Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Gray is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B− overall, ranked 69th of 258 in Georgia, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is safety: crime is low: it reports less per resident than 73% of U.S. towns. Expect to pay for it: homes are expensive, about $275K for a typical one and 4.6 times the Macon metro’s $60K median household income. Gray has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Old Clinton Historic District and Cabiness-Hunt House. Gray's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 86% of U.S. towns. Only 5 of the 149 Georgia towns we compare have a lower property crime rate than Gray.
Where Gray beats most towns.
Where Gray’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Georgia), ordered by how far Gray is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 559 in 1920, 3,436 in 2020. The archive holds 8 old photos and papers going back to 2011 and 2 maps from 1964 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Gray, 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 Gray.
Gray draws workers from Macon-Bibb County and beyond and fares better on crime within Georgia than nationally.
2,486 jobs are based in Gray, 1.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Half commute less than 16 miles. 7.4% of residents live below the poverty line in Gray, against 15% in Georgia’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Just 13% of the town’s working residents have a job in town. Its average trip to work is 29 minutes.
| Gray | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 7.4% | 15% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 9% | 8% |
| Median household income | $73,000 | $63,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Two of its 3 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. The largest public high school is Jones County High School, with 1,614 students. The public schools here belong to the Jones County school district.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gray Station Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 609 | B |
| Jones County High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,614 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within GA on state tests and graduation
Households in Gray have drawn federal disaster aid in 4 declared disasters, most recently in 2017. Compared with just over four fifths of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage here is lower. 47% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by tornadoes at 16%.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 10.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 89% of Georgia’s graded towns.
Gray’s rate of reported violence is 2.3 per 1,000 residents, where Georgia’s towns sit at 2.2 and U.S. towns at 1.6.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
For Gray, the median rent is $921 a month. The typical Gray home is worth about $275,000, up 3.4% in a year, 16% below the Georgia typical home. Homes sold in Gray spent a median 213 days on the market.
| Gray | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $921 a month | $1,160 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 72% | 58% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Since 2020, Gray has grown 2.4%, to 3,567 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. The age mix tracks Georgia closely: no broad group is more than 4 points off. A bachelor’s degree or higher: 29% of adults 25 and older, vs 35% across Georgia.
| Gray | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 39.7 years | 36.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 14% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 29% | 25% | 29% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5 points. Across Georgia, 51.2% of residents are women. Among residents 25 to 34, 68% are women (GA 51%).
| Gray | GA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 15.9% | 12.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.4% | 11.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.5% | 9.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.7% | 13.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 18.3% | 13.4% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.8% | 12.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 7.7% | 12.3% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.6% | 9.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.1% | 5.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.3% | 10.8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.6% | 26.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.8% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 18% | 8.4% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 15.8% | 21.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.6% | 13.9% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,600, single groups can be off by several points
Gray: 21% of adults have been diagnosed with depression. Two figures for adults here: 14% worry about having enough food, 19% say their health is fair or poor.
| Gray | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 39% | 33% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 22% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 23% | 19% |
| What stands out | Gray | GA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 14.3% | 17.7% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 10.6% | 13.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Gray. Close and well known come first.
11 mi National Historical ParkOcmulgee Mounds National Historical Park112K visitors a year
33 mi LakeLake Oconee
18 mi MuseumAndalusia
28 mi MuseumMuseum of Aviation13 mi MuseumAllman Brothers and Band Museum
30 mi Ancient siteRock Eagle Effigy MoundOcmulgee Mounds National Historical Park: Bubba73 (talk), Jud McCranie, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Oconee: http://www.terraprints.com, CC BY 2.5 · Andalusia: Stephen Matthew Milligan, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Museum of Aviation: United States Geographical Survey, Public domain · Rock Eagle Effigy Mound: Brian McInturff, CC BY-SA 3.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of Gray
About 5 of every 100 Gray residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Georgia.
3 places in Gray on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Gray.
City in Georgia, United States
Gray is a city in Jones County, Georgia, United States. The population was 3,436 at the 2020 census, up from 3,276 at the 2010 census. In 2025, its population was estimated at 3,555. The city is the county seat of Jones County. It is part of the Macon metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Gray grades B− overall, better than 52% of U.S. towns and #69 of 258 in Georgia. It grades B− for health, B+ for safety and B− 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 C.
3 notable people were born here, including Al Wood and Bert Greene.
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