Sumter County, GA

County Profile

29,061 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Sumter 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.

42out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 4% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity1,354th of 1,463 counties measured28
Schools1,258th of 1,377 counties measured15
Growth1,427th of 1,453 counties measured11
Housing affordability751st of 1,462 counties measured73
ClimateTop 4% of 1,463 counties measured81
Physical resilience810th of 1,463 counties measured55
Access1,387th of 1,463 counties measured40
Economic stability1,337th of 1,463 counties measured23
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 4.5% and the Opportunity signal places Sumter County in the bottom 7%.

In the public schools here, 20% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.1 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 19 units authorized over the past twelve months, 24% 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
29,061
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$42,653
Bottom 7% nationally
Density
60/sq mi
482.9 sq mi of land
Median age
37.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Sumter County
Georgia
Micro area
Nearest major airport
DHN
89 mi · Dothan Rgnl
Median home value
$120,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.5% — higher than in all but 35% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.9% over the past year, to 11,052 employed residents.

Median household income of $42,653 is lower than in 93% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$37,1621st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$46,69413th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,4042024 ACS 5-Year$42,653Bottom 7%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,2072024 ACS 5-Year$27,246Bottom 14%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$45,296Bottom 9%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year22.1%Bottom 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.5 min2024 ACS 5-Year21.9 minTop 25%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year21.4%Bottom 46%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year75.1%33rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202611,052Bottom 13%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−8.4%Bottom 1%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.9%Bottom 45%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202611,57813th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year73.3%Bottom 39%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.6%Top 25%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.5%Bottom 35%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year7.6%40th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.63.2
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.5% 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

202120222023202443k37k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $42,653 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.

20% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 19% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.1 students for every full-time teacher across 6 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
6
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.1
across all schools here
Math proficiency
20.3%
Bottom 1% in Georgia
Reading proficiency
18.7%
Bottom 1% in Georgia
All 6 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Sumter County High SchoolSumter County1,03715.5——
Sumter County Primary SchoolSumter County72412.9——
Sumter County Intermediate SchoolSumter County71112.320%19%
Furlow Charter School · charterState Specialty Schools II- Furlow Charter School58511.9——
Sumter County Middle SchoolSumter County54912.524%23%
Sumter County Elementary SchoolSumter County53912.517%14%

91.0% 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.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Georgia is up 57% over five years, and up 3.4% 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 $1,502 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.25% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,088, some 27% above the $857 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,088 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $43,500 a year, about 102% of the median household income here of $42,653.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $857 a month.

A median home at $120,200 costs 2.0 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $59,653, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
29.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.0×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,088
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$857
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$120,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Sumter County’s median household income of $42,653, 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
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Georgia’s figure2026 Q2+3.4%43rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Georgia’s figure2026 Q2+56.5%88th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Georgia’s figure2026 Q2+115.5%84th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year2.0Top 23%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year56.6%4th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±332024 ACS 5-Year13,51452nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$829Top 31%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,305Top 26%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,088Top 39%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$582024 ACS 5-Year$857Top 47%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$14,6782024 ACS 5-Year$120,20017th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1832024 ACS 5-Year$1,50246th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$9,0392024 ACS 5-Year$59,653Bottom 15%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.22%2024 ACS 5-Year1.25%79th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year29.8%Bottom 30%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1922024 ACS 5-Year62864th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year4.6%63rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year14.1%80th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4142024 ACS 5-Year2,52862nd 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.

Development Momentum

11/ 100
Ranks 1,427 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 2 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 fallen 2% since 2020, to 28,972 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 19 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Sumter County lost about 0.6% 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 $37,162, below the $46,694 of households that moved out.

At 0.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
19
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.7
Bottom 11% nationally
Year over year
−24%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202430k29k
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
−0.6%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
26%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$37,162
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$46,694
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Schley County, GA 75 people · 7.9% of arrivals
  2. Lee County, GA 63 people · 6.6% of arrivals
  3. Houston County, GA 60 people · 6.3% of arrivals
  4. Dougherty County, GA 52 people · 5.4% of arrivals
  5. Crisp County, GA 43 people · 4.5% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Houston County, GA 123 people · 11% of departures
  2. Dougherty County, GA 93 people · 8.6% of departures
  3. Lee County, GA 92 people · 8.5% of departures
  4. Schley County, GA 90 people · 8.3% of departures
  5. Fulton County, GA 42 people · 3.9% 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

20222023202420257424
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was close to 2022 (−4%).

Weather & climate

8 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 35°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 53.4 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 38, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station AMERICUS, 2.6 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND6.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year492024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals53.4"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals35°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals81991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year382024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals34°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
38
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
49
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

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

55 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, drought and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 42% 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.

DroughtElevated
HurricaneElevated
Heat waveModerate
TornadoElevated
LightningModerate
HailModerate
EarthquakeModerate
Strong windModerate
LandslideModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: wildfire, inland flooding, winter weather, ice storm, 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.

Sumter County has a modeled homicide rate of about 10.8 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 21.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 15.6 per 100,000 residents in Sumter County.

Homicide
10.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
21.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
15.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
17.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

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 Sumter 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.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. 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 Dothan Rgnl at 89 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year84.7%Bottom 34%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle89 miBottom 6%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 3%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year13.1%Bottom 29%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Dothan RgnlDHN89 mi8,500 ft
Valdosta RgnlVLD103 mi8,003 ft
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta IntlATL111 mi12,390 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
42
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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
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
April 2025 to March 2026; March 2025 to February 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 Sumter 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.