Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 5,397, settled in 1796. A regional job hub with 4,013 jobs.
Trash & recyclingSandersville grades D− overall, 228th among Georgia's 258 graded towns, mostly because of incomes and health. The median household income is $50K, and 18% of residents live below the poverty line. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 95% of the country. What it does well: natural-hazard risk is low. 33% of working residents work locally in Sandersville, above both the Georgia town median (9%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Sandersville has 10 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Washington County Courthouse and City Cemetery. Among 263 Georgia towns, just 2 have a lower average trip to work than Sandersville.
Where Sandersville beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Its founding year, 1796, comes before those of 96% of the Georgia towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 1,279 in 1880, 5,813 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1869 and 2 maps from 1962 on.
10 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Georgia), ordered by how far Sandersville is from typical.
Its grades run from A for hazard risk (better than 89% of comparable towns) to D− for jobs and income (better than 5%), so the D− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sandersville, 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 Sandersville.
Sandersville draws workers from Tennille and beyond, but it is a long drive from an emergency room.
The nearest emergency room, Jefferson Hospital, is 23.3 miles away in a straight line.
21% of Sandersville adults have diabetes. Sandersville beats the Georgia average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 18. 50% of Sandersville adults have high blood pressure.
| Sandersville | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 14% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 50% | 38% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 16% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 23% | 19% |
| What stands out | Sandersville | GA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 10.9% | 14.5% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 82.5% | 77.4% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 28.1% | 14.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Washington County school district. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Washington County High School, with 905 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ridge Road Primary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 588 | – |
| Washington County High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 905 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within GA on state tests and graduation
4,013 jobs are based in Sandersville, 2.1 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 14.1 minutes, against 28.3 across Georgia.
About one in 3 of Sandersville’s working residents works in town. 19% of residents live below the poverty line in Sandersville. The top destinations are Milledgeville (5%), Augusta (3%) and Tennille (3%).
| Sandersville | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 19% | 15% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $50,000 | $63,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical Sandersville home is worth about $155,000, up 8.6% in a year, 53% below the Georgia typical home. The median rent in Sandersville is $811 a month.
| Sandersville | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 48% | 58% | 73% |
| Median rent | $811 a month | $1,160 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 81% of U.S. communities. Since 1998, 12 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Sandersville.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Sandersville has mild winters and hot summers. Sandersville’s July high is 92°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Sandersville | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.5% | 2.3% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Sandersville's reported crime rate is below Georgia's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 11 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
| Sandersville | Georgia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.9 per 1,000 residents | 14.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
1 within 15 miles of the center of Sandersville
About 1 of every 100 Sandersville residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Georgia.
10 places in Sandersville on the National Register of Historic Places.
15 notable people were born in Sandersville.
City in Georgia, United States
Sandersville is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Georgia, United States. The population was 5,813 in 2020. It is also a part of the Central Savannah River Area. Sandersville is known as the "Kaolin Capital of the World" due to its abundance of kaolin.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Sandersville grades D− overall, better than 5% of U.S. towns and #228 of 258 in Georgia. It grades D for health and C for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 3.4 years of the area's median household income ($46,023 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 B−.
15 notable people were born here, including Elijah Muhammad and Herbert Jefferson Jr..
