Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Blackshear grades C overall, 131st among Georgia's 258 graded towns, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Its schools outperform 92% of the state's. On the other side, the median household income is $41K, and 23% of residents live below the poverty line. 23% of residents live below the poverty line in Blackshear, above both the Georgia town median (15%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Blackshear's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 91% of U.S. towns. Blackshear has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Pierce County Courthouse and Pierce County Jail.
Where Blackshear beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Blackshear Elementary School | PK–5 | 820 |
| Pierce County Middle School | 6–8 | 825 |
| Pierce County High School | 9–12 | 1,053 |
Pierce County JailWhere Blackshear’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Georgia), ordered by how far Blackshear is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 319 in 1860, 3,506 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1888 and 2 maps from 1971 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Blackshear, 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 Blackshear.
Blackshear fares better on crime within Georgia than nationally and has schools in the top 5% of Georgia, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Georgia (mostly hurricanes).
2,584 jobs are based in Blackshear, 1.9 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 20.2 minutes, against 28.3 across Georgia.
Half commute less than 11 miles. Jobs in Blackshear grew by 289 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 2,584. Most working residents leave Blackshear for work: only 18% work in town. In Blackshear, the typical journey to work is 20 minutes.
| Blackshear | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $41,000 | $63,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
That grade ranks #10 of the 260 Georgia towns we grade for schools.
Its public schools are run by the Pierce County school district. The largest public high school is Pierce County High School, with 1,053 students. The 3 public schools in Blackshear teach 2,698 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pierce County Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 825 | A− |
| Pierce County High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,053 | A |
| Blackshear Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 820 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within GA on state tests and graduation
Against the 2,565 U.S. towns with household incomes like Blackshear’s, it is healthier than 73%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income. Within Georgia it is less healthy than 59% of the 261 graded towns: much of Georgia scores lower on these measures.
For adults in Blackshear, the share who worry about having enough food is 18%. Against the Georgia average, Blackshear comes out ahead on 1 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 10. 16% of adults in Blackshear report frequent physical distress; 13% binge drink.
| Blackshear | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 38% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 14% | 16% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 29% | 25% |
| What stands out | Blackshear | GA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.8% | 77.4% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.5% | 6.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Home values rose 36% in five years, to about $210K, against 21% across Georgia. 71.1% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 52.4% across Georgia.
For Blackshear, the typical rent is $837 a month. Typical home values rose 4.4% in the year to September 2026. Among households here, 61% are owner-occupiers.
| Blackshear | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $837 a month | $1,160 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 61% | 58% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The Waycross 4 Ne weather station records that about 103 days a year reach 90°, more than in 95% of U.S. towns.
Expect mild winters and hot summers in Blackshear, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 93°, January nights drop to 39° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 85% of Georgia towns; that rating is what its C for hazard risk is built on.
FEMA puts 42% of Blackshear’s expected hazard losses down to hurricanes, and 28% to inland flooding. In Blackshear, the FEMA risk score is 64 of 100. Federal aid has come to Blackshear households in 7 declared disasters; the latest was in 2024.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 17.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 76% of Georgia’s graded towns.
The level of property crime in Blackshear is 12.7 per 1,000 residents. The town’s level of violent crime is 1.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Blackshear | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 12.7 per 1,000 residents | 14.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.6 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
1 within 15 miles of the center of Blackshear
About 4 of every 100 Blackshear residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Georgia.
3 places in Blackshear on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Blackshear.
City in Georgia, United States
The city of Blackshear is the county seat of Pierce County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 3,506. Blackshear is part of the Waycross Micropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Blackshear grades C overall, better than 27% of U.S. towns and #131 of 258 in Georgia. It grades C− for health, B− for safety and A for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 4 years of the area's median household income ($51,821 across the Waycross, GA 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+.
4 notable people were born here, including John Randall Walker and William Gordon Brantley.
