hamilton Mill Parkway: Continues east from I-85 at Exit 120 and is the spine of the Hamilton Mill community, carrying most local traffic into the Mulberry neighborhoods on the east side of the interstate.
A new I-85 interchange planned at Gravel Springs Road: Between SR 20 and Hamilton Mill, planned in part to take pressure off the Hamilton Mill exits as the corridor grows.
State Route 124: Runs close to the I-85 corridor through the Hamilton Mill area and continues south into Lawrenceville, giving the east side of Mulberry a non-interstate route to the county seat.

Transit

No Ride Gwinnett fixed route or park-and-ride lot sits inside Mulberry itself. The nearest options are at the Hamilton Mill, Mall of Georgia, Buford, and Sugarloaf Mills lots, all minutes from the city around the Buford border.
Xpress commuter express routes, the regional service that now runs the Atlanta commuter lines from Gwinnett, work from those lots: routes 413 and 414 from Hamilton Mill, 411 and 412 from Buford, and 411, 413 and 414 from Mall of Georgia, all into downtown or midtown Atlanta.
Ride Gwinnett local routes cover the neighborhood level: Route 50 links Suwanee to the Mall of Georgia and Buford area, and routes 10A and 10B run from Sugarloaf Mills to the Doraville MARTA station for Gold Line rail.
Xpress express routes also stop at MARTA stations inside Atlanta, from Civic Center and Five Points downtown to North Avenue and Arts Center in midtown, and fares connect between transit and rail on a Breeze card. Every option starts with a drive to a lot, and the schedules are commuter-oriented, so check the current timetable before building a routine on one.

Realistic drive times

Downtown Atlanta: about 50 minutes on a clear day , straight down I-85 once you are on it
Mall of Georgia area, Buford: about 10 to 15 minutes , just off I-85 at Exit 115
Lawrenceville: about 25 to 35 minutes , I-85 south or GA 124
Gainesville: about 30 to 35 minutes , I-85 north to the I-985 split
Rowen knowledge community, GA 316 near Dacula: about 10 to 15 minutes , roughly 8 miles southeast on local roads

The honest weekday note is I-85 southbound: peak congestion from the Hamilton Mill exits toward the Mall of Georgia and the I-285 stack can add 30 minutes or more on top of those ranges, and airport runs meet the same wall on I-285. Employer-by-employer numbers for the corridor, including Siemens near Pendergrass, are in the Jobs Corridor section further down this page.

The airport

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL): about 55 to 65 minutes on a normal day, longer when I-85 or I-285 is congested.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the region's hub, with nonstop and connecting service just about everywhere. From Mulberry the trip is a drive: MARTA rail reaches the airport from Doraville and other stations, but only after a drive to a station first, so most residents drive the whole way and budget the extra time on weekday runs.

The practical takeaway

For a Mulberry buyer the car is the default, and the honest advice is to keep it that way. The park-and-ride express routes are a genuine option for Atlanta office commutes and the local routes reach the rail at Doraville, but errands, school runs, and most of the job-center sites work better with a vehicle. Before you commit, drive the commute you will actually make once during a weekday peak, and ask Rob to pull the current transit schedules if a one-car household is part of the plan.

Schools

The district, without the shorthand

For most relocations, the school district is the first question. This is the governing district for Mulberry, kept direct and current.

The School District

Mulberry sits in Gwinnett County Public Schools, the public school district governing the area.

School assignments and attendance zones can change, and buyers should verify the assigned schools for a specific property directly with the district before relying on them. Rob checks the current boundary map for every address before any school conversation.

The Facts

Mulberry, by the numbers

Incorporated

2024

Fully operational

January 1, 2025

Land area

Largest city in Gwinnett by land area

Location

Both sides of Interstate 85

Borders

Hall and Barrow counties and Braselton

Residents

About 41,000

City property tax

None today; new services need a referendum

Rob's Take on Mulberry

“New-city status is genuinely rare, and it changes how buyers and sellers should think. The story of Mulberry is being written now: what gets zoned, what services arrive, how the commercial corridors fill in. The people buying and listing today are setting the comps the whole city will trade against. It rarely comes this clean, an opening to get grounded in a market's story from day one, before the narrative hardens. The plan gets built around the facts, not the story.”

Rob Dietrich, REALTOR®, eXp Realty

How it happened

Why Mulberry became a city

Enough context to understand the place, written without the spin. The short version: a development question became a governance question, and the voters answered it.

Cityhood followed a developer proposal to build hundreds of apartments in a roughly 26-square-mile section of northeastern Gwinnett County that had no multi-family housing. The proposal grew into a larger question about how the area should govern itself, and the incorporation question went to voters.

Voters approved incorporation with roughly 57% support in 2024. Mulberry began operating as a low-service city on January 1, 2025, with no city property tax and intentionally limited municipal services. Anything the city adds, from parks to services, is decided by referendum as residents ask for it.

Asked Often

The questions buyers lead with

Straight answers first, detail on the call. Each question below is one Rob actually fields about Mulberry.

Is Mulberry GA a new city?

Yes. Mulberry incorporated in 2024 and became fully operational as a city on January 1, 2025. It is also Gwinnett's largest city by land area, spanning roughly 26 square miles of northeastern Gwinnett County on both sides of Interstate 85, with about 41,000 residents.

Where is Mulberry, Georgia?

Mulberry sits at the northern edge of Gwinnett County, straddling both sides of Interstate 85. The city borders Hall and Barrow counties and the City of Braselton, with Lake Lanier close to the north and the rest of metro Atlanta to the south.

Is Mulberry in Gwinnett County?

Yes. Mulberry is a city in Gwinnett County, formed from the county's unincorporated northeastern corner. Public schools are provided through Gwinnett County Public Schools, and the cluster assignment rides on the address.

Is Mulberry a good place to live?

For buyers who want what north Gwinnett does best, yes: Gwinnett schools, direct Interstate 85 access toward the metro, lake country to the north, and a housing mix that runs from established neighborhoods to new construction to homes on acreage. The honest trade-off is that municipal services are still limited today, and some of the commercial and civic fabric is only beginning to fill in. It is a place to buy, hold and watch take shape.

How much do homes cost in Mulberry?

Values in the Mulberry area have historically run well above the Gwinnett County average, with reported average prices around the mid-to-high $500,000 range versus roughly $420,000 countywide. The number that matters for a decision is the one pulled for your street and school cluster, since headline averages move week to week.

Does Mulberry have a property tax?

No city property tax. Mulberry runs as a low-service city, so municipal services stay limited unless voters approve more by referendum. Gwinnett County and school property taxes apply across the city just as they do everywhere else in the county.

How far is Mulberry from Atlanta?

Interstate 85 runs straight through Mulberry, and downtown Atlanta sits roughly 50 minutes south on a clear day. The north Atlanta job centers are closer, which is why most commutes from Mulberry point south along the I-85 corridor.

What should buyers and sellers know about the Mulberry market?

Three things. First, values here have historically run above the Gwinnett County average, with a wide spread from established neighborhoods to newer construction to acreage. Second, new-city status does not change appraisal math, so prices still get set by evidence, not narrative. Third, because the city is young, today's transactions help set the comps tomorrow's buyers will measure against. That is why the working file matters more here than in most markets.

What jobs are near Mulberry?

Roughly a short drive away, employers anchor on both sides of I-85: Siemens near Pendergrass in Jackson County (announced August 2026, about a $185 million investment targeting roughly 1,400 jobs(, SK Battery in Commerce, Amazon and Fox Factory in Braselton, Kubota across Jefferson and Gainesville, Socomec planned in Suwanee, Cisco in Lawrenceville and Publixin Dacula. From Mulberry, most of these run roughly fifteen to thirty-five minutes away on a normal day.

Is Mulberry a good commute for the new plants coming to Jackson County?

For most of them, yes. Mulberry sits roughly centered among the corridor's anchors, with I-85 running through town and employers within a roughly 25 to 35 minute radius. Traffic concentrates at shift changes, and any commute number depends on when you leave.

Read the full answer

Why would an out-of-state worker choose Mulberry?

Because it bases the move on the corridor, not on one employer. One I-85 base puts several plants, warehouses, tech offices and manufacturers within a short drive, so a job change does not automatically mean a forced home move. Add Gwinnett schools, no city property tax, established neighborhoods plus new constructionand larger homes, and Lake Lanier nearby, and the package becomes a strategy position, not just a commute win. It is not the cheapest corner of the map;it is a balanced one. The full breakdown, employers and commute table, lives on the Relocate page.

Working Mulberry

The market, read honestly

The stable part of the story is real: the market sits in north Gwinnett, priced above the county average, and it runs on the same drivers, schools, I-85 access, housing variety and proximity to the lake. That combination has kept demand consistent here even as the housing mix widened from established neighborhoods to acreage and new construction.

What actually moves the needle is execution: which subdivision, which floor plan, which comps closed. New-city status does not change appraisal math, so prices get set by evidence, not narrative. The strategy is to shortlist from the working file, then price, offer or list against the current numbers for your street. That is where a live conversation beats any page.

Buy into Mulberry with strategy Sell in Mulberry Request the current market numbers Book a call about Mulberry Fifteen minutes on the calendar

Prefer a conversation? Call or text Rob at 770-230-4277, or book fifteen minutes and the plan gets built around your street, your numbers and your timeline.

The Jobs Corridor

A jobs corridor at your doorstep

I-85 runs straight through Mulberry, putting the region's newest industrial and tech anchors within a short drive. The numbers below are reported figures, attributed as announced or reported, not promises.

Siemens

Pendergrass, Jackson County

Announced August 2026, targeting about 1,400 jobs, expected about three years

SK Battery

Commerce, Jackson County

The roughly $2.6 billion EV complex; the EV cycle is adjusting

Amazon

Braselton, 650 Broadway Ave

A 600,000+ sq ft fulfillment center, 500+ jobs reported

Fox Factory

Braselton, plus Gainesville ties

Ride-dynamics and suspension manufacturer, engineering and production roles

Kubota

Jefferson and Gainesville

Reporting 3,500+ employees;half the brand's US equipment ships from Georgia

Socomec

Suwanee, Gwinnett County

Planned electrical-components manufacturing, a project reported at about a $10M investment targeting roughly 300 jobs

Cisco

Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County

One of the county's largest tech employers, hiring across network and engineering

Publix

Dacula, Gwinnett County

A large distribution operation reported at roughly 1,500 jobs, a stable anchor

Approximate commutes from Mulberry

Braselton about 15-20 minutes, Dacula about ~15-20, Pendergrass about ~25-30, Jefferson about ~25-30, Suwanee about ~25-30, Lawrenceville about ~25-35, Commerce about ~30-35 and Gainesville about ~30-35. Approximate ranges on normal days, traffic varies,and these are not promises.

The full jobs breakdown

Rowen,the GA 316 knowledge community with its reported $2 billion UCB anchor, is a second,longer-horizon engine for eastern Gwinnett,part of why the region's job base runs far deeper than any one corridor. Read the Rowen brief.

Rob's Take on what it means for buyers and sellers

For a relocation buyer, Mulberry bases the move on the corridor instead of one plant:when the employer shifts or the expansion lands, the home still makes sense. For sellers, that same corridor is the demand story:the job base keeps widening, which keeps a floor under resale interest. Neither argument depends on a single headline, which is the point.

Relocating for work? See the full jobs and commute breakdown, including Siemens, SK, Amazon and more, on the Relocate page. Read the guide.