Housing in Lyerly reflects the town's small scale and railroad-era origins. The community is made up largely of modest single-family homes, with a mix of older frame houses and mid-century ranch homes on small to medium lots, and most residents own their homes. The town's compact footprint keeps properties close together, giving it a settled, established feel rather than the open fields of new subdivision construction. Some larger lots and rural parcels are found on the town's edges and in the surrounding unincorporated countryside, where homes sit among pasture and wooded hills. Because Lyerly is small and fully developed, inventory tends to be limited and tied to existing homes rather than new construction. Buyers are typically drawn by the town's affordability, quiet setting, and proximity to Summerville and the wider northwest Georgia region rather than by large-scale amenities.

Lyerly functions as a single small community rather than a town of distinct neighborhoods. The original townsite, laid out around the Chattanooga, Rome and Columbus Railroad depot in 1888, still forms the core of the town, with its streets arranged on a simple grid near the railroad corridor and the Chattooga River. Residential blocks and a few small commercial buildings cluster near the center, while homes thin out toward the town's edges and blend into the surrounding farmland. State Route 114 forms the town's main corridor, connecting Lyerly to Summerville and to the Alabama line. Nearby Summerville serves as the commercial and service hub for Lyerly residents, and the surrounding Chattooga County countryside provides the pastoral backdrop that defines the town's setting.

Lyerly offers a slow-paced, community-centered way of life typical of small northwest Georgia towns. Daily life revolves around the local school, churches such as the historic Lyerly Baptist Church, and the nearby county seat of Summerville, where residents shop, dine, and attend community events. The surrounding countryside provides opportunities for fishing, hunting, and outdoor recreation, with the Chattooga River and the Chattahoochee National Forest close by. The region's cultural landmarks, including Howard Finster's Paradise Garden folk-art environment near Summerville, add a distinctive local character. Residents commute to Rome or Chattanooga for broader employment and services, while returning to a town where the population is small enough that neighbors know one another. It is a lifestyle built on rural space, local institutions, and proximity to the Appalachian foothills.

Lyerly is served by the Chattooga County Schools, the county-wide public school district. Lyerly Elementary School, located in the town, serves students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade and enrolls roughly 330 students, giving Lyerly a small, community-based school at its center. After eighth grade, students attend Chattooga High School and the district's other schools in nearby Summerville. The district as a whole serves the communities of Chattooga County, including Summerville, Menlo, and Trion's surrounding areas. The presence of a local elementary school within the town is a defining feature of Lyerly and keeps the school a focal point of community life for families with school-age children.

Lyerly sits on Georgia State Route 114, which connects the town to Summerville, the Chattooga County seat, about six miles to the northeast, and continues southwest to the Alabama state line near Gaylesville. From Summerville, U.S. Route 27 runs north-south through the county, linking the area to Rome, Georgia, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, which lies roughly an hour to the north. Rome is about a 25-minute drive to the southeast and offers the nearest larger employment, shopping, and medical services. Travel within the region is almost entirely by private vehicle, consistent with the area's rural character, and there is no public transit within Lyerly itself. The town's position on a quiet state route, within reach of both Rome and Chattanooga, defines its practical access to the wider region.

Recreation around Lyerly draws on the outdoor character of northwest Georgia. The Chattooga River, which flows along the town's edge, offers fishing and quiet riverside access, and the Chattahoochee National Forest lies a short drive away with hiking, camping, and forest roads across the Appalachian foothills. Nearby parks include Dowdy Park in Summerville, which provides a walking track, playground, and gazebos and hosts community events, while James H. "Sloppy" Floyd State Park, also near Summerville, offers stocked fishing lakes and hiking trails. Howard Finster's Paradise Garden, the celebrated folk-art environment he built just outside Summerville, draws visitors from around the country. The combination of river, forest, state park, and cultural landmark gives Lyerly residents a quiet setting with genuine recreational depth within minutes of home.