Cairo, Georgia

Area Profile

10,055 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Cairo, in Grady County.

49out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 18% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity2,242nd of 4,199 cities measured55
Schools3,647th of 4,162 cities measured20
Growth3,194th of 4,224 cities measured37
Housing affordabilityTop 39% of 4,218 cities measured70
ClimateTop 21% of 4,225 cities measured78
Physical resilience3,128th of 4,226 cities measured33
Access3,263rd of 4,226 cities measured81
Economic stability4,083rd of 4,226 cities measured22
The quick read

Unemployment is 2.9% and median household income $40,920, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Grady County, GA, which contains Cairo, rather than for Cairo alone.

In the public schools here, 24% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.4 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 12 units authorized over the past twelve months, against 15 the year before. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

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
10,055
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$40,920
Bottom 11% nationally
Density
1,024/sq mi
9.8 sq mi of land
Median age
32.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Georgia
Micro area
Nearest major airport
TLH
34 mi · Tallahassee Intl
Median home value
$108,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Grady County, GA, which contains Cairo, is 2.9%, lower than in 95% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Grady County, GA, which contains Cairo, grew 1.0% over the past year, to 10,914 employed residents.

Median household income of $40,920 is lower than in 89% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsGrady County, GA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$47,5565th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftGrady County, GA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$45,8383rd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$5,9552024 ACS 5-Year$40,920Bottom 11%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,7562024 ACS 5-Year$22,228Bottom 13%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year27.8%Bottom 12%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year25.6 minTop 44%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year12.3%Bottom 27%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±8%2024 ACS 5-Year84.0%73rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentGrady County, GA’s figureJuly 202610,914Bottom 4%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Grady County, GA’s figureJuly 2026−1.9%Bottom 26%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Grady County, GA’s figureJuly 2026+1.0%Top 19%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceGrady County, GA’s figureJuly 202611,2424th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year62.9%Bottom 15%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Grady County, GA’s figureJuly 2026−0.5%Top 25%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateGrady County, GA’s figureJuly 20262.9%Top 5%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year2.4%24th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202441k36k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $40,920 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 Grady County, GA, which contains this city.

24% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 26% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.4 students for every full-time teacher across 4 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
4
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.4
across all schools here
Math proficiency
24.4%
Bottom 10% in Georgia
Reading proficiency
26.2%
Bottom 5% in Georgia
All 4 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Cairo High SchoolGrady County1,31716.920%27%
Eastside Elementary SchoolGrady County73513.639%27%
Washington Middle SchoolGrady County63113.417%20%
Southside Elementary SchoolGrady County61012.424%30%

95.8% 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 $1,410 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.30% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $973, some 25% above the $778 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $973 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $38,900 a year, about 95% of the median household income here of $40,920.

The typical renter household here spends 31% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $778 a month.

A median home at $108,800 costs 1.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $72,813, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
31.1%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$973
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$778
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$108,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Cairo’s median household income of $40,920, 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-Year1.5Top 15%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year48.1%8th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2942024 ACS 5-Year4,06286th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$742Top 3%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,343Top 10%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$973Top 5%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$362024 ACS 5-Year$778Top 26%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$24,5732024 ACS 5-Year$108,80023rd percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2102024 ACS 5-Year$1,41039th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$12,9252024 ACS 5-Year$72,813Bottom 41%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.35%2024 ACS 5-Year1.30%69th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year31.1%Bottom 36%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1842024 ACS 5-Year23695th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year5.8%82nd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year7.3%52nd percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2162024 ACS 5-Year53290th 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

37/ 100
Ranks 3,194 of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 3 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 1% since 2020, to 10,057 in 2024.

Permit activity rose in each of the 3 calendar years through 2025. Over the twelve months since, it has turned the other way — against 15 the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 12 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Grady County, which contains Cairo, gained 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 $47,556, close to the $45,838 of households that moved out.

At 1.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
12
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.2
Bottom 29% nationally
Year over year
−20%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202410k10k
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
39%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$47,556
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$45,838
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Thomas County, GA 278 people · 27% of arrivals
  2. Leon County, FL 100 people · 9.6% of arrivals
  3. Mitchell County, GA 85 people · 8.2% of arrivals
  4. Decatur County, GA 62 people · 6.0% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Thomas County, GA 290 people · 31% of departures
  2. Mitchell County, GA 84 people · 8.9% of departures
  3. Leon County, FL 75 people · 8.0% of departures
  4. Decatur County, GA 54 people · 5.8% 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 Grady County, GA. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025164.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+300%).

Weather & climate

7 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 39°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 49.5 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station NEWTON 11 SW, 25.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals49.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals39°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals31°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

33 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, inland flooding and tornado, with hurricane alone responsible for 31% of it. Inland flooding and tornado are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

HurricaneElevated
Cold waveElevated
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: tornado, wildfire, drought, heat wave, inland flooding, earthquake, strong wind, hail, landslide, 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
160
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,775
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.

Cairo's police department reported 160 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,775.

Grady County records 0.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 16.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 0.0 per 100,000 residents in Grady County.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
16.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
16.8
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 Cairo’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 Cairo (Grady County) rather than Cairo 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.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
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

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Tallahassee Intl at 34 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year80.8%Bottom 20%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle34 miBottom 23%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year14.7%Bottom 22%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Tallahassee IntlTLH34 mi8,000 ft
Valdosta RgnlVLD56 mi8,003 ft
Dothan RgnlDHN80 mi8,500 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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49
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Other cities in Thomasville, GA

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
ThomasvilleThomas County18,66653Thomasville vs Cairo

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Cairo side by side with a similar place.

Cairo vs Moss PointCairo vs Nogales

Moving to Cairo from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

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
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
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 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
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 Cairo

2 ZIP areas

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

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
3982815,423$53,901$137,80050
398274,730$61,172$158,00054