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Place dossier plate
SheetGA-VARNELL-GA · Varnell, GA 2,623 pop · income 64th 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 Varnell
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Varnell on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Okolona · lowest
34,400
Okolona · lowest
34,400 median HH income
21.4% of the leader · rank #1
Northview · near
82,853
Northview · near
82,853 median HH income
51.6% of the leader · rank #2
Varnell · this city
82,857
Varnell · this city
82,857 median HH income
51.6% of the leader · rank #3
Melbourne · near
82,857
Melbourne · near
82,857 median HH income
51.6% of the leader · rank #4
St. Libory · near
82,857
St. Libory · near
82,857 median HH income
51.6% of the leader · rank #5
Addison · near
82,858
Addison · near
82,858 median HH income
51.6% of the leader · rank #6
Berkeley Lake · highest
160,505
Berkeley Lake · highest
160,505 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 Varnell 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: 2,623.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Varnell places in the 64th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
64th
percentile, household income
50th
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: Varnell, GA
2,623 people live in Varnell, Georgia - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Varnell brings in $82,857 a year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 5.5%. Home values in Varnell run a median of $228,200, and the median resident age is 38.7 years. About 28.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 59.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,203 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $225 across Georgia, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 39.5 out of 100 (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Varnell'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 housing and income to population change to 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 Varnell, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Varnell?
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 home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.5%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +75 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +3.4% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
What does the journey to work look like in Varnell?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 90.1%. 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. 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Varnell?
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 Sylvania (2,621 residents, $45,536 income); Pembroke (2,628 residents, $66,797 income); Berkeley Lake (2,615 residents, $160,505 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Hoxie, AR (2,623 residents); Ball Pond, CT (2,623 residents); Okolona, MS (2,623 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 5.5% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
96.3 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Georgia average
C
City profile score · Varnell, GA
59/100
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.
Household income C+
$82,857
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate C+
5.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
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.
Bachelor's+ share C
28.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Varnell profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 62/100 (C+) · $82,857
Poverty rate: 62/100 (C+) · 5.5%
Cost of living: 57/100 (C) · 96.3 index
Bachelor's+ share: 55/100 (C) · 28.3%
How does Varnell compare to other US cities?
Where Varnell sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income64% higher than other cities
Home value50% 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 Varnell 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 Varnell near the bottom of Georgia's cities
Among the 638 Georgia cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Varnell ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Varnell only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#97 of 610
84th percentile in Georgia
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 638
0th percentile in Georgia
Median Home Value
#172 of 577
70th percentile in Georgia
Poverty Rate
#480 of 637
24th percentile in Georgia
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#155 of 638
75th 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
64th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Varnell's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$228,200Among the most affordablemore affordable than 50% 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
Varnell's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,326 of 15,516
More affordable than 66% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,640 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.8×, Varnell sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,326 of 15,516 and #4,640 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
$82,857Varnell, GA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Varnell, 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 Varnell, GA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)28.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)59.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,623
Median Income
$82,857
Median Home Value
$228,200
Median Age
38.7
Poverty Rate
5.5%
Labor force participation
59.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
28.3%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Varnell's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,220 residents
2021
2,223 residents
2022
2,232 residents
2023
2,256 residents
2024
2,281 residents
2025
2,295 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
90.1%
Carpool
6.6%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
3.2%
Based on 1,168 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 Varnell. 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 Varnell 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 Varnell sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Varnell 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.