Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Albany grades D− overall, 253rd among Georgia's 258 graded towns, mostly because of health and safety. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 96% of the country. Its crime rate is higher than 92% of U.S. towns, with 506 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. In its favor, it is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns. 51% of working residents work locally in Albany, where Georgia’s towns sit at 9% and U.S. towns at 8%. Its National Register listings include Albany Railroad Depot Historic District and Municipal Auditorium. The median household income is $47K, and 28% of residents live below the poverty line.
Where Albany beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Its 22 National Register listings are more than in 97% of Georgia towns with a listing.
Census counts: 1,618 in 1860, 69,647 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1885 and 4 maps from 1956 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Georgia), ordered by how far Albany is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Albany, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Albany.
Albany draws workers from Leesburg and beyond and has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it reports violent crime at about twice the Georgia rate.
19% of adults have diabetes in Albany. Albany beats the Georgia average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 23. 47% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Albany.
| Albany | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 14% | 12% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 47% | 40% | 36% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 22% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 23% | 19% |
| What stands out | Albany | GA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 11.1% | 14.5% |
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6% | 7% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 20.6% | 9.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Dougherty County school district. Two of its 19 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merry Acres Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 807 | D |
| Westover High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,234 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within GA on state tests and graduation
At 2.3 years of the Albany metro’s $57K median household income, the typical home (about $132K) costs less against local pay than in 92% of Georgia towns; that ratio is one input to its C+ for cost of living.
The typical Albany home is worth about $132,000, up 2.8% in a year, 60% below the Georgia typical home. 38% of Albany households own their home.
| Albany | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 38% | 58% | 73% |
| Median rent | $931 a month | $1,160 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
36,811 jobs are based in Albany, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 19.7 minutes, against 28.3 across Georgia.
Albany’s average trip to work is 20 minutes. The top destinations are Camilla (3%), Columbus (2%) and Atlanta (2%). Half commute less than 6 miles.
| Albany | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $47,000 | $63,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Violent crime runs at 7.7 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Georgia rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D. At 54.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 78% of Georgia’s graded towns.
The violent crime rate in Albany is 7.7 per 1,000 residents. Albany reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 92% report less. The property crime rate in Albany is 20.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Albany | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.7 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 20.2 per 1,000 residents | 14.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
19 miles of trail in 42 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Paul Eames Sports Complex, at 64 acres.
| Albany | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 4.7% | 2.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Riverfront Park | 1 mi | 11 |
| 2. Ragsdale Park | 0.7 mi | 16 |
| 3. C.W. Heath Park | 0.5 mi | 13 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Albany has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 92°, January nights drop to 38° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
741 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 52 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 57% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 741 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Albany.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Albany. Close and well known come first.
34 mi National Historical ParkJimmy Carter National Historical Park39K visitors a year4 mi Zoo & aquariumChehaw Parkin town Zoo & aquariumFlint RiverQuarium
31 mi MuseumGeorgia Veterans State Parkin town MuseumThronateeska Heritage Center
in town MuseumAlbany Museum of ArtJimmy Carter National Historical Park: Unknown, Public domain · Georgia Veterans State Park: Michael Rivera, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Albany Museum of Art: Michael Rivera, CC BY 4.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of Albany
About 9 of every 100 Albany residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Georgia.
2 colleges in town.
22 places in Albany on the National Register of Historic Places.
62 notable people were born in Albany.
City in Georgia, United States
Albany ( awl-BIN-ee) is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia. Located on the Flint River, it is the county seat of Dougherty County, and is the sole incorporated city in that county. Located in Southwest Georgia, it is the principal city of the Albany metropolitan area. The city's population was 68,089 in 2020. It became prominent in the nineteenth century as a shipping and market center, first served by riverboats. Scheduled steamboats connected Albany with the busy port of Apalachicola, Florida. They were replaced by railroads. Seven lines met in Albany, and it was a center of trade in the Southeast. Albany is part of the Black Belt, a geological formation of soil conducive to cotton growt…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Albany grades D− overall, in the bottom 2% of U.S. towns and #253 of 258 in Georgia. It grades D− for health, D for safety and C− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 2.3 years of the area's median household income ($56,906 across the Albany, GA metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
62 notable people were born here, including Ray Charles and Alice Coachman.
