Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Public schools that outperform most of Georgia.
Dawsonville is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades A overall, ranked 8th of 258 in Georgia, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its schools rank ahead of 81% of Georgia towns. It also does better than most on incomes: the median household earns $91K. A typical home there costs about $439K, 4.9 years of the Atlanta metro’s $90K median household income. Dawsonville’s trail network density is 1.6 miles per square mile, against 0.3 in Georgia’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. Dawsonville's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 89% of U.S. towns. Dawsonville has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Dawson County Courthouse and Dawson Couty Jail.
Where Dawsonville beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Robinson Elementary School | PK–5 | 648 |
| Dawson County Junior High | 8–9 | 603 |
| Dawson County High School | 10–12 | 880 |
Dawson County Courthouse2,536 counted in 2010 and 3,720 in 2020; an estimated 4,888 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 31.4% since 2020, after 46.7% 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 Dawsonville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 199 in 1880, 3,720 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1940 and 4 maps from 1890 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Dawsonville, 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 Dawsonville.
Walkers can cover 15 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. Among 228 Georgia towns, just 6 have a lower share of conserved land than Dawsonville. One park or preserve covers 5 acres in the town.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Veterans Memorial Park | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The largest public high school is Dawson County High School, with 880 students. The public schools here belong to the Dawson County school district. Below: Two of its 3 schools, each with why it was picked.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robinson Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 648 | A− |
| Dawson County High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 10–12 | Grades 10–12 | 880 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within GA on state tests and graduation
Dawsonville had 1,547 jobs in 2023, up 261 from 2013. Only 7% of working residents stay in Dawsonville for work; the rest commute out. The typical journey to work for Dawsonville comes to 31 minutes, where Georgia’s towns sit at 26 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. 7.4% of Dawsonville residents live below the poverty line.
| Dawsonville | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 7.4% | 15% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $91,000 | $63,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 6.9% | 9.2% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
On the market in Dawsonville: a median 110 days to sell. Zillow values the typical Dawsonville home at about $439,000, about the same as a year ago, 33% above the Georgia typical home. Homes in Dawsonville sold for 98.1% of their list price on average.
| Dawsonville | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 73% | 58% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,208 a month | $1,152 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
January nights average 30.5°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 96% of Georgia places with climate records; July afternoons average 86.8°.
Among 264 Georgia towns, just 2 have a lower midsummer high than Dawsonville. About 3 inches of snow falls in a winter. For Dawsonville, the January low is 31°F.
| Dawsonville | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 31°F | 33°F | 22°F |
| July high | 87°F | 90°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Households in Dawsonville have drawn federal disaster aid in 2 declared disasters, most recently in 2004. Expected damage from storms and floods is lower here than in two thirds of U.S. communities. FEMA puts 45% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 19% to tornadoes.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
12% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Dawsonville. The town beats the Georgia average on 7 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. In Dawsonville, 17% of adults binge drink, and 11% have diabetes. Only 9 of the 261 Georgia towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than Dawsonville.
| Dawsonville | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 40% | 36% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 16% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 12% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 39% | 33% |
| What stands out | Dawsonville | GA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 6.8% | 9.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 12.8% | 17.7% |
| More adults with depression | 23% | 19% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The bachelor’s-degree share among adults 25 and older is 36%, against 35% across Georgia. By age, Dawsonville looks like Georgia: each broad group is within 4 points. This Georgia town has grown 31% since 2020, to 4,888 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Dawsonville | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 36% | 25% | 29% |
| Median age | 36.6 years | 36.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 15% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 24% | 24% | 22% |
45% women, 55% men
About 124 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±4.6 points). Across Georgia, 51.2% of residents are women.
| Dawsonville | GA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 15.8% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.5% | 11.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.9% | 9.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16.7% | 13.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 16.1% | 13.4% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.6% | 12.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.9% | 12.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9% | 9.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.4% | 5.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.5% | 10.8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29.9% | 26.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.5% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10% | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 27% | 21.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9% | 13.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,900, single groups can be off by several points
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Dawsonville. Close and well known come first.
Big draw17 mi LakeLake Lanier
33 mi MuseumChattahoochee Nature Center
35 mi MountainBrasstown Bald
11 mi WaterfallAmicalola Falls
23 mi National forestChattahoochee–Oconee National Forest
31 mi Stadium & arenaGas South ArenaLake Lanier: http://www.terraprints.com, CC BY 2.5 · Chattahoochee Nature Center: muffinn from Worcester, UK, CC BY 2.0 · Brasstown Bald: Unknown, Public domain · Amicalola Falls: Jsfouche, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Chattahoochee–Oconee National Forest: Thomson200, CC0 · Gas South Arena: fr:File:ArenaatGwinnettCenterSat.png : fr:User:Betp (26 janvier 2008 à 20:19), Public domain
1 within 15 miles of the center of Dawsonville
About 4 of every 100 Dawsonville residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Georgia.
Where Dawsonville’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Dawsonville on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Dawsonville.
City in Georgia, United States
Dawsonville is a city in and the county seat of Dawson County, Georgia, United States. The population was 5,421 in 2026. Dawsonville is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metropolitan statistical area. The city head is Mayor John Walden, who was sworn in on December 18, 2023.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Dawsonville grades A overall, better than 90% of U.S. towns and #8 of 258 in Georgia. It grades B for health and A− for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
7 notable people were born here, including Chase Elliott and Bill Elliott.
