Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Public schools that outperform most of Georgia.
Canton grades B− overall, ranked 68th of 258 in Georgia, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Its public schools beat 86% of Georgia towns on state tests and graduation. On the other side, the typical home is worth about $512K, 5.7 years of the Atlanta metro’s $90K median household income. Canton has 6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Cherokee County Courthouse and Crescent Farm. Canton’s median rent is $1,680 a month, where Georgia’s towns sit at $1,152 a month and U.S. towns at $1,185 a month. Etowah River Park, at 38 acres with 1.5 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Canton beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| William G. Hasty- Sr. Elementary School | PK–5 | 1,119 |
| J. Knox Elementary | PK–5 | 909 |
| Community Christian School | K–8 | 61 |
Cherokee County Courthouse22,958 counted in 2010 and 32,973 in 2020; an estimated 40,778 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 23.7% since 2020, after 43.6% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Georgia), ordered by how far Canton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 214 in 1870, 32,973 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1917 and 3 maps from 1961 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Canton. Close and well known come first.
Big draw34 mi Stadium & arenaMercedes-Benz Stadium
Big draw36 mi MountainStone Mountain
Big draw31 mi LakeLake Lanier
25 mi Stadium & arenaTruist Park
Big draw33 mi Theme parkSix Flags Over Georgia
Big draw34 mi Stadium & arenaState Farm ArenaMercedes-Benz Stadium: Atlanta Falcons, CC BY 3.0 · Stone Mountain: KyleAndMelissa22, Public domain · Lake Lanier: http://www.terraprints.com, CC BY 2.5 · Truist Park: Thechased at English Wikipedia, CC BY 4.0 · Six Flags Over Georgia: hagerman, CC BY 2.0 · State Farm Arena: Hermann Luyken, CC0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Canton, 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 Canton.
Canton fares better on crime within Georgia than nationally, pairs an A for schools with high home prices and has hotter summers than most of the country, though not than most of Georgia.
The typical Canton home is worth about $512,000, about the same as a year ago, 55% above the Georgia typical home. 56% of households own their home in Canton.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its A for schools comes with a C− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $512K.
Its public schools are run by the Cherokee County school district.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teasley Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,586 | B |
| Cherokee High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 3,012 | B+ |
| J. Knox ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 909 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within GA on state tests and graduation
9.6 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves.
| Canton | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.9% | 2.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Etowah River Park | 1.5 mi | 38 |
| 2. Heritage Park | 1.1 mi | 21 |
| 3. Brown Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
July afternoons average 88.4°: hotter than most of the country, but cooler than 91% of Georgia places with climate records; January nights average 31.3°.
Canton has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Canton’s January low is 31°F. About 1 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Canton | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 31°F | 33°F | 22°F |
| July high | 88°F | 90°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 13 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 82% of Georgia’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 340 to 291 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property crime rate in Canton is 6.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Canton | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.2 per 1,000 residents | 14.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.2 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Jobs based here grew from 12,427 in 2013 to 17,315.
Most working residents leave Canton for work: only 12% work in town. 20% of Canton workers work from home. Jobs based in Canton grew to 17,315 in 2023, 4,888 more than in 2013.
| Canton | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 20% | 9.2% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 15% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 9% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Georgia average. Canton has grown 24% since 2020, to 40,778 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 32% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 35% across Georgia.
| Canton | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 27% | 24% | 22% |
| Median age | 34.5 years | 36.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 32% | 25% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 14% | 15% | 18% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.1 points. Across Georgia, 51.2% of residents are women. Median age: women 36.5, men 33.4.
| Canton | GA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 14% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12.8% | 11.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.5% | 9.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.8% | 13.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.3% | 13.4% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.9% | 12.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 9.4% | 12.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.8% | 9.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.7% | 5.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 18.4% | 10.8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 19% | 26.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.5% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.7% | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.7% | 21.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.6% | 13.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Canton beats the Georgia average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2.
| Canton | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 8.1% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 38% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 75% | 79% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 16% |
| What stands out | Canton | GA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 11.7% | 13.3% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 3.2% | 3.6% |
| More uninsured adults | 17.3% | 13.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 51% of U.S. communities. Since 1992, 8 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Canton.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Canton
About 4 of every 100 Canton residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Georgia.
6 places in Canton on the National Register of Historic Places.
22 notable people were born in Canton.
City in Georgia, United States
Canton is a city in and the county seat of Cherokee County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, Canton had a population of 32,973.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Canton.
| Town | GA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canton | #68 | B− | C− | B+ | A | B− |
| Holly Springs | #12 | A | D | A | A | B+ |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Canton grades B− overall, better than 52% of U.S. towns and #68 of 258 in Georgia. It grades B− for health, B+ for safety and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
22 notable people were born here, including Sonny Landham and Chris Singleton.
