Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,048, established in 1874.
Lula gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $319K for a typical one, or 3.9 years of the Gainesville metro’s $81K median household income. It grades B− overall, 67th among Georgia's 258 graded towns. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. Lula's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 98% of U.S. towns. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 86% of U.S. towns. Lula Residential Historic District and Head's Mill is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Lula beats most towns.
Lula Residential Historic DistrictWhere Lula’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 Lula is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 217 in 1900, 2,822 in 2020. The archive holds 7 old photos and papers going back to 2005 and 2 maps from 1964 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lula, 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 Lula.
Lula sends most of its workers to Gainesville and beyond and has milder winter nights than most of the country, though not than most of Georgia; it also has little public open land.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 79% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Hall County school district. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lula Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 382 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within GA on state tests and graduation
Lula has 284 jobs for its 1,355 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Lula for work: only 1% work in town. Since 2013, Lula has added 111 jobs, to 284 in 2023. At 29 minutes, Lula’s average trip to work is above both Georgia’s towns (26 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes).
| Lula | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 1% | 9.2% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 15% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $69,000 | $63,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
January nights average 32.4°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 80% of Georgia places with climate records; July afternoons average 87.7°.
Lula has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. At 32°F, Lula’s January low is near the Georgia town median (33°F) and above the median of U.S. towns (22°F). The July high in Lula is 88°F.
| Lula | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 32°F | 33°F | 22°F |
| July high | 88°F | 90°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Lula beats the Georgia average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 75% of Lula adults had a checkup this year. Only 9 of the 261 Georgia towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than Lula.
| Lula | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 75% | 79% | 79% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 39% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 38% | 35% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Lula | GA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 11.3% | 13.3% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 3.1% | 3.6% |
| More adults with depression | 23% | 19% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Lula home is worth about $319,000, down 2% in a year, close to the Georgia typical home. 74% of households own their home in Lula.
| Lula | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 74% | 58% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,316 a month | $1,152 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Just 23 of its 3,048 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Lula itself; its outdoors grade is C−.
0.0 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wellness Park | — | 12 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
4 within 15 miles of the center of Lula
About 8 of every 100 Lula residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Georgia.
City in Georgia, United States
Lula is a city in Hall and Banks counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 2,822 at the 2020 census, and the town has both Hall and Banks county zoning. Lula is the railroad junction between the Atlanta northeast line and the Athens north line of Norfolk Southern Railway. Lula was established in 1874 and incorporated as a city by the Georgia General Assembly in 1905. The city was established and gained relevance by creating a junction for the Airline Railroad (later named the Southern Railroad). This provided essential economy and goods in the late 1800s that jumpstarted the establishment of the city. A notable annual event that takes place each year in the city of Lula is t…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Lula grades B− overall, better than 53% of U.S. towns and #67 of 258 in Georgia. It grades C+ for health and B− for schools. Walkability 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 B+.
Lula was established in 1874 and has 1 place on the National Register of Historic Places. 2 notable people were born here, including Tommy Irvin and John Hyder.