Dalton, Georgia
Area Profile
34,538 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Dalton, in Whitfield County.
Missing required signal: growth. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.
Unemployment is 4.0% and median household income $63,577, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published city profiles.
In the public schools here, 35% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.0 students for every teacher.
Rent takes 19% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 3.5 times that income.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 4.0% is lower than 62% of the 3,904 measured US cities.
Employment grew 0.7% over the past year, to 15,208 employed residents.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income ±$5,546 | $63,577 | Bottom 45% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$2,787 | $33,115 | Bottom 48% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate | 18.6% | Top 27% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute | 19.3 min | Bottom 15% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 24.3% | Top 41% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Employment | 15,208 | Bottom 15% | June 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years) | -2.5% | Bottom 15% | June 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year) | 0.7% | Top 16% | June 2026 |
| Labor force | 15,837 | Bottom 15% | June 2026 |
| Labor force participation | 64.3% | Top 36% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wage | $53,820 | Bottom 3% | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wage | $42,210 | Bottom 2% | 2025 OEWS |
| Unemployment change (year over year) | 0.4% | Top 36% | June 2026 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.0% | Bottom 38% | June 2026 |
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Textile Winding, Twisting, and Drawing Out Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders | 3,370 | $38,670 |
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 2,470 | $37,040 |
| Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators | 2,000 | $37,930 |
| Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers | 1,540 | $53,760 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 1,530 | $23,400 |
| Retail Salespersons | 1,360 | $29,140 |
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.
Schools
How it’s calculated →35% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 33% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 13.0 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalton High School | Dalton Public Schools | 1,919 | 17.0 | — | — |
| Southeast Whitfield County High School | Whitfield County | 1,453 | 16.5 | — | — |
| Hammond Creek Middle School | Dalton Public Schools | 1,057 | 12.1 | — | — |
| Coahulla Creek High School | Whitfield County | 1,041 | 18.3 | — | — |
| North Whitfield Middle School | Whitfield County | 731 | 13.3 | 52% | 42% |
| City Park Elementary School | Dalton Public Schools | 707 | 11.6 | 18% | 17% |
| Brookwood Elementary School | Dalton Public Schools | 688 | 13.0 | 43% | 45% |
| Blue Ridge Elementary School | Dalton Public Schools | 632 | 11.1 | 17% | 22% |
| Eastbrook Middle School | Whitfield County | 624 | 13.3 | 27% | 32% |
| Westwood Elementary School | Dalton Public Schools | 605 | 12.9 | 42% | 39% |
| Park Creek Elementary School | Dalton Public Schools | 604 | 11.6 | 33% | 30% |
| Eastside Elementary School | Whitfield County | 579 | 11.8 | 29% | 22% |
83.4% 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 $996 takes 19% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.
A median home costs 3.5 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price to income | 3.50 | Top 36% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate | 52.4% | Bottom 11% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±461 | 13,440 | Top 4% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median gross rent ±$55 | $996 | Top 48% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$14,440 | $222,400 | Top 41% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income | 18.8% | Top 49% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate | 7.7% | Bottom 41% | 2024 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 →Population has grown 2% since 2020, reaching 34,970 in 2024.
No building-permit activity is published for this location by the Census Building Permits Survey.
Weather & climate
6 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 32°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 55.0 inches, including 3.6 inches of snow.
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation | 55.0" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Annual snowfall | 3.6" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low | 32°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high | 91°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months | 6 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing | 39°F | 1991-2020 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
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are tornado, cold wave and earthquake.
Low or minimal exposure: hail, inland flooding, landslide, ice storm, hurricane, wildfire, heat wave, drought.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
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.
- Crime
- The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. Reported crime is also easy to misread: agency participation varies year to year, and a city that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate.
- Taxes
- No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
- Full cost of living
- No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. 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.
Access
2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 84 miles away.
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta Intl | ATL | 84 mi | 12,390 ft |
| Mc Ghee Tyson | TYS | 91 mi | 10,000 ft |
| Huntsville Intl-Carl T Jones Fld | HSV | 103 mi | 10,001 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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Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle | 28-day NASR cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) | Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current) |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals | Every ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period) |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS | Annual (spring release) |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | June 2026 | Monthly |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate | Annual (vintage released each spring) |
| Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year | Annual (5-year estimates released each December) |
| schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school year | Directory 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.