Latest Census city estimates released May 14, 2026 · Population as of July 1, 2025 · Next city estimates scheduled for May 2027. Release schedule
Athens, Georgia population is 129,921 as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimate), ranking #225 nationally and #6 in Georgia. Cost of living runs 6.7% below the U.S. average (BEA RPP 2024); the four-person spending scenario corresponds to modeled gross income of $95,044/yr (TY2026 tax assumptions; partial scenario excluding unverified local income tax). This consolidated city-county profile draws on 12 federal datasets covering population, housing, income, employment, climate, and risk.
129,921 people live in Athens as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025), the #225 largest U.S. city.
How big is Athens?
Athens covers 116.4 square miles of land and 1.8 square miles of water. Its population density is about 1,116 residents per square mile of land. Compare U.S. cities by land area →
Source detail: 2025 population
2025 population
Source agency
U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division
Dataset
Census PEP
Vintage / period
Vintage 2025 (Jul 1, 2025)
Native geography
Census PEP subcounty place records for the included city universe.
Transformation
Copied from POPESTIMATE2025, joined by Census GEOID, and used for ranks, filters, and city pages.
Known limit: Annual estimate, not a decennial count; each new PEP vintage can revise the prior series.
Population grew 1.0% from the April 2020 base to mid-2025.
Vintage 2025 · annual estimates
Recent history (V2025 series, 2020 base → 2025).
2020 base: 128,670 → 2025: 129,921 (+1.0%)
Year
Population
Reference date
2020 base
128,670
April 1, 2020
2020
128,595
July 1, 2020
2021
129,248
July 1, 2021
2022
130,067
July 1, 2022
2023
130,531
July 1, 2023
2024
130,750
July 1, 2024
2025
129,921
July 1, 2025
Vintage 2019 · not available
Earlier-vintage history is not available for Athens. Consolidated city-county governments did not receive direct V2019 PEP estimates.
Athens is the #225 largest of 19,483 U.S. cities and #6 in Georgia.
▸Show the analyst detail (9 rows)
Measure
Value
Note
2020 base
128,670
April 1, 2020 census base
5-yr change
+1,251
2020 base → 2025; within V2025
5-yr change %
+1.0%
within V2025 only
1-yr change
-829
2024 → 2025 estimate
1-yr change %
-0.6%
within V2025 only
Density
1,116
people per sq mi, land only
Land area
116.4
sq mi (2025 Gazetteer)
U.S. rank by population
#225
of 19,483 cities
State rank by population
#6
of 538 in Georgia
Place type · consolidated_city
Athens is a consolidated city-county.
Athens is a consolidated city-county government. The population shown here is the consolidated total (SUMLEV=170), which combines the city government with the surrounding county. Separately-incorporated enclaves are excluded from this total but counted on their own rows. Density and land area are derived from the balance-entry geometry and are slightly overstated as a result. See the methodology for the SUMLEV=170 ↔ balance-entry mapping.
What is the median household income in Athens?
Same-period U.S. benchmarks: household income $80,734 ± $166; per-capita income $44,673 ± $122. Margins are at 90% confidence. Comparison badges describe point estimates; they are not significance tests.
Median household income is 34% below the U.S. median ($53,625 vs $80,734); 26.0% live in poverty, 13.6 points above the 12.5% U.S. estimate.
Median household income$53,625
US
Athens: $53,625 — 34% below the US median of $80,734.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS income data; censored rows retained in the distribution
Athens
$53,625
United States
$80,734
Income and poverty estimates for Athens from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year estimates (window 2020–2024). Every figure is shown with its 90% margin of error (MOE). Cells where the ± margin exceeds half the estimate are flagged "low precision." See methodology §12.
Measure
Estimate
± margin / note
Median household income
$53,625-33.6% vs US
±$2,435
Per capita income
$32,642-26.9% vs US
±$1,060
Population in poverty
26.0% ± 1.7 percentage points
share of population for whom poverty status is determined
Median home value is 10% below the U.S. median ($298,900 vs $332,700); median rent is 14% below ($1,219 vs $1,413); the ratio of median home value to median household income is 5.6× versus 4.1× nationally; this compares two distributions and does not measure an individual household's housing burden.
Median home value$298,900
US
Athens: $298,900 — 10% below the US median of $332,700.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS home-value data; censored rows retained in the distribution
HUD 2-BR fair-market rent$1,331/mo
US
Athens: $1,331/mo — 24% above the US median of $1,077/mo.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with a HUD Fair Market Rent
Same-period U.S. benchmarks: home value $332,700 ± $236; gross rent $1,413 ± $2. Comparison badges describe estimates and do not establish statistical significance.
Measure
Estimate
± margin / note
Median value, owner-occupied units
$298,900-10.2% vs US
±$10,116
Median gross rent
$1,219-13.7% vs US
±$31
HUD Fair Market Rent, 2-BR (FY2026)
$1,331-8.4% vs US
Athens-Clarke County, GA MSA· 40th-percentile gross rent · HUD methodology
Owner-occupied share
41.4% ± 1.4 percentage points
of occupied housing units
Price-to-income ratio
5.6x± 0.32x approximate 90% MOE+35.3% vs US
median home value ÷ median household income · U.S. ratio: 4.1x
Rent-burdened (≥30% of income)
59.5% ± 3.0 percentage points+16.5% vs US
renters with a computed rent/income ratio · U.S. share: 51.1%
Severely rent-burdened (≥50%)
34.9% ± 2.4 percentage points+35.0% vs US
renters with a computed rent/income ratio · U.S. share: 25.9%
Poverty (Census SAIPE 2024, model-based), unemployment (BLS LAUS 2025 annual averages), and remote-work share (ACS 2020–2024) for Athens. Numbers are labeled at their native grain — place-grain when BLS publishes it, otherwise per-county. We do not compute population-weighted county averages. See methodology §13.
Measure
Value
Grain
Unemployment rate (annual avg)
3.3%
Athens (BLS sub-state LAUS)
Civilian labor force
65,916
2025 annual avg
Worked from home
13.5% ± 1.0 percentage points-10.8% vs US
share of workers 16+ working from home · U.S. share: 15.1% · ACS
County context — Athens sits in Clarke County:
County
Poverty rate
Median HH income
Unemployment
Clarke County
23.5%
$54,739
3.3%
What workers earn in the Athens-Clarke County, GA metro — top occupations by employment plus six curated benchmarks (registered nurse, software developer, elementary teacher, general manager, retail salesperson, truck driver). Wages are metro-area medians from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). See methodology §25.
Fast Food and Counter Workers is the largest tracked occupation in the Athens-Clarke County, GA metro (3,490 jobs, median $24,220/yr).
▸Show all 13 occupations
Occupation
Employment
Median annual
Median hourly
Fast Food and Counter Workers
3,490
$24,220
$11.64
Cashiers
2,120
$28,130
$13.52
Waiters and Waitresses
2,030
$21,090
$10.14
Office Clerks, General
1,880
$41,220
$19.82
Maintenance and Repair Workers, General
1,830
$39,150
$18.82
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
1,800
$38,210
$18.37
Stockers and Order Fillers
1,570
$34,600
$16.64
Retail Salespersons · benchmark
2,810
$29,240
$14.06
Registered Nurses · benchmark
2,400
$82,200
$39.52
General and Operations Managers · benchmark
1,830
$81,830
$39.34
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education · benchmark
1,360
$76,600
—
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers · benchmark
All items run 6.7% below the U.S. average (RPP 93.3); rents run 23.2% below (RPP 76.8) — the metro's housing affordability is the main driver.
Cost of living (RPP, all items)RPP 93.3
US
Athens's cost of living runs 6.7% below the U.S. average (RPP 93.3 vs 100).
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of metro/non-metro areas with a BEA price parity
BEA Regional Price Parity (all items)
RPP 93.3
−6.7% vs U.S. average · BEA 2024 · Athens-Clarke County, GA metro
HUD Fair Market Rent, 2-BR
$1,331/mo
FY2026 · Athens-Clarke County, GA MSA
State income tax (top marginal rate)
5.19%
flat · TY2026
Four-person monthly spending scenario
$7,920/mo
3BR rent + food + childcare + taxes + transport · federal sources; excludes unverified local income tax
One-person monthly spending scenario
$3,270/mo
1BR rent + food + taxes + transport · federal sources; excludes unverified local income tax
Local income tax
—
Unverified and excluded from the spending scenario; not a verified zero
Household budget figures are arithmetic floors using current federal sources at the grains documented in methodology. Not a recommended salary, not a poverty threshold, not a composite score.
9.9% ± 0.7 percentage points foreign-born (U.S. share 14.1%); Spanish is the most-spoken language at home other than English (9.2% of residents 5+).
A quick read on Athens's residents — nativity and languages spoken at home shown above, from the ACS 5-Year 2020–2024. The full demographic breakdown (age, race and ethnicity, household types, and educational attainment, each with its margin of error) lives on the demographics page.
Hottest month: July (90°F avg high). Coldest: January (33°F avg low). Annual precipitation: 50.5 in.
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) for Athens from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. See methodology §15 for the gridded vs. station source path.
Average monthly highs & lows · 30-year normal (NOAA 1991–2020). Every number on this chart is an average.
bar = avg daily high → avg daily lowprecip in inches below each barprecip in millimeters below each bar
Natural-hazard exposure for Athens from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index (FEMA NRI December 2025 v1.20.0). NRI is an expected-annual-loss composite calibrated on 1996–2019 historical losses, published at the U.S. county grain. See methodology §17.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index · FEMA NRI December 2025 v1.20.0 · methodology →
How fast is home internet in Athens?
10 non-satellite ISPs serve the area; 53% of locations have gigabit-capable service per ISP filings.
Fixed broadband availability for Athens from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Collection (BDC), as of December 31, 2025. Every speed and provider count below is an ISP-reported advertised maximum — not measured throughput. Actual delivered speeds typically run 60–80% of advertised. See methodology §16.
Measure
Value
Note
Providers serving this city
10 + satellite
distinct ISPs, excluding satellite-only
Fiber providers
9
offer fiber-to-the-premises somewhere in the BDC
Units with ≥100/20 Mbps fixed
100.0%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Locations with ≥100 Mbps upload
52.9%
derived: max(fiber ≥100/20, gigabit). Fiber is symmetric; gigabit is ≥100 up by definition
Units with ≥1 Gbps fixed
52.9%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Total broadband-serviceable units
63,953
residential locations in the FCC Fabric (not households)
Source: FCC BDC · as of December 31, 2025 · methodology →
In-state context.
Athens sits at state rank #6 among 538 cities in Georgia. Nearby in the state ranking:
Just above in the profiled set: Pearland, TX · #224 · 129,930 residents.
Just below in the profiled set: Clovis, CA · #226 · 129,347 residents.
Quick travel facts for Athens
Quick travel facts.
Elevation
645 ft · at city centroid, from USGS 3D Elevation Program
Nearest scheduled-service airport
DeKalb Peachtree Airport(PDK) · 54 mi 86 km from city centroid
Best months to visit
Apr, Oct · months when the avg high sits in 65–80°F and precipitation is at or below the city's median monthly precip
Sources: elevation from USGS 3DEP · nearest airport from OurAirports CSV (OurAirports type=large/medium and scheduled_service=yes; not an FAA service classification) · best months derived from NOAA 1991-2020 normals · methodology →
Frequently asked questions about Athens.
How many people live in Athens, GA?
Athens has 129,921 residents as of July 1, 2025, making it the #225 largest city in the United States and #6 in Georgia. Source: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025.
Is Athens growing or shrinking?
Athens has grown 1.0% since the April 2020 census baseline, adding 1,251 residents. The most recent year ticked down slightly (−829 residents, −0.6% from 2024 to 2025). Source: Census PEP Vintage 2025.
What was Athens's population in the 2020 census?
128,670 at the April 1, 2020 estimates base. Source: Census PEP Vintage 2025.
What county is Athens in?
Athens is in Clarke County, Georgia.
How big is Athens?
Athens covers 116.4 square miles of land, with a population density of about 1,116 residents per square mile. Source: Census Gazetteer 2025.
What is the median household income in Athens?
$53,625, about 34% below the U.S. median. Source: ACS 5-year estimates, 2020–2024.
The GEOID for Athens is 1303436. These are the official datasets used by this profile's main data modules; click "methodology" for inclusion rules and the V2019 ↔ V2025 seam, or "source" for the raw publisher page. The headline population value above includes a source-detail disclosure with publisher, dataset, vintage, native geography, transformation, and caveat.
