30506Gainesville, Georgia

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 30506.

74out of 100
Area Score
Top 8% of 5,298 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 5% of 6,210 ZIP areas measured83
SchoolsTop 28% of 4,422 ZIP areas measured69
GrowthTop 14% of 5,428 ZIP areas measured71
Housing affordabilityTop 35% of 6,685 ZIP areas measured89
ClimateTop 18% of 6,789 ZIP areas measured80
Physical resilienceTop 44% of 6,709 ZIP areas measured63
Access6234th of 6,791 ZIP areas measured64
Economic stability4099th of 6,742 ZIP areas measured54
The quick read

30506 ranks in the top 5% of published ZIP profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.4% and median household income of $97,413.

In the public schools here, 43% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.2 students for every teacher.

413 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 5% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

At a glance

Population
45,612
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$97,413
Top 21% nationally
Density
454/sq mi
100.5 sq mi of land
Median age
45.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Gainesville
Georgia
Metro area
Gainesville, GA
Nearest major airport
ATL
58 mi · Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta Intl
Median home value
$390,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.4% is lower than 89% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment grew 1.2% over the past year, to 21,723 employed residents.

37% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 77% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$6,085$97,413Top 21%of 31,2952024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,668$52,071Top 17%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate8.3%Bottom 38%of 32,9702024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute33.5 minTop 23%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher37.5%Top 23%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Employment21,723Bottom 21%of 6,544June 2026
Employment change (3 years)1.7%Top 28%of 6,542June 2026
Employment change (year over year)1.2%Top 10%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force22,485Bottom 21%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force participation60.9%Top 49%of 33,2522024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$59,000Bottom 15%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Median annual wage$45,900Bottom 11%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.0%Bottom 47%of 6,544June 2026
Unemployment rate3.4%Bottom 11%of 6,544June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202497k86k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $97,413 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 — Gainesville, GA
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand3,820$38,930
Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers3,210$39,420
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,910$26,690
Retail Salespersons2,590$31,870
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators2,240$39,420
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers2,170$56,770

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Gainesville, GA, the city containing this ZIP code.

43% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 41% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.2 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
10
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
43.3%
Top 25% in Georgia
Reading proficiency
41.5%
Top 32% in Georgia
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
East Forsyth High SchoolForsyth County1,58816.2
Chestatee High SchoolHall County1,24515.2
North Hall High SchoolHall County1,16416.4
Chestatee ElementaryForsyth County1,15914.347%44%
Chestatee Middle SchoolHall County83412.632%22%
North Hall Middle SchoolHall County82614.247%47%
Mount Vernon Elementary SchoolHall County65016.352%52%
Lanier Elementary SchoolHall County55715.941%38%
Sardis Elementary SchoolHall County55615.033%33%
Wauka Mountain Elementary SchoolHall County54616.549%57%

47.1% 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 →

Prices for everything a household buys run about 4% below the national average, on the Bureau of Economic Analysis index. Housing drives most of that difference.

Median rent of $1,371 takes 17% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.0 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Cost of living
96.5

Prices here run about 4% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Rent as a share of income
16.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.0×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,371
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$390,500
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living index96.5Bottom 37%of 6,0712023
Home price to income4.01Top 28%of 30,4042024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate84.0%Top 35%of 32,9102024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±76519,146Top 4%of 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$85$1,371Top 27%of 26,6182024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$17,820$390,500Top 21%of 30,9412024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income16.9%Bottom 44%of 26,4702024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate12.7%Top 44%of 33,0282024 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
71/ 100
Top 14% of 5,428 published city profiles

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.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 9.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
413
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
9.2
Top 14% nationally
Year over year
+5%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Gainesville, GA, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 34°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 52.4 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 52, in the Moderate 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 GAINESVILLE GILMER AP, 6.4 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index68.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation52.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low34°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10002024 calendar year
Median air quality index52.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing36°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
52
Moderate on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
68
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
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. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

63 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are tornado, earthquake and lightning.

TornadoModerate
LightningModerate
HailModerate
EarthquakeElevated
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, cold wave, ice storm, strong wind, heat wave, hurricane, wildfire, winter weather, drought.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Hall County records 3.1 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 12.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 13.8 per 100,000 residents in Hall County.

Homicide
3.1
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
13.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
13.8
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 Hall 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 30506 rather than 30506 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
Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. 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

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 58 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta IntlATL58 mi12,390 ft
Donaldson FldGYH91 mi8,000 ft
Mc Ghee TysonTYS101 mi10,000 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
74
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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)
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023Annually, each December
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
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)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
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
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

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.

30506 vs Gainesville

How this ZIP area compares with Gainesville as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

30506
Gainesville
Median household income
$97,413
vs
$66,974
Per capita income
$52,071
vs
$34,505
Population density
454/sq mi
vs
1,332/sq mi
Median home value
$390,500
vs
$382,200
Median gross rent
$1,371
vs
$1,299
Homeownership rate
84.0%
vs
39.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher
37.5%
vs
27.1%
Poverty rate
8.3%
vs
20.1%
Median age
45.1
vs
33.3

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.