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-STERLING-GA · Sterling, GA 1,849 pop · income 55th 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 Sterling
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Sterling on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Sparta · lowest
24,854
Sparta · lowest
24,854 median HH income
16.6% of the leader · rank #1
Unionville · near
74,356
Unionville · near
74,356 median HH income
49.7% of the leader · rank #2
Sterling · this city
74,359
Sterling · this city
74,359 median HH income
49.7% of the leader · rank #3
Akron · near
74,360
Akron · near
74,360 median HH income
49.7% of the leader · rank #4
Catasauqua · near
74,363
Catasauqua · near
74,363 median HH income
49.7% of the leader · rank #5
Neponset · near
74,375
Neponset · near
74,375 median HH income
49.7% of the leader · rank #6
Lookout Mount… · highest
149,688
Lookout Mount… · highest
149,688 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 Sterling 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: 1,849.
Sterling ranks in the 55th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
55th
percentile, household income
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: Sterling, GA
Georgia's Sterling is a small town, with 1,849 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Sterling households earn a median of $74,359 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 11.7%. The median resident age is 35.3 years. Educational attainment runs 20.3% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 61.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,203 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $225 across Georgia, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. 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 Sterling'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Sterling, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Sterling?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 77.7%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Which cities make useful reference points for Sterling?
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.
Within Georgia, the closest population matches are Maysville (1,829 residents, $78,182 income); Clarkesville (1,827 residents, $66,316 income); Sparta (1,827 residents, $24,854 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Orion, IL (1,849 residents); Hamilton, IN (1,849 residents); Collinsville, MS (1,849 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.
Above median income · poverty 11.7% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
96.3 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Georgia average
D
City profile score · Sterling, GA
46/100
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.
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-
$74,359
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
20.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
11.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Sterling profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 57/100 (C) · 96.3 index
Household income: 54/100 (C-) · $74,359
Bachelor's+ share: 35/100 (F) · 20.3%
Poverty rate: 33/100 (F) · 11.7%
How does Sterling compare to other US cities?
Sterling measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income55% higher 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 Sterling 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 Sterling near the bottom of Georgia's cities
Among the 638 Georgia cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Sterling ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Sterling only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#155 of 610
75th percentile in Georgia
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 638
0th percentile in Georgia
Poverty Rate
#324 of 637
49th percentile in Georgia
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#262 of 638
59th 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
55th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income distribution context
$74,359Sterling, GA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Sterling, 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 Sterling, GA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)20.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)11.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)61.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,849
Median Income
$74,359
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
35.3
Poverty Rate
11.7%
Labor force participation
61.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
20.3%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
77.7%
Carpool
1.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
20.8%
Based on 857 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 Sterling. 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 Sterling 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 Sterling sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Sterling 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, 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.