Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Fitzgerald earns a D−, 239th among Georgia's 258 graded towns, mostly because of health and safety. Residents are less healthy than 98% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. It reports more crime per resident than 93% of U.S. towns, including 33 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. One bright spot: natural-hazard risk is low. 28% of residents live below the poverty line in Fitzgerald, above both the Georgia town median (15%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). On civic life, just 23 of Georgia’s 307 towns do worse. Fitzgerald has 7 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Ben Hill County Courthouse and Ben Hill County Jail.
Where Fitzgerald beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Georgia), ordered by how far Fitzgerald is from typical.
Its grades run from A for hazard risk (better than 87% of comparable towns) to D− for health (better than 2%), so the D− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,817 in 1900, 9,006 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1897 and 2 maps from 1973 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Fitzgerald, 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 Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald has commutes shorter than most of Georgia, but it has poverty well above the Georgia rate and reports property crime at about twice the Georgia rate.
21% of Fitzgerald adults have diabetes. Fitzgerald beats the Georgia average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 21. 48% of Fitzgerald adults have high blood pressure.
| Fitzgerald | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 14% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 48% | 38% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 29% | 25% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 22% | 14% |
| What stands out | Fitzgerald | GA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 11.7% | 14.5% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.7% | 77.4% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 17.8% | 9.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Ben Hill County school district. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Hill County Primary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 815 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within GA on state tests and graduation
The typical Fitzgerald home is worth about $126,000, down 1.4% in a year, 62% below the Georgia typical home. Fitzgerald’s median rent is $670 a month.
| Fitzgerald | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $670 a month | $1,160 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 54% | 58% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Property crime runs at 29.3 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Georgia rate, most of it theft. Reported crimes fell from 451 to 290 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property crime rate in Fitzgerald is 29.3 per 1,000 residents. Fitzgerald reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 93% report less. The violent crime rate in Fitzgerald is 3.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Fitzgerald | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 29.3 per 1,000 residents | 14.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.8 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
4.6 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Paulk Park, 53 acres with 1.5 miles of trail.
| Fitzgerald | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.6% | 2.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Paulk Park | 1.5 mi | 53 |
| 2. Sports Park | 0.3 mi | 20 |
| 3. American Legion Park | — | 14 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 86% of U.S. communities. Since 1997, 14 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Fitzgerald.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Fitzgerald has mild winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 92°, January nights drop to 39° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 3,077 working residents takes 14.3 minutes, against 28.3 across Georgia.
About one in 3 of Fitzgerald’s working residents works in town. Only 4 of the 263 Georgia towns we compare have a lower average trip to work than Fitzgerald. The top destinations are Tifton (6%), Ocilla (5%) and Douglas (5%).
| Fitzgerald | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 14 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 30% | 9% | 8% |
| Median household income | $37,000 | $63,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
None within 15 miles of Fitzgerald; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Fitzgerald residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Georgia.
7 places in Fitzgerald on the National Register of Historic Places.
13 notable people were born in Fitzgerald.
City in Georgia, United States
Fitzgerald is a city in and the county seat of Ben Hill County in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2020, its population was 9,006. It is the principal city of the Fitzgerald micropolitan statistical area, which includes all of Ben Hill and Irwin counties. A small portion of Fitzgerald is in Irwin County. The city is an agricultural marketing center that grows cotton, tobacco, and peanuts. It is also home to diverse manufactures including textiles, lumber, and metal products. The city is home to the Blue and Gray Museum, the Grand Theatre, the Milton Hopkins Memorial Nature Preserve, and the Fitzgerald chicken topiary. The Ben Hill Irwin Campus of Wiregrass Georg…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Fitzgerald grades D− overall, better than 3% of U.S. towns and #239 of 258 in Georgia. It grades D− for health, D for safety and C− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 3 years of the area's median household income ($41,758 across the Fitzgerald, 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 B−.
13 notable people were born here, including Forrest Towns and Morris Berthold Abram.
