Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Fort Oglethorpe gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $243K, 3.4 years of the Chattanooga metro’s $72K median household income. It grades B− overall, 84th among Georgia's 258 graded towns. 57% of the land in Fort Oglethorpe is conserved, where Georgia’s towns sit at 2.2% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. Fort Oglethorpe's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 92% of U.S. towns. Fort Oglethorpe Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Fort Oglethorpe beats most towns.
9,263 counted in 2010 and 10,423 in 2020; an estimated 10,868 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 5.5% since 2020, after 12.5% 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 Fort Oglethorpe is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 692 in 1950, 10,423 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1900 and 5 maps from 1936 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Fort Oglethorpe. Close and well known come first.
10 mi MountainLookout Mountain
8 mi WaterfallRuby Falls3 mi Theme parkLake Winnepesaukah
in town National Military ParkChickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park972K visitors a year20 mi CaveEllison's Cave
9 mi Zoo & aquariumTennessee AquariumLookout Mountain: Teke, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ruby Falls: Oydman (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park: Lhughesw5, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Tennessee Aquarium: Ɱ, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Fort Oglethorpe, 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 Fort Oglethorpe.
Fort Oglethorpe sends many workers across the state line to East Ridge, keeps more of its land conserved than most of Georgia and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
Its 5,081 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in any other Georgia town.
Fort Oglethorpe’s trail density is 2.4 miles per square mile, against 0.3 in Georgia’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. 34 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Gilbert-Stephenson Park | 0.4 mi | 15 |
| 2. Honor Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Catoosa County school district. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School, with 963 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeview Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 647 | B− |
| Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 963 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within GA on state tests and graduation
47% of households own their home in Fort Oglethorpe. The typical Fort Oglethorpe home is worth about $243,000, up 0.7% in a year, 26% below the Georgia typical home. Fort Oglethorpe’s median rent is $937 a month.
| Fort Oglethorpe | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 47% | 58% | 73% |
| Median rent | $937 a month | $1,160 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
January nights average 30.9°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 93% of Georgia places with climate records; July afternoons average 89.6°.
Fort Oglethorpe has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Only 10 of the 264 Georgia towns we compare have a lower January low than Fort Oglethorpe. The July high in Fort Oglethorpe is 90°F.
| Fort Oglethorpe | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 31°F | 33°F | 22°F |
| July high | 90°F | 90°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
57% of working residents cross a state line to work, East Ridge among the top destinations. The average commute for its 3,931 working residents takes 20.9 minutes, against 28.3 across Georgia.
Most working residents leave Fort Oglethorpe for work: only 8% work in town. 6.6% of Fort Oglethorpe workers work from home. The top destinations are Chattanooga (39%), Dalton (4%) and Ringgold (3%).
| Fort Oglethorpe | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $52,000 | $63,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 6.6% | 9.2% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 15% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 6,413 U.S. towns with household incomes like Fort Oglethorpe’s, it is healthier than 74%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Fort Oglethorpe beats the Georgia average on 4 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5.
| Fort Oglethorpe | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 39% | 33% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 14% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 22% | 14% |
| What stands out | Fort Oglethorpe | GA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 6.8% | 9.6% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 10.9% | 15% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.1% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Fort Oglethorpe's reported crime rate is above Georgia's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 24 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
| Fort Oglethorpe | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 22.3 per 1,000 residents | 14.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.2 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
137 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 20 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 53% of U.S. communities. Since 1989, 137 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Fort Oglethorpe.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
7 within 15 miles of the center of Fort Oglethorpe
About 3 of every 100 Fort Oglethorpe residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Georgia.
3 notable people were born in Fort Oglethorpe.
City in Georgia, United States
Fort Oglethorpe is a city predominantly in Catoosa County with some portions in Walker County in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 10,423. It is part of the Chattanooga metropolitan area. It is home to Lakeview – Fort Oglethorpe High School.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Fort Oglethorpe.
| Town | GA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Oglethorpe | #84 | B− | B+ | — | B+ | C+ |
| Lakeview | #55 | B | A | — | B+ | C |
| Fairview | #129 | C | A | — | B− | D |
Fort Oglethorpe, Lakeview and Fairview report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Fort Oglethorpe with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Fort Oglethorpe grades B− overall, better than 45% of U.S. towns and #84 of 258 in Georgia. It grades C+ for health and B+ for schools.
Not for the 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 Howell M. Estes II and David Fowler.
