Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance), Georgia Demographics

Population trends, housing costs, income, commuting, and health, all on one page.

Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance), GA Population Density Map and Area Scores

Area Score

Health, income and education, each graded from F to A+. Explore interactive maps for deeper analysis.

  • B
    Health Around average
  • D
    Income Well below average
  • B
    Education Around average

Source: Map AI Methodology

Population

Metric Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance) Georgia Avg U.S. Average
Population 128,326 10,939,918 337,468,954
Population density (per sq mi) 1085.3 184.0 86.4
Population growth (%/yr) 0.74% 1.01% 0.59%
Median age 28.0 35.2 37.3
Households 53,946 4,074,039 130,235,071

Population in Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance) grew by 14.5% from 2009 to 2024, reaching 128,326 in 2024.

Population Growth 2009–2024

Year Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance)

Race & Ethnicity

Group Share

Age & Sex

The largest generation in Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance) is Gen Z, aged 13–28, at 38.3% of residents. That is 15.7 points above Georgia as a whole.

Residents by birth cohort, from the 2025 age distribution. The right-hand figure is how far each cohort's share sits above or below Georgia, in percentage points. Children younger than Gen Z and the generations before the Boomers are counted in the population but not shown here, so these shares do not add up to 100%.

Male and female share

Women are 52.4% of the people living in Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance) and men 47.6%.

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128,326

100% of everyone living in Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance)

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Economy

Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance) has a the economy index of D, which means it is barely prosperous.

Metric Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance) Georgia Avg U.S. Average
Median household income $53,996 $77,523 $80,455
Income growth (%/yr) 6.38% 5.33% 4.80%
Unemployment rate 5.3% 5.1% 5.2%

The median household income in Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance) is about 30% lower than in Georgia.

Detailed wealth and income breakdown →

Housing

Metric Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance) Georgia Avg U.S. Average
Median home price $338,925 $256,986 $248,835
Median rent $1,220 $1,392 $1,407
Homeownership rate 41.2% 65.7% 65.2%

The median home price in Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance) is about 23.1 years' worth of rent — buying at the median price costs roughly as much as paying the median rent of $1,220 per month for that long.

Full housing market analysis →

Commute Time & Mobility

Commuters in Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance) spend about 34 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 142 hours, about 5.9 full days, spent commuting.

Metric Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance) Georgia Avg U.S. Average
One-way commute (min) 17.0 23.6 22.4
Round-trip commute (min) 34.0 47.3 44.8
Yearly time spent (hours) 142 197 187
Estimated yearly cost $4,397 $6,109 $5,790
Work from home 13.5% 15.9% 15.0%
Highway traffic (vehicles/day) 9,714 11,986 8,813
Local road traffic (vehicles/day) 2,539 1,447 1,355

The average commute time in Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance) is 17 minutes, shorter than the 24 minutes in Georgia.

Estimated yearly cost applies a single national wage rule of thumb (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics average hourly earnings), not a measurement of wages in this area. Traffic volume figures come from proprietary Ticon and TrafficZoom data.

Commute and transport details →

Education & Households

Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance) has a education index of B, which means it is quite educated.

Metric Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance) Georgia Avg U.S. Average
Bachelor's degree or higher 37.5% 30.7% 31.6%
Average household size 2.19 2.62 2.53

Health

Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance) has a health index of B, which means it is quite healthy.

Metric Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance) Georgia Avg U.S. Average
Life expectancy (years) 77.5 75.8 78.3
Self-rated poor health 15.7% 20.0% 16.3%
Smokers 17.6% 22.0% 19.0%

Full health data →

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance), Georgia.

How many people live in Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance), Georgia?

About 128,326 people live in Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance), Georgia, in 53,946 households of 2.2 people on average. The median age is 28.0, so residents are younger than the U.S. median of 37.3 by about 9 years.

Is Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance), Georgia mostly urban or rural?

Averaged over its land area, Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance), Georgia has 1,085 people per square mile, a density typical of urban and suburban areas. That is about 13 times the U.S. average of 86.

Is Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance), Georgia an affordable place to live?

The median home costs 6.3 times the median household income ($338,925 against $53,996), compared with 3.1 times nationally. A ratio of about 3 is traditionally considered affordable. Median rent of $1,220 a month takes about 27% of the median household's income, below the 30% level at which HUD considers renters cost-burdened.

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