Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Jonesboro gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $243K for a typical one, or 2.7 years of the Atlanta metro’s $90K median household income. It grades C overall, 137th of 258 graded towns in Georgia. The low prices come with trade-offs. Its public schools trail 90% of Georgia towns on state tests and graduation, and the median household income is $51K, and 35% of residents live below the poverty line. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. 35% of residents live below the poverty line in Jonesboro, above both the Georgia town median (15%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Jonesboro is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 82% of U.S. towns. Jonesboro Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Jonesboro beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Suder Elementary School | PK–5 | 592 |
| Lee Street Elementary School | PK–5 | 515 |
| Arnold Elementary School | PK–5 | 454 |
Where Jonesboro’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 Jonesboro is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 531 in 1870, 4,235 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 2003 and 5 maps from 1954 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Jonesboro. Close and well known come first.
Big draw16 mi Stadium & arenaMercedes-Benz Stadium
Big draw23 mi MountainStone Mountain
Big draw17 mi Stadium & arenaState Farm Arena
Big draw21 mi Theme parkSix Flags Over Georgia
17 mi Zoo & aquariumGeorgia Aquarium
26 mi Stadium & arenaTruist ParkMercedes-Benz Stadium: Atlanta Falcons, CC BY 3.0 · Stone Mountain: KyleAndMelissa22, Public domain · State Farm Arena: Hermann Luyken, CC0 · Six Flags Over Georgia: hagerman, CC BY 2.0 · Georgia Aquarium: Diliff, CC BY 2.5 · Truist Park: Thechased at English Wikipedia, CC BY 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Jonesboro, 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 Jonesboro.
Jonesboro draws workers from South Fulton and beyond, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has homes that are cheap against local pay.
7,784 jobs are based in Jonesboro, 4.4 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most people who work leave Jonesboro to do it: just 5% work in town. For Jonesboro, the average commute is 35 minutes. The top destinations are Atlanta (16%), College Park (5%) and South Fulton (3%). Half of commuters travel less than 17 miles.
| Jonesboro | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 35 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $51,000 | $63,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.6% | 9.2% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The largest public high school is Perry Career Academy - Eula Wilburn Ponds Perry Center for, with 887 students. Two of its 5 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. The public schools here belong to the Clayton County school district.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jonesboro Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 895 | C |
| Perry Career Academy - Eula Wilburn Ponds Perry Center forLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 887 | D− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within GA on state tests and graduation
Jonesboro’s natural-hazard score from FEMA stands at 8 of 100. FEMA puts just over two fifths of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 25% to tornadoes. One declared disaster, in 2004, has brought federal aid to Jonesboro households.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 6,087 U.S. towns with household incomes like Jonesboro’s, it is less healthy than 52%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
Jonesboro: 16% of adults smoke cigarettes. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Jonesboro is ahead of Georgia on 1 and behind on 12. 26% of adults in Jonesboro worry about having enough food; 42% sleep under 7 hours.
| Jonesboro | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 38% | 33% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 22% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 40% | 36% |
| What stands out | Jonesboro | GA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.6% | 7% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 14.4% | 9.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 2.7 years of the Atlanta metro’s $90K median household income, the typical home (about $243K) costs less against local pay than in 80% of Georgia towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. The typical value, about $243K, is 11% below its May 2024 peak.
The share of households in Jonesboro who own their home: 47%. Home values are down 3.1% over the year to September 2026. In Jonesboro, the midpoint rent is $1,068 a month.
| Jonesboro | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 47% | 58% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,068 a month | $1,160 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
July afternoons reach 90°, January nights drop to 34° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Walkers can cover 0.7 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves. Parks and preserves in Jonesboro: 5, covering 30 acres. Its trail density comes in at 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Jonesboro | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3% | 2.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lee Street Park and Amphitheatre | 0.7 mi | 6 |
| 2. Rum Creek Park | — | 15 |
| 3. J. W. Arnold Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
4 within 15 miles of the center of Jonesboro
About 2 of every 100 Jonesboro residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Georgia.
4,724 counted in 2010 and 4,235 in 2020; an estimated 6,046 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
10 notable people were born in Jonesboro.
City in Georgia, United States
Jonesboro () is a city in and the county seat of Clayton County, Georgia, United States. The population was 4,235 in 2020. The city's name was originally spelled Jonesborough. During the American Civil War, the final skirmish in the Atlanta campaign was fought here south of Atlanta, cutting off the city and forcing the mayor of Atlanta to surrender at Marietta in early September 1864. The final fall of Atlanta in the Battle of Jonesborough ended up being a decisive point in the nation's history, propelling Abraham Lincoln to re-election two months later, and continuing the war until the Confederacy finally surrendered the following year.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Jonesboro grades C overall, better than 26% of U.S. towns and #137 of 258 in Georgia. It grades C− for health and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
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 A−.
10 notable people were born here, including Jesse Fuller and Adam Smith.
