Houston County, GA

County Profile

169,649 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Houston 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.

71out of 100
Area Score
Top 12% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 16% of 1,463 counties measured73
SchoolsTop 33% of 1,377 counties measured63
GrowthTop 26% of 1,453 counties measured63
Housing affordabilityTop 45% of 1,462 counties measured75
ClimateTop 25% of 1,463 counties measured75
Physical resilienceTop 13% of 1,463 counties measured85
Access1,399th of 1,463 counties measured38
Economic stabilityTop 48% of 1,463 counties measured62
The quick read

Houston County ranks in the top 16% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 2.9% and median household income of $80,698.

In the public schools here, 49% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.2 students for every teacher.

1,242 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
169,649
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$80,698
Top 17% nationally
Density
451/sq mi
376.2 sq mi of land
Median age
36.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Houston County
Georgia
Nearest major airport
ATL
93 mi · Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta Intl
Median home value
$219,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 2.9%, lower than in 93% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.5% over the past year, to 75,038 employed residents.

32% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 81% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$50,97025th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$55,42042nd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,1222024 ACS 5-Year$80,698Top 17%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,0142024 ACS 5-Year$37,138Top 38%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$50,609Bottom 26%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year11.1%Top 35%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year24.0 minTop 38%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year32.5%Top 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year78.6%57th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202675,038Top 29%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−0.5%Bottom 43%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.5%Top 49%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202677,26170th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year78.2%Top 36%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%57th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.2%Top 47%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20262.9%Top 7%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year10.3%65th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/073.52.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 2.9% 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

202120222023202481k70k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $80,698 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 — Warner Robins, GA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers3,650$26,610
Business Operations Specialists, All Other3,040$95,060
Retail Salespersons2,460$30,650
Cashiers1,960$28,000
Logisticians1,650$96,800
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand1,650$47,130

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.

49% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 48% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.2 students for every full-time teacher across 37 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
37
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
49.4%
Top 28% in Georgia
Reading proficiency
47.8%
Top 36% in Georgia
The 12 largest of 37 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Houston County High SchoolHouston County2,05117.866%55%
Northside High SchoolHouston County1,94916.432%34%
Veterans High SchoolHouston County1,94018.758%61%
Warner Robins High SchoolHouston County1,81217.325%35%
Perry High SchoolHouston County1,61518.847%45%
Perry Middle SchoolHouston County1,16416.261%47%
Bonaire Middle SchoolHouston County1,15116.061%61%
Feagin Mill Middle SchoolHouston County97513.759%58%
Northside Middle SchoolHouston County85913.634%31%
Mossy Creek Middle SchoolHouston County79614.264%61%
Warner Robins Middle SchoolHouston County78113.241%39%
Huntington Middle SchoolHouston County78012.436%37%

74.5% 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 8% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 91.8, 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 Warner Robins, GA Metro Area is up 57% over five years, and up 7.9% 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 $1,835 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.83% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,362, some 13% above the $1,208 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,362 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $54,500 a year, about 68% of the median household income here of $80,698.

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 $1,208 a month.

A median home at $219,800 costs 2.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $98,027, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
91.8

Prices here run about 8% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Warner Robins, 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
29.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.2×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,362
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,208
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$219,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Houston County’s median household income of $80,698, 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 Warner Robins, GA Metro Area’s figure202391.8Top 33%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Warner Robins, GA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+7.9%97th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Warner Robins, GA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+57.0%90th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Warner Robins, GA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+104.3%68th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.2Top 35%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year66.9%20th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±652024 ACS 5-Year69,82387th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,221Bottom 25%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,821Bottom 29%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,362Bottom 31%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$382024 ACS 5-Year$1,208Bottom 16%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,4272024 ACS 5-Year$219,80063rd percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$622024 ACS 5-Year$1,83559th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,1422024 ACS 5-Year$98,027Top 15%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.83%53rd percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year29.1%Bottom 36%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1902024 ACS 5-Year27844th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.4%9th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year8.2%43rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±7462024 ACS 5-Year5,97283rd 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

63/ 100
Top 26% of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been falling 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 grown 6% since 2020, reaching 174,897 in 2024.

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

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 1,242 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 7% are in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Houston County gained about 0.9% 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 $50,970, below the $55,420 of households that moved out.

At 7.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
1,242
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
7.3
Top 14% nationally
Year over year
+4%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
6.8%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024175k164k
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
+0.9%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
44%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$50,970
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$55,420
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Bibb County, GA 1,413 people · 13% of arrivals
  2. Peach County, GA 812 people · 7.5% of arrivals
  3. Gwinnett County, GA 191 people · 1.8% of arrivals
  4. Fulton County, GA 178 people · 1.6% of arrivals
  5. Crisp County, GA 148 people · 1.4% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Bibb County, GA 997 people · 10% of departures
  2. Peach County, GA 934 people · 9.8% of departures
  3. Pulaski County, GA 185 people · 1.9% of departures
  4. Fulton County, GA 162 people · 1.7% of departures
  5. Henry County, GA 140 people · 1.5% 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

20222023202420252k1k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−48%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 94°F and January a low of 36°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 46.9 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 43, in the Good band, and one day a year passes 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 MACON MIDDLE GA RGNL AP, 15.7 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year602024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals46.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals36°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals94°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year12024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year432024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals35°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
43
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
60
90th percentile index
Days above 100
1
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

85 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, heat wave and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 48% of it. Inland flooding and heat wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 87% of measured US counties.

LightningElevated
HurricaneModerate
TornadoModerate
EarthquakeModerate
DroughtModerate

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

Houston County has a modeled homicide rate of about 5.2 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 16.3 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 9.9 per 100,000 residents in Houston County.

Homicide
5.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
16.3
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
9.9
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
19.2
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 Houston 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

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta Intl at 93 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year93.1%Top 8%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle93 miBottom 5%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 3%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year5.4%Top 13%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta IntlATL93 mi12,390 ft
Augusta Rgnl At Bush FldAGS117 mi8,001 ft
Valdosta RgnlVLD118 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.

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Area Score
71
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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.

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.