Americus, Georgia

Area Profile

15,813 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Americus, in Sumter County.

42out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 5% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity3,836th of 4,199 cities measured33
Schools3,781st of 4,162 cities measured18
Growth4,208th of 4,224 cities measured7
Housing affordabilityTop 34% of 4,218 cities measured72
ClimateTop 12% of 4,225 cities measured81
Physical resilience2,330th of 4,226 cities measured52
Access4,155th of 4,226 cities measured40
Economic stability4,058th of 4,226 cities measured23
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 4.5% and the Opportunity signal places Americus in the bottom 9%. The unemployment rate is published for Sumter County, GA, which contains Americus, rather than for Americus alone.

In the public schools here, 20% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.1 students for every teacher.

No residential units were authorized over the past twelve months, against a nonzero total the year before. The change in permitting is published for Sumter County, GA, which contains Americus, rather than for Americus alone.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
15,813
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$39,176
Bottom 10% nationally
Density
1,393/sq mi
11.4 sq mi of land
Median age
28.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Georgia
Micro area
Nearest major airport
DHN
89 mi · Dothan Rgnl
Median home value
$107,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Sumter County, GA, which contains Americus, is 4.5% — higher than in all but 43% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Sumter County, GA, which contains Americus, fell 0.9% over the past year, to 11,052 employed residents.

Median household income of $39,176 is lower than in 90% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsSumter County, GA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$37,1621st percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftSumter County, GA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$46,6943rd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,8312024 ACS 5-Year$39,176Bottom 10%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,1442024 ACS 5-Year$20,830Bottom 10%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±7%2024 ACS 5-Year30.2%Bottom 10%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year19.2 minTop 15%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year21.9%Top 46%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year70.1%28th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentSumter County, GA’s figureJuly 202611,052Bottom 4%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Sumter County, GA’s figureJuly 2026−8.4%Bottom 1%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Sumter County, GA’s figureJuly 2026−0.9%Bottom 49%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceSumter County, GA’s figureJuly 202611,5784th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year72.3%Bottom 32%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Sumter County, GA’s figureJuly 2026−0.6%Top 23%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateSumter County, GA’s figureJuly 20264.5%Bottom 43%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year9.9%60th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202440k33k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $39,176 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Sumter County, GA, which contains this city.

20% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 19% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.1 students for every full-time teacher across 6 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
6
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.1
across all schools here
Math proficiency
20.3%
Bottom 3% in Georgia
Reading proficiency
18.7%
Bottom 1% in Georgia
All 6 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Sumter County High SchoolSumter County1,03715.5——
Sumter County Primary SchoolSumter County72412.9——
Sumter County Intermediate SchoolSumter County71112.320%19%
Furlow Charter School · charterState Specialty Schools II- Furlow Charter School58511.9——
Sumter County Middle SchoolSumter County54912.524%23%
Sumter County Elementary SchoolSumter County53912.517%14%

91.0% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Georgia’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Georgia is up 57% over five years, and up 3.4% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,380 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.28% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,088, some 30% above the $834 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,088 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $43,500 a year, about 111% of the median household income here of $39,176.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $834 a month.

A median home at $107,500 costs 1.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $56,512, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
30.3%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.9×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,088
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$834
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$107,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Americus’s median household income of $39,176, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Georgia’s figure2026 Q2+3.4%54th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Georgia’s figure2026 Q2+56.5%91st percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Georgia’s figure2026 Q2+115.5%82nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year1.9Top 29%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year36.3%3rd percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3002024 ACS 5-Year7,25392nd percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$829Top 10%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,305Top 8%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,088Top 13%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$602024 ACS 5-Year$834Top 33%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$17,5992024 ACS 5-Year$107,50022nd percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2522024 ACS 5-Year$1,38038th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$8,6792024 ACS 5-Year$56,512Bottom 19%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.31%2024 ACS 5-Year1.28%68th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year30.3%Bottom 39%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1332024 ACS 5-Year31296th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year4.3%79th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year11.5%69th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2872024 ACS 5-Year1,14795th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

7/ 100
Ranks 4,208 of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 2 years of a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 3% since 2020, to 15,742 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 0 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes. The multifamily share is published for Sumter County, GA, which contains Americus, rather than for Americus alone.

Federal tax returns show Sumter County, which contains Americus, lost about 0.6% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $37,162, below the $46,694 of households that moved out.

At 0.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
0
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.0
Bottom 1% nationally
Year over year
−24%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202416k16k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.6%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
26%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$37,162
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$46,694
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Schley County, GA 75 people · 7.9% of arrivals
  2. Lee County, GA 63 people · 6.6% of arrivals
  3. Houston County, GA 60 people · 6.3% of arrivals
  4. Dougherty County, GA 52 people · 5.4% of arrivals
  5. Crisp County, GA 43 people · 4.5% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Houston County, GA 123 people · 11% of departures
  2. Dougherty County, GA 93 people · 8.6% of departures
  3. Lee County, GA 92 people · 8.5% of departures
  4. Schley County, GA 90 people · 8.3% of departures
  5. Fulton County, GA 42 people · 3.9% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Sumter County, GA. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025510.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−100%).

Weather & climate

8 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 91°F and January a low of 35°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 53.4 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 38, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station AMERICUS, 3.3 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND6.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year492024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals53.4"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals35°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals81991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year382024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals34°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
38
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
49
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

52 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, drought and hurricane, with inland flooding alone responsible for 42% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

DroughtElevated
HurricaneElevated
Heat waveModerate
TornadoElevated
LightningModerate
HailModerate
EarthquakeModerate
Strong windModerate
LandslideModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: wildfire, inland flooding, winter weather, ice storm, tsunami, volcanic activity, coastal flooding, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
902
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
3,071
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Americus's police department reported 902 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 3,071.

Sumter County has a modeled homicide rate of about 10.8 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 21.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 15.6 per 100,000 residents in Sumter County.

Homicide
10.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
21.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
15.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
17.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Americus’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Americus (Sumter County) rather than Americus itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Dothan Rgnl at 89 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year87.8%Bottom 41%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle89 miBottom 2%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 1%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year9.6%Bottom 39%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Dothan RgnlDHN89 mi8,500 ft
Valdosta RgnlVLD105 mi8,003 ft
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta IntlATL109 mi12,390 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
42
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April 2025 to March 2026; March 2025 to February 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Americus

2 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in Americus with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
3170915,529$41,531$139,80043
317198,533$42,905$81,60041