Barrow County, GA

County Profile

89,886 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Barrow County, GA.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

74out of 100
Area Score
Top 6% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 7% of 1,463 counties measured81
SchoolsTop 37% of 1,377 counties measured60
GrowthTop 3% of 1,453 counties measured83
Housing affordability841st of 1,462 counties measured72
ClimateTop 6% of 1,463 counties measured80
Physical resilienceTop 41% of 1,463 counties measured66
Access1,020th of 1,463 counties measured70
Economic stabilityTop 22% of 1,463 counties measured79
The quick read

Barrow County ranks in the top 7% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 2.7% and median household income of $80,653.

In the public schools here, 43% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.2 students for every teacher.

1,573 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 4% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

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
89,886
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$80,653
Top 17% nationally
Density
558/sq mi
161.1 sq mi of land
Median age
36.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Barrow County
Georgia
Nearest major airport
ATL
48 mi · Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta Intl
Median home value
$294,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 2.7%, lower than in 95% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 1.0% over the past year, to 48,383 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$62,04759th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$60,33857th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,2082024 ACS 5-Year$80,653Top 17%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$9052024 ACS 5-Year$33,600Bottom 43%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$49,618Bottom 22%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year9.6%Top 24%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year36.4 minBottom 5%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year21.2%Bottom 45%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year78.3%55th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202648,383Top 40%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+3.8%Top 13%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+1.0%Top 20%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202649,73460th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year80.5%Top 25%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%35th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.3%Top 42%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20262.7%Top 5%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year9.3%57th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/073.22.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 2.7% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202481k68k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $80,653 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.

Largest occupations — Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons84,970$32,850
Fast Food and Counter Workers80,730$27,780
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand78,460$39,020
General and Operations Managers69,320$111,410
Customer Service Representatives59,990$42,710
Registered Nurses56,460$100,490

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

43% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 44% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.2 students for every full-time teacher across 17 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
17
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
42.9%
Top 47% in Georgia
Reading proficiency
44.5%
Top 41% in Georgia
The 12 largest of 17 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Apalachee High SchoolBarrow County1,94914.935%46%
Winder-Barrow High SchoolBarrow County1,86915.031%43%
Russell Middle SchoolBarrow County97315.047%45%
Haymon-Morris Middle SchoolBarrow County97314.744%44%
Barrow Arts and Sciences AcademyBarrow County96716.4——
Holsenbeck Elementary SchoolBarrow County81313.149%49%
Westside Middle SchoolBarrow County79313.732%37%
Yargo Elementary SchoolBarrow County78212.652%50%
Statham Elementary SchoolBarrow County77611.944%37%
Kennedy Elementary SchoolBarrow County76412.753%41%
Bear Creek Middle SchoolBarrow County75213.046%48%
Austin Road Elementary SchoolBarrow County70013.0——

60.0% 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.

Prices for everything a household buys run at about the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 100.5, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metropolitan Division is up 43% over five years, and up 1.0% 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 $2,307 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.78% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,820, some 38% above the $1,318 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,820 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $72,800 a year, about 90% of the median household income here of $80,653.

The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,318 a month.

A median home at $294,700 costs 3.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $89,229, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
100.5

Prices here run at about the national average. Where places do differ, housing drives most of it — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
28.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,820
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,318
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$294,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Barrow County’s median household income of $80,653, 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
Cost of living indexthe Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro Area’s figure2023100.5Bottom 27%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+1.0%12th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+42.7%39th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+109.2%75th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year3.3Bottom 21%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year78.5%73rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±852024 ACS 5-Year32,24875th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,660Bottom 9%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,182Bottom 18%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,820Bottom 11%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$692024 ACS 5-Year$1,318Bottom 12%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,8712024 ACS 5-Year$294,70080th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$712024 ACS 5-Year$2,30772nd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,9652024 ACS 5-Year$89,229Top 25%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year0.78%49th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year28.8%Bottom 40%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1012024 ACS 5-Year13626th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.4%10th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year4.1%8th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3712024 ACS 5-Year1,45943rd percentileof 3,2222024 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 and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

83/ 100
Top 3% of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 3 years of a series running from 2020 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 grown 15% since 2020, reaching 96,294 in 2024.

Permit activity rose in each of the 3 calendar years through 2025.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 96,294 residents in 2024, up 3.5% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 1,573 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Barrow County gained about 3.4% 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 $62,047, close to the $60,338 of households that moved out.

At 17.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
1,573
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
17.5
Top 1% nationally
Year over year
−4%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202496k84k
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 rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+3.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
18%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$62,047
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$60,338
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Gwinnett County, GA 3,413 people · 42% of arrivals
  2. Clarke County, GA 459 people · 5.6% of arrivals
  3. Hall County, GA 446 people · 5.5% of arrivals
  4. Jackson County, GA 418 people · 5.1% of arrivals
  5. Walton County, GA 418 people · 5.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Gwinnett County, GA 1,130 people · 20% of departures
  2. Jackson County, GA 721 people · 13% of departures
  3. Walton County, GA 505 people · 8.9% of departures
  4. Hall County, GA 366 people · 6.5% of departures
  5. Clarke County, GA 282 people · 5.0% 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. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420252k940
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+69%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 34°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 52.4 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station GAINESVILLE GILMER AP, 20.5 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals52.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals34°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals36°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

66 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and strong wind, with inland flooding alone responsible for 59% of it. Inland flooding and strong wind are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

LightningElevated
Ice stormModerate
TornadoModerate
EarthquakeModerate
HailModerate

Low or minimal exposure: strong wind, inland flooding, heat wave, hurricane, cold wave, landslide, wildfire, winter weather, drought, tsunami, volcanic activity, coastal flooding, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Barrow County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.5 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 12.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 17.2 per 100,000 residents in Barrow County.

Homicide
3.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.9
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
17.2
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
14.0
per 100,000 residents

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.

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 Barrow County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read 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.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
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. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta Intl at 48 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year94.2%Top 4%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle48 miBottom 33%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 15%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year4.2%Top 6%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta IntlATL48 mi12,390 ft
Donaldson FldGYH93 mi8,000 ft
Augusta Rgnl At Bush FldAGS109 mi8,001 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
74
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
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
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
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.

Cities in Barrow County, GA

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.