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Place dossier plate
SheetGA-GRAYSON-GA · Grayson, GA 4,699 pop · income 89th 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 Grayson
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Grayson on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Naguabo zona… · lowest
21,865
Naguabo zona… · lowest
21,865 median HH income
11.8% of the leader · rank #1
Driftwood · near
125,667
Driftwood · near
125,667 median HH income
67.6% of the leader · rank #2
Mercerville · near
125,678
Mercerville · near
125,678 median HH income
67.7% of the leader · rank #3
Lone Tree · near
125,699
Lone Tree · near
125,699 median HH income
67.7% of the leader · rank #4
Grayson · this city
125,704
Grayson · this city
125,704 median HH income
67.7% of the leader · rank #5
Descanso · near
125,714
Descanso · near
125,714 median HH income
67.7% of the leader · rank #6
Lakewood · highest
185,774
Lakewood · highest
185,774 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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Grayson on ACS population and median household income
. 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: 4,699.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Grayson lands in the 89th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
89th
percentile, household income
82nd
percentile, home value
51st
percentile, median rent
📝 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: Grayson, GA
4,699 people live in Grayson, Georgia - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Grayson brings in $125,704 a year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 1.3%. Grayson's housing stock carries a median value of $457,000, and the median resident age is 31.1 years. About 33.2% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 65.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 107 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Building Boom), up 2575% from five years earlier.
Living costs in Georgia run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Georgia at 96.3 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Below Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,203 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Georgia run around $225, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 39.5 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Grayson'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 population change to comparison shortlist to housing and income to schools and households to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Grayson, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Population change
Is Grayson 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 +886 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +18.9% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 107 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Which cities make useful reference points for Grayson?
Within Georgia, the closest population matches are Montgomery (4,704 residents, $86,500 income); Elberton (4,691 residents, $41,454 income); Madison (4,714 residents, $79,133 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Lakewood, IL (4,699 residents); East Palestine, OH (4,699 residents); Marshfield, MA (4,698 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Grayson?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 1.3%, 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.
The NCES join finds 5 public schools within the city match. 33.2% 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 city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Grayson?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 92.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
1.0%
Work from home
5.1%
Drive alone
92.3%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 2,017 workers age 16+.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Georgia average
B+
City profile score · Grayson, GA
76/100
4 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.
Poverty rate A+
1.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income A
$125,704
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share C+
33.2%
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.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Grayson profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 91/100 (A+) · 1.3%
Household income: 88/100 (A) · $125,704
Bachelor's+ share: 63/100 (C+) · 33.2%
Cost of living: 57/100 (C) · 96.3 index
How does Grayson compare to other US cities?
Where Grayson sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income89% higher than other cities
Home value82% pricier than other cities
Median rent51% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Grayson 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 Grayson near the bottom of Georgia's cities
Among the 638 Georgia cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Grayson ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Grayson only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#20 of 610
97th percentile in Georgia
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 638
0th percentile in Georgia
Median Home Value
#26 of 577
95th percentile in Georgia
Poverty Rate
#578 of 637
9th percentile in Georgia
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#117 of 638
82nd 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
89th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Grayson's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$457,00018th percentilemore affordable than 18% 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
Grayson's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,493 of 15,516
More affordable than 39% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,590 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.6×, Grayson sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,493 of 15,516 and #7,590 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$125,704Grayson, GA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Grayson, 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 Grayson, GA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)33.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)1.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)65.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,699
Median Income
$125,704
Median Home Value
$457,000
Median Age
31.1
Poverty Rate
1.3%
Labor force participation
65.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
33.2%
Schools
Total Schools
5
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Grayson's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
4,683 residents
2021
4,670 residents
2022
4,787 residents
2023
5,038 residents
2024
5,305 residents
2025
5,569 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
107
housing units authorized
Single-Family
107
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
22.8
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
4
4
0
$0.5M
2020
4
4
0
$1.1M
2021
39
39
0
$8.2M
2022
95
95
0
$23.9M
2023
89
89
0
$22.4M
2024
107
107
0
$2.9M
Permit volume increased 2575% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
92.3%
Carpool
1.6%
Public Transit
1.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
5.1%
Based on 2,017 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 Grayson. 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 Grayson 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 Grayson sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Grayson 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, 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.