Clarke County, GA

County Profile

129,609 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Clarke 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.

63out of 100
Area Score
Top 37% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 11% of 1,463 counties measured78
Schools907th of 1,377 counties measured38
Growth952nd of 1,453 counties measured42
Housing affordability1,263rd of 1,462 counties measured58
ClimateTop 37% of 1,463 counties measured72
Physical resilienceTop 25% of 1,463 counties measured76
Access1,191st of 1,463 counties measured62
Economic stability748th of 1,463 counties measured60
The quick read

Clarke County ranks in the top 11% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.2% and median household income of $53,625.

In the public schools here, 32% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 11.2 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 433 units authorized over the past twelve months, 54% below the prior year.

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
129,609
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$53,625
Bottom 21% nationally
Density
1,086/sq mi
119.3 sq mi of land
Median age
29.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Clarke County
Georgia
Nearest major airport
ATL
65 mi · Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta Intl
Median home value
$298,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.2%, lower than in 84% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 5.2% over the past year, to 64,807 employed residents.

47% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 96% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $53,625 is lower than in 79% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$49,10119th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$59,08755th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,4352024 ACS 5-Year$53,625Bottom 21%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,0602024 ACS 5-Year$32,642Bottom 38%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$44,165Bottom 6%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year16.7%Bottom 27%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year22.3 minTop 27%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year47.4%Top 4%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year70.4%15th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202664,807Top 33%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+6.2%Top 5%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+5.2%Top 1%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202666,96967th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year81.7%Top 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year1.9%94th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.6%Top 25%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.2%Top 16%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year13.5%82nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.22.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.2% 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

202120222023202454k44k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $53,625 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 — Athens-Clarke County, GA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers3,490$24,220
Retail Salespersons2,810$29,240
Registered Nurses2,400$82,200
Cashiers2,120$28,130
Waiters and Waitresses2,030$21,090
Office Clerks, General1,880$41,220

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.

32% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 34% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 11.2 students for every full-time teacher across 21 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
22
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
11.2
across 21 of them
Math proficiency
31.8%
Bottom 23% in Georgia
Reading proficiency
34.4%
Bottom 25% in Georgia
The 12 largest of 22 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Clarke Central High SchoolClarke County1,90715.934%44%
Cedar Shoals High SchoolClarke County1,48913.722%30%
Foothills Regional High SchoolState Specialty Schools I- Foothills Regional High School1,47552.722%31%
Clarke Middle SchoolClarke County71811.435%43%
Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle SchoolClarke County70711.631%34%
Whitehead Road Elementary SchoolClarke County6329.644%40%
Hilsman Middle SchoolClarke County62411.126%30%
Coile Middle SchoolClarke County58210.623%20%
Gaines Elementary SchoolClarke County56811.413%14%
Timothy Elementary SchoolClarke County56510.752%52%
Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary SchoolClarke County56310.238%37%
Johnnie Lay Burks Elementary SchoolClarke County49211.263%61%

90.5% 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 about 6% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 93.5, 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 Athens-Clarke County, GA Metro Area is up 55% 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 $2,610 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.87% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,331, some 9% above the $1,219 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,331 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $53,200 a year, about 99% of the median household income here of $53,625.

The typical renter household here spends 36% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,219 a month.

A median home at $298,900 costs 3.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $90,046, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
93.5

Prices here run about 6% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Athens-Clarke County, 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
35.9%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,331
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,219
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$298,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Clarke County’s median household income of $53,625, 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 Athens-Clarke County, GA Metro Area’s figure202393.5Top 46%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Athens-Clarke County, GA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+1.0%12th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Athens-Clarke County, GA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+54.8%86th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Athens-Clarke County, GA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+134.3%98th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year3.3Bottom 21%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year41.4%1st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1102024 ACS 5-Year57,91885th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,183Bottom 28%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,734Bottom 34%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,331Bottom 35%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$312024 ACS 5-Year$1,219Bottom 16%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$10,1162024 ACS 5-Year$298,90080th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$802024 ACS 5-Year$2,61079th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,7162024 ACS 5-Year$90,046Top 24%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.87%56th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year35.9%Bottom 3%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1552024 ACS 5-Year39453rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.7%17th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.3%19th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4432024 ACS 5-Year3,46470th 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

42/ 100
Ranks 952 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in 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 1% since 2020, reaching 129,995 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 748 units authorized in 2025, 36% below the prior year.

Federal tax returns show Clarke County lost about 1.5% 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 $49,101, below the $59,087 of households that moved out.

At 3.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
433
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.3
Top 43% nationally
Year over year
−54%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
37.2%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024130k129k
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
−1.5%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
36%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$49,101
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$59,087
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Oconee County, GA 513 people · 7.1% of arrivals
  2. Gwinnett County, GA 421 people · 5.8% of arrivals
  3. Jackson County, GA 337 people · 4.7% of arrivals
  4. Madison County, GA 298 people · 4.1% of arrivals
  5. Barrow County, GA 282 people · 3.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Oconee County, GA 724 people · 8.7% of departures
  2. Jackson County, GA 540 people · 6.5% of departures
  3. Madison County, GA 540 people · 6.5% of departures
  4. Barrow County, GA 459 people · 5.5% of departures
  5. Gwinnett County, GA 420 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

2020202120222023202420252k406
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+18%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 92°F and January a low of 34°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 49.0 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 46, in the Good band, and about 2 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station ATHENS BEN EPPS AP, 2.3 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year622024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals49.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals34°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals92°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year22024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year462024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals37°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
46
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
62
90th percentile index
Days above 100
2
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

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

76 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and earthquake, with inland flooding alone responsible for 52% 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.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 75% of measured US counties.

Ice stormModerate
EarthquakeElevated
LightningModerate
TornadoModerate
HurricaneModerate

Low or minimal exposure: hail, heat wave, inland flooding, cold wave, strong wind, drought, landslide, wildfire, winter weather, 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.

Clarke County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.0 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 7.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 25.4 per 100,000 residents in Clarke County.

Homicide
3.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
7.7
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
25.4
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
10.0
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 Clarke 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.
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

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta Intl at 65 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year92.6%Top 11%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle65 miBottom 17%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year4.0%Top 5%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta IntlATL65 mi12,390 ft
Donaldson FldGYH79 mi8,000 ft
Augusta Rgnl At Bush FldAGS90 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
63
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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
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.

Cities in Clarke 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.