Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Hazlehurst grades D− overall, 235th of 258 graded towns in Georgia, mostly because of health and incomes. Residents are less healthy than 97% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The median household income is $39K, and 28% of residents live below the poverty line. One bright spot: its schools outperform 64% of the state's. 28% of residents live below the poverty line in Hazlehurst, where Georgia’s towns sit at 15% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. Hazlehurst's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 98% of U.S. towns. Hazlehurst reports more crime per resident than 92% of U.S. towns, including 24 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025.
Where Hazlehurst beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where Hazlehurst’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 Hazlehurst is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 290 in 1890, 4,088 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1900 and 2 maps from 1971 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hazlehurst, 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 Hazlehurst.
Hazlehurst draws workers from Satilla and beyond and fares better on crime within Georgia than nationally, but it has poverty well above the Georgia rate.
19% of adults report frequent physical distress in Hazlehurst. Hazlehurst beats the Georgia average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 19. 31% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Hazlehurst.
| Hazlehurst | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 14% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 23% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 29% | 25% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 12% |
| What stands out | Hazlehurst | GA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing food insecurity | 30.6% | 17.7% |
| More adults with COPD | 11% | 6.5% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 15.6% | 9.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Jeff Davis County school district. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Jeff Davis High School, with 835 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Davis Primary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 853 | – |
| Jeff Davis High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 835 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within GA on state tests and graduation
2,438 jobs are based in Hazlehurst, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 15.4 minutes, against 28.3 across Georgia.
About one in 5 of Hazlehurst’s working residents works in town. The average trip to work in Hazlehurst is 15 minutes. Since 2013, Hazlehurst has lost 530 jobs, to 2,438 in 2023.
| Hazlehurst | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 15 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 21% | 9% | 8% |
| Median household income | $39,000 | $63,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical Hazlehurst home is worth about $144,000, up 5.8% in a year, 56% below the Georgia typical home. Hazlehurst’s median rent is $746 a month.
| Hazlehurst | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 51% | 58% | 73% |
| Median rent | $746 a month | $1,160 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
At 53.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 78% of Georgia’s graded towns. Property crime runs at 31.2 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Georgia rate, most of it theft.
Hazlehurst reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 92% report less.
| Hazlehurst | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 31.2 per 1,000 residents | 14.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.8 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Hazlehurst has mild winters and hot summers. July afternoons reach 93°, January nights drop to 38° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 57% of U.S. communities. Since 2003, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Hazlehurst.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Just 20 of its 3,066 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Hazlehurst itself; its outdoors grade is C−.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Weatherly Park | — | 6 |
| 2. Buddy Spann Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Hazlehurst; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Hazlehurst residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Georgia.
2 places in Hazlehurst on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Hazlehurst.
City in Georgia, United States
Hazlehurst is a city in and the county seat of Jeff Davis County, Georgia, United States. The population was 4,088 in 2020.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Hazlehurst grades D− overall, better than 3% of U.S. towns and #235 of 258 in Georgia. It grades D− for health, D for safety and B for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 3.6 years of the area's median household income ($40,283 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
4 notable people were born here, including Claude Hipps and Jim Taylor.
