East EllijayGA
Some 1,816 people live in this town, in Georgia.
Is East Ellijay a good place to live?
East Ellijay’s best subject grade is an A+ for cost of living; its weakest is a D− for incomes. 27% of residents live below the poverty line in East Ellijay, above both the Georgia town median (15%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Only 8 of Georgia’s 371 towns score higher on cost of living. East Ellijay's schools rank ahead of 68% of Georgia towns. East Ellijay has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes East Ellijay stand out
Where East Ellijay beats most towns.
Every workday, about 1,646 people come to East Ellijay for work
Where East Ellijay’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How East Ellijay grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Georgia), ordered by how far East Ellijay is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to East Ellijay: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in East Ellijay, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in East Ellijay.
East Ellijay stands out in Georgia and nationally, with the median household income lower than most
Half the trips to work are shorter than 31 miles. East Ellijay had 1,665 jobs in 2023, up 734 from 2013. Also worth knowing: only 8% of working residents stay in East Ellijay for work; the rest commute out. Its average trip to work comes in at 23 minutes.
| East Ellijay | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $29,000 | $63,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
More crime per resident in East Ellijay than in 83% of U.S. towns
In East Ellijay, the violent offense rate is 2 per 1,000 residents. East Ellijay’s rate of thefts and burglaries comes in at 16.2 per 1,000 residents.
| East Ellijay | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 16.2 per 1,000 residents | 14.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.6 |
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
Property crime per 1,000 residents
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
East Ellijay is less healthy than three in four U.S. towns
For adults in East Ellijay, the share who say their health is fair or poor is 24%. Two figures for adults here: 34% sleep under 7 hours, 32% get no exercise outside work.
| East Ellijay | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 14% | 8.1% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 40% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 29% | 25% |
| What stands out | East Ellijay | GA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 20% | 13.1% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 21% | 14.5% |
| More adults with COPD | 9% | 6.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
East Ellijay: mild winters and pleasant summers
July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 29° and about 3 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The biggest natural risk in East Ellijay is inland flooding, at a moderate overall level
Federal aid has come to East Ellijay households in 2 declared disasters; the latest was in 2004. Storm and flood damage is expected to run lower than in just over half of U.S. communities. Since 2003, East Ellijay has seen 27 flood insurance claims paid out. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 56% come from inland flooding and 14% from tornadoes.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A home in East Ellijay sells for about $320K at the median
Its going rate for rent stands at $663 a month. In East Ellijay, nearly half of households live in a home they own.
| East Ellijay | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 49% | 58% | 73% |
| Median rent | $663 a month | $1,154 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about East Ellijay
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of East Ellijay; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 East Ellijay residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Georgia.
About East Ellijay
City in Georgia, United States
East Ellijay is a city in Gilmer County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, East Ellijay had a population of 650. East Ellijay was originally the location of Fort Hetzel, one of the Cherokee removal forts built in 1838 to house the Cherokee people before sending them on the Trail of Tears .
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 3.4 sq mi
- Elevation
- 1,411 ft
- ZIP code
- 30539
East Ellijay’s neighbors
One town shares a border with East Ellijay.
| Town | GA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Ellijay | — | — | A+ | C− | B+ | C |
| Ellijay | — | — | B− | B | B+ | C |
East Ellijay and Ellijay have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Compare East Ellijay with a neighbor →
Questions about East Ellijay
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is East Ellijay, GA a good place to live?
Some 1,816 people live in this town, in Georgia.
Is East Ellijay, GA expensive?
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $208,000, 37% below the Georgia typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A+.