Georgia brings to mind images of Atlanta, beautiful landscapes, and some of the best people you’ll find in the good ole US of A.
However, like all states, Georgia has certain places that are going on hard times. These places have an above average percent of people that are living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
With all the talk about income inequality going on around the country, we thought it prudent to take a look at the places in each state that are struggling to make it even as the economy continues to improve. So we set our sites on bringing attention to the places in Georgia that could use a helping hand.
To do so, we analyzed the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 128 places in Georgia with more than 5,000 people.
We were left with this set of the ten poorest places in the Peach State for 2018:
- Fort Valley (Photos)
- Cordele (Photos)
- Americus (Photos)
- Statesboro (Photos)
- Milledgeville (Photos)
- Swainsboro (Photos)
- Cairo (Photos)
- Thomson (Photos)
- Barnesville (Photos)
- College Park (Photos)
Again, this isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.
And according to the facts, Fort Valley is the poorest place in Georgia for 2018.
Rich people not your cup of tea? Feel free to check out the richest places in Georgia or the most dangerous.
For more on how we calculated the top ten, and for more information about these places, read on.
How We Determined The Poorest Places In Georgia For 2018
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the ‘poorest places’. So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2012-2016 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income adjusted for the cost of living
- Unemployment Rate
The ‘median household income adjusted for the cost of living’ attempts to gauge how expensive it is to live in a place and how that impacts the quality of life. For example, a town might have fewer people living below the official poverty line, but the cost of living is so high they’d still feel poor.
The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for improvement in the city or town. If more people are employed, the brighter the future looks and vice versa.
After we collected the data for all 128 places with more than 5,000 people in Georgia, we ranked each place from 1 to 128 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a ‘Poor Score’ with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Fort Valley, crowned the ‘Poorest Place In Georgia For 2018’.
You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for all 128 places.
1. Fort Valley
Population: 8,975Median Income: $20,664
Unemployment Rate: 21.1%
Poverty Rate: 43.1%
More on Fort Valley: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs
Fort Valley, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Georgia thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 8,975 people averages the 3rd lowest median household income in Georgia and the 5th highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
User comment that mentions Fort Valley: LOL This has got to be a joke. I lived in fort valley for almost 20yrs. Crime’ in these small farming towns- Good one… LOL||||Id rather walk through any of these small towns at night compared to Macon, ATL, Albany and Columbus.’
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2. Cordele
Population: 11,015Median Income: $23,294
Unemployment Rate: 18.0%
Poverty Rate: 49.6%
More on Cordele: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs
The second poorest city in Georgia is Cordele.
The city ranks as having the 2nd highest incidence of poverty and 5th lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 6th highest in the Peach State.
3. Americus
Population: 16,185Median Income: $24,882
Unemployment Rate: 19.6%
Poverty Rate: 42.2%
More on Americus: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs
Placing as the third poorest city, Americus’s median income ranks as the 10th lowest.
And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 42.2% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Peach State.
4. Statesboro
Population: 30,597Median Income: $24,499
Unemployment Rate: 13.3%
Poverty Rate: 51.5%
More on Statesboro: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs
Statesboro ranks as the fourth poorest place in Georgia.
The town ranks as having the 7th lowest median household income and the 1st highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
5. Milledgeville
Population: 19,146Median Income: $21,158
Unemployment Rate: 12.9%
Poverty Rate: 43.3%
More on Milledgeville: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs
The fifth poorest city in Georgia is Milledgeville.
The city ranks as having the 4th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 4th highest in Georgia.
Still not the best news for Milledgeville.
6. Swainsboro
Population: 7,504Median Income: $27,942
Unemployment Rate: 15.0%
Poverty Rate: 42.4%
More on Swainsboro: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs
Swainsboro ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Peach State.
It ranks as having the 6th highest incidence of poverty and the 17th highest unemployment rate.
User comment that mentions Swainsboro: I came from a way smaller town than Swainsboro and it has no place to eat within the town now. Did in the 1950s. One Resturant,one soda fountain Malt shop. A few clothing couple gas ||stations,an ice house,,,Yes an ice house. You gotta remember this is in the 50s…||Gas station there now, a Dollar store has replaced my house where I used to live. ||So where is that one on your list- Empty||fallen down store. Windows.one smelly store run by immigrants that you didn’t stay in long for the smell. You must have buzzed right thru there ! Or not at all.’ It was the best little town when I lived there. Clean,lawn s mowed walked he streets up towe to the post office. Great people lived ther and every one knew each other,,,,,,we loved it!||||||It is becoming very apparent that you haven’ been to most of the places you wrote about either. You certainly could not have. Missed this place and others like it that are worse than those you listed.. And Macon is more than an hour away from Swainsboro. You need to update your walk/ abou||T! That for sure!!|| ||Me s ||Rc
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7. Cairo
Population: 9,708Median Income: $25,161
Unemployment Rate: 13.5%
Poverty Rate: 42.2%
More on Cairo: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs
Cairo places as the seventh poorest city in Georgia.
The city of over 9,708 ranks as having the 8th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
User comment that mentions Cairo: I am from Cairo. I graduated high school, and have BSIT and MBA degrees. My IQ is in the upper 0.5% of the global populace. I work as an engineer in high tech.||||So maybe your criteria is less than scientifically derived- Perhaps the compilers and authors of the article should consider themselves for inclusion instead of Cairo.||||If you will notice, those towns that make up the top portion of the list have long and deep Democrat-run roots, which is why they have lost private businesses, are poorer, and rely more heavily on government. Those attributes lead to high dropout rates.||||Now, if you had surveyed known IQs, your results would have been more believable. Less educated does not mean less intelligent.
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8. Thomson
Population: 6,699Median Income: $19,611
Unemployment Rate: 11.4%
Poverty Rate: 43.7%
More on Thomson: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs
Thomson ranks as the eighth poorest city in Georgia.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as the 42nd highest in the state.
9. Barnesville
Population: 6,611Median Income: $28,209
Unemployment Rate: 17.1%
Poverty Rate: 34.3%
More on Barnesville: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs
Barnesville couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Georgia; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 19th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Barnesville ranks as having the 21st most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Georgia.
10. College Park
Population: 14,434Median Income: $28,191
Unemployment Rate: 14.2%
Poverty Rate: 35.7%
More on College Park: Add A Comment | Data | Jobs
And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Georgia is College Park.
The city of 14,434 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Peach State.
User comment that mentions College Park: I agree with all the comments above. Having grown up in low class East Point in the early 60’s and 70’s and now seeing that it has gone from low class to no class due to the white flight caused by black migration, it is one of the most crime ridden cities in GA, apart from College Park. I now live in a suburb of Houston called Humble, moved here in 87 and it has now become crime infested due to the invasion of Mexican peoples and their insane macho driven birthrates and the black gang members who live down the highway. But that’s w hat liberals call diversity…they want everyone of color, oriental and middle eastern to increase in population and fracture the established mores and traditions of a gentile white society to create their interpretation of society, their way of life. White liberals don’t care and don’t associate themselves as being white even though blacks,hispanics ||and most other races do see themselves as a race of people and are proud of that….Not white liberals…they go around making jokes about any white person who doesn’t support their biases toward white society..ie. this article and others. Let’s see…..hmmm… what would define a black city’s amenities to attract blacks…perhaps a Popeyes fried chicken or a coin operated laundromat, tons of basketball courts and maybe a few Seven/ Elevens…can’t forget Walmart….you see how crass and rascist that is- White liberals do this all the time to real white people….to lower and debase them to help the other races become true rascists against white society.
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There You Have It – The Poorest Places In Georgia For 2018
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in Georgia, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Georgia.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in Georgia, according to data:
Richest: Milton
2nd Richest: Braselton
3rd Richest: Pooler
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