Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Kennesaw grades B overall, 46th of 258 graded towns in Georgia. Residents are healthier than 83% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Its schools rank ahead of 79% of Georgia towns. What holds it back is price: homes are expensive, about $403K for a typical one and 4.5 times the Atlanta metro’s $90K median household income. Kennesaw’s median rent is $1,845 a month, against $1,152 a month in Georgia’s towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns. Kennesaw has 7 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Gilgal Church Battle Site and Camp McDonald.
Where Kennesaw beats most towns.
Census counts: 244 in 1880, a low of 168 in 1890, 33,036 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1818 and 6 maps from 1907 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Georgia), ordered by how far Kennesaw is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Kennesaw. Close and well known come first.
Big draw23 mi Stadium & arenaMercedes-Benz Stadium
Big draw31 mi MountainStone Mountain
13 mi Stadium & arenaTruist Park
Big draw19 mi Theme parkSix Flags Over Georgia
Big draw23 mi Stadium & arenaState Farm Arena
14 mi MuseumChattahoochee Nature CenterMercedes-Benz Stadium: Atlanta Falcons, CC BY 3.0 · Stone Mountain: KyleAndMelissa22, Public domain · Truist Park: Thechased at English Wikipedia, CC BY 4.0 · Six Flags Over Georgia: hagerman, CC BY 2.0 · State Farm Arena: Hermann Luyken, CC0 · Chattahoochee Nature Center: muffinn from Worcester, UK, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Kennesaw, 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 Kennesaw.
Kennesaw fares better on crime within Georgia than nationally, trades workers with Atlanta and other neighbors and has a longer frost-free season than most of the country, though not than most of Georgia.
4.4 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Big Shanty Park, 48 acres with 1.4 miles of trail.
| Kennesaw | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.3% | 2.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Big Shanty Park | 1.4 mi | 48 |
| 2. Swift-Cantrell Park | 0.5 mi | 44 |
| 3. Adams Park | — | 28 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Cobb County school district. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Kennesaw Mountain High School, with 1,695 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kennesaw Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 560 | – |
| Kennesaw Mountain High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,695 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within GA on state tests and graduation
29% of Kennesaw adults have high blood pressure. Kennesaw beats the Georgia average on 20 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 11% of Kennesaw adults report frequent physical distress.
| Kennesaw | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 38% | 35% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 38% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 9.7% | 14% | 12% |
| What stands out | Kennesaw | GA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 9.5% | 14.5% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 4.4% | 6.1% |
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 72.7% | 77.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 72% of U.S. communities. Since 2004, 26 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Kennesaw.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical Kennesaw home is worth about $403,000, down 2.5% in a year, 22% above the Georgia typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The Dallas 7 Ne weather station, 8 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 218 days: longer than most of the country, but shorter than 88% of Georgia places with climate records. July afternoons average 88.9°: hotter than most of the country, but cooler than 85% of Georgia places with climate records; January nights average 32.3°.
Kennesaw has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. The January low in Kennesaw is 32°F. About 4 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Kennesaw | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 32°F | 33°F | 22°F |
| July high | 89°F | 90°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Kennesaw has about as many jobs (14,257) as working residents, but only 737 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Kennesaw for work: only 5% work in town. Jobs based in Kennesaw grew to 14,257 in 2023, 1,936 more than in 2013. Kennesaw’s average trip to work is 29 minutes.
| Kennesaw | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 22% | 9.2% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $83,000 | $63,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.6% | 9.2% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 17.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 76% of Georgia’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 360 to 351 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
3 within 15 miles of the center of Kennesaw
About 11 of every 100 Kennesaw residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Georgia.
29,783 counted in 2010 and 33,036 in 2020; an estimated 37,970 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 14.3% since 2020, after 10.9% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
7 places in Kennesaw on the National Register of Historic Places.
10 notable people were born in Kennesaw.
City in Georgia, United States
Kennesaw is a suburban city northwest of Atlanta in Cobb County, Georgia, United States, located within the greater Atlanta metropolitan area. Known from its original settlement in the 1830s until 1887 as Big Shanty, it became Kennesaw under an 1887 charter. According to the 2020 census, Kennesaw had a population of 33,036, a 10.9% increase in population over the preceding decade. Kennesaw has an important place in railroad history. During the Civil War, Kennesaw was the staging ground for the Great Locomotive Chase on April 12, 1862. Kennesaw is home to Kennesaw State University, an R2 research institution and the third-largest public university in the state of Georgia.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Kennesaw.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Kennesaw grades B overall, better than 64% of U.S. towns and #46 of 258 in Georgia. It grades A− for health, B− for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
10 notable people were born here, including Sean O'Pry and Jane Campbell.
