Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetGA-EMERSON-GA · Emerson, GA 1,716 pop · income 58th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Emerson
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Emerson on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Hancock · lowest
39,375
Hancock · lowest
39,375 median HH income
36.5% of the leader · rank #1
Pine Plains · near
76,420
Pine Plains · near
76,420 median HH income
70.8% of the leader · rank #2
Emerson · this city
76,424
Emerson · this city
76,424 median HH income
70.9% of the leader · rank #3
Indian Mounta… · near
76,426
Indian Mounta… · near
76,426 median HH income
70.9% of the leader · rank #4
Eden Isle · near
76,427
Eden Isle · near
76,427 median HH income
70.9% of the leader · rank #5
Edinburg · near
76,429
Edinburg · near
76,429 median HH income
70.9% of the leader · rank #6
Audubon Park · highest
107,865
Audubon Park · highest
107,865 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Emerson on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 1,716.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Emerson - the verdict
Emerson ranks in the 58th percentile for household income and the 59th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
58th
percentile, household income
45th
percentile, home value
51st
percentile, median rent
59th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Emerson, GA
Emerson is a small town in Georgia, home to 1,716 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Emerson report a median income of $76,424 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 7.8%. Emerson's housing stock carries a median value of $209,700, and the median resident age is 39.6 years. 34.0% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 60.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 30 residential building permits were authorized in Emerson (Building Boom), up 650% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Emerson reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 1118.1 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Living costs in Georgia run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Georgia scores 96.3 (Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,203 per month. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Georgia's average monthly utility costs around $225 (state average). On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 39.5 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Emerson's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from reported crime to comparison shortlist to housing and income to work and mobility to population change to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Emerson, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Emerson?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1118.1 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 51% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Which cities make useful reference points for Emerson?
Within Georgia, the closest population matches are Berry College (1,712 residents); Zebulon (1,711 residents, $47,917 income); Chester (1,708 residents, $47,500 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Homer City, PA (1,716 residents); Auburn, KY (1,715 residents); Audubon Park, KY (1,717 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
How far does income reach against housing in Emerson?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 7.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
What does the journey to work look like in Emerson?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 72.6%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Population change
Is Emerson growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +804 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +55.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 30 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+55.2%
2025 estimate
2,260
2020 estimate
1,456
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 34.0% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
Matched public schools
2
Bachelor's degree+
34.0%
Poverty estimate
7.8%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above median income · poverty 7.8% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
96.3 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Georgia average
C-
City profile score · Emerson, GA
54/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share B-
34.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living C
96.3 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Household income C
$76,424
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate D
7.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime D
210 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Emerson profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 65/100 (B-) · 34.0%
Cost of living: 57/100 (C) · 96.3 index
Household income: 56/100 (C) · $76,424
Poverty rate: 48/100 (D) · 7.8%
Violent crime: 46/100 (D) · 210 /100k
Where Emerson sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Emerson's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Emerson highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Emerson, GA (this city): home $209,700, crime 1,118/100k
Auburn, KY : home $118,100, crime 303/100k
Audubon Park, KY : home $354,500, crime 1,642/100k
Hancock, MD : home $175,000, crime 834/100k
Canton, PA : home $120,900, crime 351/100k
Arcade, GA : home $228,800, crime 1,594/100k
Ellaville, GA : home $153,200, crime 1,507/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Emerson compare to other US cities?
Emerson measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income58% higher than other cities
Home value45% pricier than other cities
Median rent51% pricier than other cities
Safety59% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Georgia and the picture shifts: Emerson ranks #50 of 166 Georgia cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Emerson against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Georgia only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Georgia-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Emerson near the bottom of Georgia's cities
Among the 638 Georgia cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Emerson ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Emerson only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#144 of 610
76th percentile in Georgia
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 638
0th percentile in Georgia
Median Home Value
#209 of 577
64th percentile in Georgia
Poverty Rate
#413 of 637
34th percentile in Georgia
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#109 of 638
83rd percentile in Georgia
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Georgia only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
58th percentile nationally for median household income · 59th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Emerson's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Emerson's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Emerson's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$209,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 55% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Emerson's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,278 of 15,516
More affordable than 66% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,604 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.7×, Emerson sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,278 of 15,516 and #4,604 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$76,424Emerson, GA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Emerson, GA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Emerson, GA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)34.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)7.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)60.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,716
Median Income
$76,424
Median Home Value
$209,700
Median Age
39.6
Poverty Rate
7.8%
Labor force participation
60.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
34.0%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1118.1
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
209.6
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
908.5
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Emerson's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,456 residents
2021
1,463 residents
2022
1,469 residents
2023
1,441 residents
2024
2,206 residents
2025
2,260 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
30
housing units authorized
Single-Family
30
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
17.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
4
4
0
$1.6M
2020
6
6
0
$4.1M
2021
7
7
0
$3.4M
2022
7
7
0
$3.7M
2023
332
2
330
$58.9M
2024
30
30
0
$9.9M
Permit volume increased 650% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
72.6%
Carpool
10.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.9%
Work from Home
14.6%
Based on 755 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Georgia statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $225
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Georgia at $225 (electricity about $125 , water and sewer about $45 ).
These are Georgia statewide averages, not a meter reading for Emerson. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Georgia's BEA cost-of-living index is 96.3 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Emerson is $1,203/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Georgia statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 39.5 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Georgia statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Emerson sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Emerson compares to similar-size Georgia cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.