Fayette County, GA

County Profile

122,244 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Fayette 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.

78out of 100
Area Score
Top 2% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 2% of 1,463 counties measured86
SchoolsTop 4% of 1,377 counties measured88
GrowthTop 18% of 1,453 counties measured67
Housing affordability1,241st of 1,462 counties measured59
ClimateTop 14% of 1,463 counties measured77
Physical resilienceTop 21% of 1,463 counties measured79
AccessTop 37% of 1,463 counties measured87
Economic stabilityTop 11% of 1,463 counties measured88
The quick read

Fayette County ranks in the top 2% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.1% and median household income of $111,978.

Public schools test above most of the state: 64% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 4% of published profiles for schools.

Rent takes 35% of renter income here, at or above the threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, while buying strains owner incomes less — the median home is 3.5 times what its owners earn, against a historic benchmark near three.

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
122,244
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$111,978
Top 3% nationally
Density
628/sq mi
194.7 sq mi of land
Median age
43.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Fayette County
Georgia
Nearest major airport
ATL
16 mi · Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta Intl
Median home value
$436,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.1%, lower than in 87% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.9% over the past year, to 58,029 employed residents.

50% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 97% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $111,978 is higher than in 97% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$85,33286th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$86,33191st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,0522024 ACS 5-Year$111,978Top 3%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,6862024 ACS 5-Year$55,125Top 4%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$77,454Top 11%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year5.1%Top 2%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year33.8 minBottom 10%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year49.9%Top 3%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year71.7%19th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202658,029Top 36%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+1.5%Top 33%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.9%Top 22%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202659,90764th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year79.6%Top 30%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%63rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.3%Top 42%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.1%Top 13%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year18.5%94th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/073.62.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.1% 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

2021202220232024112k96k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $111,978 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.

64% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 67% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.5 students for every full-time teacher across 26 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
26
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.5
across all schools here
Math proficiency
64.1%
Top 3% in Georgia
Reading proficiency
67.5%
Top 3% in Georgia
The 12 largest of 26 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
McIntosh High SchoolFayette County1,76217.485%81%
Fayette County High SchoolFayette County1,36014.639%51%
Starrs Mill High SchoolFayette County1,35716.281%83%
Whitewater High SchoolFayette County1,30315.766%73%
Sandy Creek High SchoolFayette County1,18913.747%57%
J.C. Booth Middle SchoolFayette County1,11515.979%75%
Rising Starr Middle SchoolFayette County93114.885%79%
Bennett's Mill Middle SchoolFayette County87613.741%58%
Whitewater Middle SchoolFayette County87413.759%69%
Kedron Elementary SchoolFayette County84315.677%74%
Flat Rock Middle SchoolFayette County80012.752%61%
Sara Harp Minter Elementary SchoolFayette County68915.367%71%

33.6% 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 $3,285 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.75% 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, close to the $1,898 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 65% of the median household income here of $111,978.

The typical renter household here spends 35% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,898 a month.

A median home at $436,400 costs 3.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $126,273, 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
34.5%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,820
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,898
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$436,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Fayette County’s median household income of $111,978, 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-Year3.5Bottom 18%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year80.1%81st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±772024 ACS 5-Year46,45382nd percentileof 3,2222024 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 ±$872024 ACS 5-Year$1,898Bottom 2%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,8702024 ACS 5-Year$436,40093rd percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1112024 ACS 5-Year$3,28588th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,5842024 ACS 5-Year$126,273Top 4%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year0.75%46th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year34.5%Bottom 5%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1682024 ACS 5-Year24140th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.5%13th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year3.5%4th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4322024 ACS 5-Year1,87252nd 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

67/ 100
Top 18% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, 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 5% since 2020, reaching 125,107 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 435 units authorized in 2025, up 35% on the prior year.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 125,107 residents in 2024, up 1.1% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 453 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Fayette County gained about 0.5% 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 $85,332, close to the $86,331 of households that moved out.

At 3.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
453
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.7
Top 39% nationally
Year over year
+19%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024125k120k
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
+0.5%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
41%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$85,332
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$86,331
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Fulton County, GA 1,085 people · 13% of arrivals
  2. Clayton County, GA 935 people · 11% of arrivals
  3. Coweta County, GA 801 people · 9.7% of arrivals
  4. Henry County, GA 326 people · 3.9% of arrivals
  5. Cobb County, GA 305 people · 3.7% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Coweta County, GA 1,245 people · 16% of departures
  2. Fulton County, GA 880 people · 11% of departures
  3. Clayton County, GA 626 people · 8.0% of departures
  4. Henry County, GA 355 people · 4.6% of departures
  5. Cobb County, GA 288 people · 3.7% 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

202020212022202320242025762323
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−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 34°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 49.3 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station ATLANTA, 5.4 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals49.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals34°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals91°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

79 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and lightning, with inland flooding alone responsible for 61% 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 79% of measured US counties.

LightningElevated
TornadoElevated
HailModerate
EarthquakeModerate
DroughtModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, ice storm, hurricane, heat wave, strong wind, wildfire, landslide, 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.

Fayette County has a modeled homicide rate of about 5.1 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 15.4 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 10.5 per 100,000 residents in Fayette County.

Homicide
5.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
15.4
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
10.5
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
14.6
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 Fayette 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

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta Intl at 16 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year94.8%Top 3%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle16 miTop 19%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 3%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year3.6%Top 4%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta IntlATL16 mi12,390 ft
Birmingham-Shuttlesworth IntlBHM131 mi12,007 ft
Montgomery Rgnl (Dannelly Fld)MGM134 mi9,020 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
78
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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 September 26, 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 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.