Atlanta, the state capital · Photo: AtlChampion · CC BY-SA 4.0How Georgia stacks up
In Georgia, across its larger towns, 41% of residents live in one of the nation’s lowest-risk towns. Its overall score of 38 ranks 32nd, a C+. Its strength is fast growth (+11% from 2010 to 2020); its weak spots, a renters’ market (66% of homes owner-occupied) and long commutes.
Each subject puts the official state figure beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
23rd of 51B56/100 Somewhat below-average crime. Measured by the FBI, violent crime here comes to 301 per 100,000 residents, 9% below the national figure. County or state police cover much of it, so town crime figures reach only 69% of residents. Its larger places pull the town measure down: Atlanta and Columbus sit in the national bottom quarter.
Add property crime, weighted as our town grades weigh it, and it ranks 25th lowest.
Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, state estimate 2025.
Measure: reported crime per resident over the engine’s three crime years (property + 4 × violent), as in our Safety grades. 74 Georgia towns of 10,000+ against 3,410 nationally. Covers 69% of residents of Georgia’s 10,000+ towns.
Where most people live, crime runs higher
At the safe end sit Holly Springs (#91), Grovetown (#135) and Jefferson (#231) in the national ranking of towns of 10,000+. The quarter reporting the most crime per resident takes in Athens, South Fulton and Warner Robins.
| State | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 42% | 0% | |
| Rhode Island | 37% | 0% | |
| New Jersey | 35% | 20% | |
| Pennsylvania | 29% | 37% | |
| Maine | 29% | 15% | |
| Georgia | 9% | 56% |
Many places go uncounted
Town figures come from each police department’s own reports to the FBI, and a town needs enough of the last three years reported to count. That covers 69% of the people in Georgia’s towns of 10,000+. Savannah, East Point, McDonough and six more are missing too many years to count. In Augusta, Macon-Bibb County, Mableton and 30 other places, county or state police answer the calls, so there is no town figure. Next door, coverage runs from 37% in Florida to 97% in Tennessee.
Schools
32nd of 51C+38/100 Test scores slightly under the national middle. Compared with 31% nationally, 31% of its 4th and 8th graders test Proficient. 6% of residents live in a top-quarter town, 39% in a bottom-quarter one; Jefferson ranks highest.
On-time graduation, 84.4% (20th lowest), weighs equally with test results in the grade.
It spends $15,800 per pupil, 24th lowest (context only; spending isn’t graded).
Source: NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2024, public schools; EDFacts graduation rates; Census school finance.
Measure: graduation rate and test results, averaged; each district’s state-test proficiency is put on the NAEP yardstick (its result ÷ the state average × the state’s NAEP proficiency) so districts compare across states. 114 Georgia towns of 10,000+ against 5,230 nationally. Covers 93% of residents of Georgia’s 10,000+ towns.
Cost of living
25th of 51B−52/100 About average on cost. Compared with $3,119 nationally, the typical tax bill here is $2,341. 11% of residents live in a top-quarter town, 29% in a bottom-quarter one; Forest Park ranks highest.
Against income, home values rank 25th highest: 3.9 times the median household’s.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: our cost-of-living score: home value, rent and tax bill against area income, plus the share paying 30%+ for housing. 115 Georgia towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Health
31st of 51C+40/100 Health a notch below average. About one adult in five here says their health is fair or poor (16th highest). Milton leads its towns at #47 nationally; 17% of residents live in top-quarter towns.
Source: CDC PLACES 2025 release (BRFSS model estimates).
Measure: our health score: seven CDC PLACES measures (general, physical and mental health, obesity, diabetes, smoking, inactivity). 113 Georgia towns of 10,000+ against 5,218 nationally. Covers 92% of residents of Georgia’s 10,000+ towns.
Housing
42nd of 51C−18/100 Ownership trails most states. 66% of homes are lived in by their owners, against 65% nationally (13th lowest). Atlanta and Augusta weigh on the town measure; 66% of residents live in bottom-quarter places. Florida, Alabama and Tennessee all do better on home ownership.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: share of occupied homes that are owner-occupied. 115 Georgia towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Natural hazards
13th of 51A−76/100 Lower hazard risk than most. It leads its neighbors on hazard risk, ahead of Tennessee. Inland flooding drives 63% of the $111 a year FEMA expects natural hazards to cost per $100,000 of buildings (15th lowest). Expect inland flooding above all; it makes up 63% of FEMA’s estimate.
Federal major-disaster declarations since 2015: 13, 23rd most.
Behind the figure: inland flooding 63%, hurricane 18%, tornado 8% of FEMA’s expected losses.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (Dec. 2025): expected annual building loss over building value, all census tracts; FEMA disaster declarations.
Measure: FEMA National Risk Index: expected yearly building loss from 18 natural hazards, as a share of building value. 116 Georgia towns of 10,000+ against 5,239 nationally.
Commute
40th of 51C−22/100 Longer commutes than most states. Georgia workers average 28.3 minutes to work, against 26.4 nationally. The longest trips start in places like South Fulton, in the national bottom quarter. 20% of residents live in a top-quarter town, 26% in a bottom-quarter one; Douglas ranks highest.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: average one-way commute of the town’s workers. 115 Georgia towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Growth
14th of 51B+74/100 Growing faster than most. The population grew 10.6% between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, against 7.4% nationally (13th fastest). 47% of residents live in a top-quarter town; Chamblee ranks highest, at #15.
Building: 6.0 new homes permitted per 1,000 residents in 2025, 16th most.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 and 2020 decennial counts; Census building permits.
Measure: population change between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. 110 Georgia towns of 10,000+ against 5,079 nationally. Covers 90% of residents of Georgia’s 10,000+ towns.
How Georgia compares to its neighbors
Next to Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina, it comes out ahead on natural hazards and behind on housing.
| Georgia | Florida | Alabama | Tennessee | North Carolina | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | C+ 3832nd of 51 | C− 1643rd of 51 | B+ 7215th of 51 | B− 5026th of 51 | C+ 3633rd of 51 |
| Safety | B 5627th official · 9% in top towns | B 6020th official · 9% in top towns | C+ 4033rd official · 5% in top towns | C 2847th official · 7% in top towns | C+ 4230th official · 5% in top towns |
| Schools | C+ 3831st official · 6% in top towns | C 3228th official · 1% in top towns | B+ 7245th official · 18% in top towns | A 8615th official · 32% in top towns | C 3419th official · 2% in top towns |
| Cost of living | B− 5220th official · 11% in top towns | C 3426th official · 4% in top towns | A+ 981st official · 70% in top towns | B+ 707th official · 14% in top towns | B 5615th official · 8% in top towns |
| Health | C+ 4036th official · 17% in top towns | C− 2436th official · 9% in top towns | C− 2046th official · 13% in top towns | C− 1644th official · 9% in top towns | B 5830th official · 25% in top towns |
| Housing | C− 1839th official · 5% in top towns | B+ 7223rd official · 18% in top towns | A− 7613th official · 10% in top towns | C 3231st official · 8% in top towns | C− 2233rd official · 5% in top towns |
| Natural hazards | A− 7615th official · 41% in top towns | D− 245th official · 0% in top towns | C− 1840th official · 1% in top towns | B− 4622nd official · 6% in top towns | C+ 3634th official · 3% in top towns |
| Commute | C− 2245th official · 20% in top towns | D 1044th official · 5% in top towns | B 5828th official · 52% in top towns | B− 4632nd official · 39% in top towns | C+ 4425th official · 23% in top towns |
| Growth | B+ 7413th official · 47% in top towns | A− 829th official · 51% in top towns | B 5828th official · 36% in top towns | A− 7818th official · 57% in top towns | A− 8016th official · 59% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the state’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of residents of 10,000+ towns living in a nationally top-quarter town. Neighbor names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is the figure a state agency or federal survey publishes for the whole state, ranked against the other 49 states and D.C. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the state’s towns and cities of 10,000+, the share whose town falls in the national top quarter of 10,000+ towns. A state can do well on one and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the state’s standing among the 50 states and D.C.: the two measures’ percentiles averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best state, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, commute 10, housing 8, natural hazards 8, growth 8 (out of 100). D.C., a single city, is left out of the town measure and graded on official figures alone.
What it is not. A state figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a state is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out towns under 10,000 and towns missing data. Neither says anything about any one neighborhood.
Schools use the Nation’s Report Card because each state’s own tests are set to different bars. Hazards use FEMA’s expected building damage, the same loss rate behind our town hazard grades. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work