Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best of Darien’s subject grades are an A+ for the outdoors and an A for history; the weakest is a D− for hazard risk. 35% of residents are 65 or older in Darien, above both Georgia’s towns (15%) and U.S. towns (18%). No town in Georgia scores lower than Darien on hazard risk. Residents are less healthy than 95% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. 56% of the land in Darien is conserved, where Georgia’s towns sit at 2.3% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. Only 1 of Georgia’s 374 towns score higher on the outdoors. Its National Register listings include Fort King George and Vernon Square-Columbus Square Historic District. Darien has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Darien beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Census counts: 550 in 1850, a peak of 1,975 in 2010, 1,460 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1721 and 4 maps from 1921 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Georgia), ordered by how far Darien is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Darien, 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 Darien.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Columbus Square | — | 1 |
| 2. Vernon Square | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the McIntosh County school district. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Todd Grant Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 694 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within GA on state tests and graduation
21% of Darien adults have diabetes. Darien beats the Georgia average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 19. 51% of Darien adults have high blood pressure.
| Darien | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 14% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 14% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 51% | 38% | 35% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 23% | 19% |
| What stands out | Darien | GA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 11.2% | 14.5% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 83.7% | 77.4% |
| More adults with COPD | 12.2% | 6.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Darien’s FEMA risk score is 99 of 100. Since 2017, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Darien.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The median age in Darien is 52.1 years. Darien has grown 24% since 2020, to 1,807 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 16% of residents are under 18 in Darien.
| Darien | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 52.1 years | 36.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 16% | 24% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 30% | 25% | 29% |
58% women, 42% men
About 73 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±7.3 points). Across Georgia, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Darien | GA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.2% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.8% | 11.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 3.5% | 9.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.5% | 13.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.7% | 13.4% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16.8% | 12.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 9.8% | 12.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 18.3% | 9.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 16.5% | 5.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.6% | 10.8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.9% | 26.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 32.9% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.7% | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.6% | 21.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.3% | 13.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,800, single groups can be off by several points
Darien has warm winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 92°, January nights drop to 43° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Darien home is worth about $274,000, up 2.6% in a year, 17% below the Georgia typical home.
| Darien | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 80% | 58% | 73% |
| Median rent | $925 a month | $1,154 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Most working residents leave Darien for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Brunswick (13%), Savannah (9%) and St. Simons (5%).
| Darien | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $57,000 | $63,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 15% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Darien. Close and well known come first.
19 mi Park & preserveJekyll Island
11 mi LandmarkIgbo Landing Historic Site
8 mi National MonumentFort Frederica National Monument108K visitors a year
25 mi National SeashoreCumberland Island National Seashore60K visitors a year21 mi Theme parkSummer Waves
20 mi MuseumJekyll Island MuseumJekyll Island: normanack on Flickr, CC BY 2.0 · Igbo Landing Historic Site: Jud McCranie, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fort Frederica National Monument: Bubba73 (talk), Jud McCranie, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cumberland Island National Seashore: The original uploader was Pgabolde at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Jekyll Island Museum: Bubba73, CC BY-SA 3.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Darien
About 7 of every 100 Darien residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Georgia.
1,975 counted in 2010 and 1,460 in 2020; an estimated 1,807 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
4 places in Darien on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Darien.
City in Georgia, United States
Darien () is a city in and the county seat of McIntosh County, Georgia, United States. It lies on Georgia's coast at the mouth of the Altamaha River, approximately 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Savannah, and is part of the Brunswick, Georgia metropolitan statistical area. It is the second-oldest planned city in Georgia and was originally called New Inverness. The population of Darien was 1,460 at the 2020 census, down from 1,975 in 2010.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. That is 4.1 years of the area's median household income ($66,623 across the Brunswick-St. Simons, 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 B+.
3 notable people were born here, including Charles S. Thomas and McQueen McIntosh.
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