Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Garden City earns a D−, 229th of 258 graded towns in Georgia, mostly because of safety and health. Its crime rate is higher than 93% of U.S. towns, with 62 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Residents are less healthy than 86% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. What it does well: it is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns. Garden City’s violent crime rate is 5.9 per 1,000 residents, above both Georgia’s towns (2.2) and U.S. towns (1.6). On hazard risk, just 15 of Georgia’s 374 towns do worse. Garden City's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 96% of U.S. towns.
Where Garden City beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
8,778 counted in 2010 and 10,289 in 2020; an estimated 10,513 in 2025.
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 Garden City is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
![Florida [Sarasota County (part) - Washington County] -- Georgia [Appling County - Effingham County (part)]](https://images.townratings.com/story/2916/70d64304c4f3f9176a42-l.jpg)
Census counts: 734 in 1940, 10,289 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1940 and 3 maps from 1955 on.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Garden City. Close and well known come first.
5 mi MuseumMercer House
10 mi National MonumentFort Pulaski National Monument321K visitors a year
5 mi MuseumSorrel–Weed House
10 mi State parkWormsloe Historic Site
5 mi MuseumCongregation Mickve Israel
5 mi Park & preserveForsyth ParkMercer House: Kyle Kesselring from Canal Winchester, OH, CC BY 2.0 · Fort Pulaski National Monument: Edibobb, CC BY 3.0 · Sorrel–Weed House: Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wormsloe Historic Site: Bubba73, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Congregation Mickve Israel: Ebyabe, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Forsyth Park: Unknown, CC BY-SA 2.5
Who provides power, water and the rest in Garden City, 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 Garden City.
Garden City draws workers from Savannah and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Georgia (mostly hurricanes).
9,197 jobs are based in Garden City, 2.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 19.1 minutes, against 28.3 across Georgia.
Most working residents leave Garden City for work: only 8% work in town. The average trip to work in Garden City is 19 minutes. Jobs based in Garden City grew to 9,197 in 2023, 3,526 more than in 2013.
| Garden City | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $48,000 | $63,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 15% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Savannah-Chatham County school district. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Groves High School, with 1,469 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garden City Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 597 | D |
| Groves High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,469 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within GA on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 402 to 324 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Garden City’s property crime rate is 24.8 per 1,000 residents. Garden City reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 93% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 94% of Georgia towns, with expected losses of about $1,441 per resident a year; that rating is what its D− for hazard risk is built on. 55 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 10 properties have flooded more than once.
Since 1994, 55 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Garden City.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 4,946 U.S. towns with household incomes like Garden City’s, it is less healthy than 60%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
46% of Garden City adults sleep under 7 hours. Garden City beats the Georgia average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 18. 20% of Garden City adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance.
| Garden City | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 46% | 40% | 36% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 14% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 22% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 12% |
| What stands out | Garden City | GA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6% | 7% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 28.7% | 17.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Garden City has mild winters and hot summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 92°, January nights drop to 39° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Home values rose 41% in five years, to about $263K, against 21% across Georgia. The median property tax bill is $1,116, against $2,341 across Georgia, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Garden City home is worth about $263,000, up 1.1% in a year, 20% below the Georgia typical home. 44% of households own their home in Garden City.
| Garden City | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 44% | 58% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,282 a month | $1,152 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2.1 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Garden City | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.3% | 2.3% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Salt Creek Park - Boat Ramp & Fishing Pier | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
4 within 15 miles of the center of Garden City
About 4 of every 100 Garden City residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Georgia.
Where Garden City’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
City in the United States
Garden City is a city in Chatham County, Georgia, United States, located just northwest of Savannah. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 10,289. Part industrial and part residential, the city is home to much of the heavy industry in Chatham County. It is part of the Savannah metropolitan area. It hosts the largest and busiest ocean terminal of the Port of Savannah, the flagship operation of the Georgia Ports Authority. Garden City was created in 1939 as Industrial City Gardens, a community intended to house the large workforce required by the new factories and chemical plants just west of downtown Savannah. Garden City is part of the Savannah metropolitan statistical area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Garden City.
| Town | GA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden City | #229 | D− | B− | D | C | D |
| Savannah | #191 | D | C | — | C | C+ |
| Port Wentworth | #158 | C− | C+ | B | C | C+ |
Savannah reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Garden City with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Garden City grades D− overall, better than 5% of U.S. towns and #229 of 258 in Georgia. It grades D for health, D for safety and C for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 3.4 years of the area's median household income ($77,180 across the Savannah, 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−.
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