Decatur County, GA

County Profile

29,195 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Decatur 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.

56out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 28% of 1,225 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 47% of 1,255 counties measured57
Schools513th of 973 counties measured49
GrowthTop 41% of 1,226 counties measured55
Housing affordabilityTop 31% of 1,255 counties measured98
ClimateTop 11% of 1,254 counties measured78
Physical resilience1195th of 1,255 counties measured14
AccessTop 50% of 1,255 counties measured82
Economic stability1218th of 1,255 counties measured18
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.7% and median household income $53,317, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published profiles.

In the public schools here, 29% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.7 students for every teacher.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by inland flooding, hurricane and cold wave.

At a glance

Population
29,195
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$53,317
Bottom 20% nationally
Density
49/sq mi
597.2 sq mi of land
Median age
38.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Decatur County
Georgia
Metro area
Bainbridge, GA
Nearest major airport
TLH
36 mi · Tallahassee Intl
Median home value
$158,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.7% is lower than 70% of the 1,255 measured US locations.

Employment grew 5.6% over the past year, to 11,740 employed residents.

Median household income of $53,317 is below 80% of measured US locations.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$4,692$53,317Bottom 20%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,479$27,882Bottom 16%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate22.0%Top 12%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.7 minBottom 29%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher15.1%Bottom 13%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Employment11,740Bottom 7%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (3 years)1.4%Top 37%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (year over year)5.6%Top 1%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force12,196Bottom 7%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force participation51.3%Bottom 18%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.3%Bottom 29%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate3.7%Bottom 30%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/064.13.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.7% in June 2026. 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
202120222023202453k45k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $53,317 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.

29% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 34% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.7 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
7
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.7
across all schools here
Math proficiency
29.3%
Bottom 39% in Georgia
Reading proficiency
33.8%
Bottom 47% in Georgia
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Bainbridge High SchoolDecatur County1,19213.2
Bainbridge Middle SchoolDecatur County79312.423%36%
Hutto Elementary SchoolDecatur County79013.927%29%
Jones-Wheat Primary SchoolDecatur County66413.838%36%
West Bainbridge Primary SchoolDecatur County55615.035%39%
Spring Creek Charter Academy · charterState Specialty Schools II- Spring Creek Charter Academy47413.226%28%
New Beginning Learning CenterDecatur County18326.1

99.7% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Georgia’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $838 takes 19% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.0 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
18.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.0×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$838
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$158,800
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income2.98Top 49%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate62.1%Bottom 10%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2913,215Top 48%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$55$838Bottom 43%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,656$158,800Bottom 36%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income18.9%Top 30%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate19.6%Top 28%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
55/ 100
Top 41% of 1,226 published city profiles
Permitting is broadly steady, measured from 2022 to 2025.

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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 29,391 in 2024.

At 4.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US locations.

Units permitted
142
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.9
Top 31% nationally
Year over year
0%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
49.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202429k29k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
2022202320242025138110
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+23%).

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, 23.0 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation49.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low39°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing31°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

14 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hurricane and cold wave.

HurricaneElevated
Inland floodingHigh
Cold waveElevated
DroughtModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, tornado, wildfire, hail, earthquake, strong wind, winter weather, landslide, ice storm.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA National Risk Index county record. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Decatur County records 6.3 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 18.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 18.3 per 100,000 residents in Decatur County.

Homicide
6.3
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
18.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
18.3
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
18.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Decatur County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Decatur County rather than Decatur County itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes and full cost of living
No public source publishes either with national coverage and a method open enough to check. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 36 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Tallahassee IntlTLH36 mi8,000 ft
Dothan RgnlDHN60 mi8,500 ft
Valdosta RgnlVLD78 mi8,003 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
56
Your Score

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them

Profile recalculated August 30, 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 browse every source.

Cities in Decatur County, GA