Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 5,459, settled in 1860. A regional job hub with 4,177 jobs.
Trash day: look up yoursCornelia grades B− overall, ranked 81st of 258 in Georgia, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Its schools outperform 83% of the state's and natural-hazard risk is low. On the other side, residents are less healthy than 78% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. 30% of residents live below the poverty line in Cornelia, above both Georgia’s towns (15%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Cornelia's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 94% of U.S. towns. Cornelia has 5 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Chenocetah Fire Tower and Cornelia Community House.
Where Cornelia beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Cornelia Elementary School | PK–5 | 491 |
Where Cornelia’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 Cornelia is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 175 in 1890, 4,503 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1936 and 2 maps from 1964 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Cornelia, 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 Cornelia.
Cornelia draws workers from Baldwin and beyond, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has a longer frost-free season than most of the country, though not than most of Georgia.
4,177 jobs are based in Cornelia, 2.4 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Cornelia for work: only 14% work in town. Cornelia’s median household income is $40,000. The top destinations are Gainesville (9%), Baldwin (5%) and Clarkesville (3%).
| Cornelia | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $40,000 | $63,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 14% | 9% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Habersham County school district. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cornelia Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 491 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within GA on state tests and graduation
2.4 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Cornelia City Park, at 29 acres.
| Cornelia | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.8% | 2.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cornelia City Park | 0.6 mi | 29 |
| 2. Library Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The FEMA risk score in Cornelia is 6 of 100. Since 1978, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Cornelia.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 2,321 U.S. towns with household incomes like Cornelia’s, it is healthier than 76%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income. Within Georgia it is less healthy than 57% of the 261 graded towns: much of Georgia scores lower on these measures.
24% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Cornelia. Cornelia beats the Georgia average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 14. 34% of adults get no exercise outside work in Cornelia.
| Cornelia | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 14% | 8.1% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 29% | 25% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 38% | 33% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 23% | 19% |
| What stands out | Cornelia | GA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 24.2% | 13.1% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 21.8% | 14.5% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 24.3% | 17.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Cornelia weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 222 days: longer than most of the country, but shorter than 77% of Georgia places with climate records. January nights average 32°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 85% of Georgia places with climate records; July afternoons average 86.9°.
Cornelia has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Among 264 Georgia towns, just 3 have a lower July high than Cornelia. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Cornelia | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 32°F | 33°F | 22°F |
| July high | 87°F | 90°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Home values rose 40% in five years, to about $301K, against 21% across Georgia.
The typical Cornelia home is worth about $301,000, up 1.5% in a year, 8% below the Georgia typical home. 56% of Cornelia households own their home.
| Cornelia | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 56% | 58% | 73% |
| Median rent | $942 a month | $1,160 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Cornelia. Close and well known come first.
Big draw31 mi LakeLake Lanier
9 mi MountainCurrahee Mountain
29 mi MountainBrasstown Bald
39 mi LakeLake Hartwell17 mi WaterfallTallulah Gorge
37 mi National forestChattahoochee–Oconee National ForestLake Lanier: http://www.terraprints.com, CC BY 2.5 · Currahee Mountain: Wikilackey (talk), Public domain · Brasstown Bald: Unknown, Public domain · Lake Hartwell: blahedo, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Chattahoochee–Oconee National Forest: Thomson200, CC0
4 within 15 miles of the center of Cornelia
About 4 of every 100 Cornelia residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Georgia.
5 places in Cornelia on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Cornelia.
City in Georgia, United States
Cornelia is a city in Habersham County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, Cornelia had a population of 4,503. It is home to one of the world's largest apple sculptures, which is displayed on top of an obelisk-shaped monument. Cornelia was the retirement home of baseball legend Ty Cobb who was born nearby, and was a base of operation for production of the 1956 Disney film The Great Locomotive Chase that was filmed along the Tallulah Falls Railway that ran from Cornelia northward along the rim of Tallulah Gorge to Franklin, North Carolina.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Cornelia.
| Town | GA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cornelia | #81 | B− | C+ | — | A− | C− |
| Baldwin | #74 | B− | B | — | A− | C− |
| Mount Airy | — | — | A | — | A− | C+ |
Mount Airy has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Cornelia, Baldwin and Mount Airy report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Cornelia with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Cornelia grades B− overall, better than 47% of U.S. towns and #81 of 258 in Georgia. It grades C− for health and A− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a C−.
That is 4.5 years of the area's median household income ($67,309 across the Cornelia, 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+.
3 notable people were born here, including Lady Bird Cleveland and Jack Irvin.
