31522St. Simons, Georgia

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 31522.

Area Score unavailable

Missing required signal: growth. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 1% of 6,210 ZIP areas measured92
SchoolsTop 1% of 4,422 ZIP areas measured95
Housing affordability4293rd of 6,685 ZIP areas measured70
ClimateTop 14% of 6,789 ZIP areas measured81
Physical resilience4629th of 6,709 ZIP areas measured40
AccessTop 21% of 6,791 ZIP areas measured98
Economic stability5225th of 6,742 ZIP areas measured43
The quick read

31522 ranks in the top 1% of published ZIP profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.0% and median household income of $108,632.

Rent takes 20% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 5.3 times that income.

A major airport is 7 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
17,780
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$108,632
Top 14% nationally
Density
333/sq mi
53.4 sq mi of land
Median age
59.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
St. Simons
Georgia
Metro area
Brunswick-St. Simons, GA
Nearest major airport
BQK
7 mi · Brunswick Golden Isles
Median home value
$571,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.0% is lower than 96% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment grew 1.7% over the past year, to 42,641 employed residents.

57% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 92% of measured US ZIP areas.

Household income is higher than at least 86% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$6,528$108,632Top 14%of 31,2952024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$6,474$75,759Top 5%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate4.8%Bottom 18%of 32,9702024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute19.2 minBottom 11%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher57.5%Top 8%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Employment42,641Bottom 42%of 6,544June 2026
Employment change (3 years)4.2%Top 8%of 6,542June 2026
Employment change (year over year)1.7%Top 6%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force43,967Bottom 42%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force participation49.3%Bottom 18%of 33,2522024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$55,010Bottom 6%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Median annual wage$41,940Bottom 2%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.0%Bottom 47%of 6,544June 2026
Unemployment rate3.0%Bottom 4%of 6,544June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024109k95k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $108,632 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 — Brunswick-St. Simons, GA
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons1,790$30,200
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,620$26,770
Waiters and Waitresses1,510$18,250
Cashiers1,340$27,810
Registered Nurses1,010$82,630
General and Operations Managers1,000$84,770

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 St. Simons, GA, the city containing this ZIP code.

70% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 64% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 12.3 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
2
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
12.3
across all schools here
Math proficiency
69.5%
Top 1% in Georgia
Reading proficiency
63.8%
Top 6% in Georgia
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Oglethorpe Point Elementary SchoolGlynn County48612.574%70%
St. Simons Elementary SchoolGlynn County46212.265%57%

56.2% 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 10% below the national average, on the Bureau of Economic Analysis index. Housing drives most of that difference.

Median rent of $1,851 takes 20% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 5.3 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Cost of living
89.9

Prices here run about 10% 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
20.4%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.3×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,851
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$571,100
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living index89.9Bottom 9%of 6,0712023
Home price to income5.26Top 14%of 30,4042024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate84.8%Top 32%of 32,9102024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±46212,234Top 12%of 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$162$1,851Top 11%of 26,6182024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$44,003$571,100Top 10%of 30,9412024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income20.4%Top 33%of 26,4702024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate29.9%Top 14%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 →

No building-permit activity is published for this location by the Census Building Permits Survey.

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 44°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 45.4 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 39, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station BRUNSWICK MALCOLM MCKINNON AP, 7.8 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND6.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index56.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation45.4"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall0.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low44°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months81991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10002024 calendar year
Median air quality index39.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing31°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
39
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
56
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

40 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, coastal flooding and wildfire.

HurricaneHigh
WildfireElevated
Coastal floodingElevated
EarthquakeModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, cold wave, ice storm, strong wind, inland flooding, hail, tornado, winter weather, drought, landslide.

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.

Glynn County records 4.6 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 13.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 12.5 per 100,000 residents in Glynn County.

Homicide
4.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
13.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
12.5
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
16.2
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 Glynn 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 31522 rather than 31522 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

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 7 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Brunswick Golden IslesBQK7 mi8,001 ft
Jacksonville IntlJAX57 mi10,000 ft
Savannah/Hilton Head IntlSAV61 mi9,351 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 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
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
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)
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.

31522 vs St. Simons

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

31522
St. Simons
Median household income
$108,632
vs
$108,771
Per capita income
$75,759
vs
$74,563
Population density
333/sq mi
vs
986/sq mi
Median home value
$571,100
vs
$555,600
Median gross rent
$1,851
vs
$1,799
Homeownership rate
84.8%
vs
85.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher
57.5%
vs
57.0%
Poverty rate
4.8%
vs
4.5%
Median age
59.9
vs
59.1

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.