City · Carroll County, Georgia

Bowdon, Georgia

Bowdon is a city in Carroll County, Georgia, part of the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metro area. It has 2,006 residents. Bowdon, Georgia has a quality-of-life score of 18 out of 100 (very low), ranking #12,789 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Georgia it ranks #194 of 386 cities and towns. It ranks best on child care cost burden (low), new homes permitted (high) and drinking water violations (low). It ranks worst on loneliness (high), food environment index (low) and preventable hospital stays (high).

18Very low

Quality-of-life score: #12,789 of 15,651 cities and towns
Georgia: #194 of 386 in GA
Population: 2,006 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 590.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 1309544

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety46#8,419/15,637
Economy38#9,655/15,631
Housing49#7,659/14,977
Health28#11,308/15,609
Healthcare14#13,449/15,650
Environment64#5,487/15,453
Education29#11,070/15,649
Infrastructure4#15,081/15,650
Community11#13,852/15,651
Leisure & amenities27#11,484/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Bowdon, Georgia ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Carroll County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Child care cost burden · low16.4%
99/100Georgia 23.0%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCarroll County value
New homes permitted · high11.0 /1k
90/100Georgia 5.5 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Georgia 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCarroll County value
Dental care shortage · low0.0
84/100Georgia 5.9United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationCarroll County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.59%
81/100Georgia 0.79%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Comfortable days · high30.0%
78/100Georgia 31.5%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationCarroll County value

Weaknesses

Loneliness · high39.7%
4/100Georgia 37.9%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Food environment index · low6.4
7/100Georgia 6.2United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCarroll County value
Preventable hospital stays · high4,032 /100k
8/100Georgia 3,147 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCarroll County value
Uninsured residents (under 65) · high20.2%
9/100Georgia 14.0%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
Primary care shortage · high17.0
9/100Georgia 8.2United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationCarroll County value
Broadband subscriptions · low80.1%
10/100Georgia 91.0%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationFalling
2,565 (2015-2019) → 2,006 (2020-2024)
−22%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedImproving
0.7 /1k (2021) → 11.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+1,383%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Median household incomeImproving
$32,923 (2015-2019) → $65,337 (2020-2024)
+98%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
63.9% (2015-2019) → 47.2% (2020-2024)
−17 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateImproving
30.6% (2015-2019) → 19.1% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
73.4% (2015-2019) → 80.0% (2020-2024)
+6.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Bowdon, Georgia improved on 1 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Household income+98%$32,923 → $65,337

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Bowdon, Georgia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	26.1 min2015-2019	26.8 min2020-2024	+0.7 min	Within the margin of error	40%
Bachelor's degree or higher	14.6%2015-2019	13.7%2020-2024	−0.9 points	Within the margin of error	22%
Broadband subscriptions	73.4%2015-2019	80.0%2020-2024	+6.6 points	Within the margin of error	41%
Effective property tax rate	0.86%2015-2019	0.59%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	71%
High school diploma or higher	70.1%2015-2019	76.6%2020-2024	+6.6 points	Within the margin of error	88%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4782015-2019	0.4602020-2024	−0.018	Within the margin of error	66%
Median household income	$32,9232015-2019	$65,3372020-2024	+98%	Improved	98%
Poverty rate	23.7%2015-2019	18.4%2020-2024	−5.3 points	Within the margin of error	81%
Rent as share of income	33.4%2015-2019	27.6%2020-2024	−5.8 points	Within the margin of error	85%
Rent-burdened households	63.9%2015-2019	47.2%2020-2024	−17 points	Within the margin of error	91%
Unemployment rate	6.8%2015-2019	2.7%2020-2024	−4.1 points	Within the margin of error	94%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	19.4%2015-2019	20.2%2020-2024	+0.9 points	Within the margin of error	36%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Bowdon, Georgia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Bowdon, Georgia in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Bowdon, Georgia itself moved +13.3 points in standing on average over the same 9 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

2,006 residents (±531)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

847 households (±206)

Bowdon, Georgia
Georgia share

Under $25k28%†240
$25k–50k17%†142
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

847 households (±206)

Bowdon, Georgia
Georgia share

Own52%†440
Rent48%†407

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

895 workers (±287)

Bowdon, Georgia
Georgia share

Drive alone86%†772
Carpool8.2%†73
Public transit

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Carroll County, the county holding most of Bowdon's residents.

Carroll County has 2,358 employer establishments, 186 for every 10,000 residents (0.75× the US rate of 248; 0.79× Georgia's), with 43,788 paid employees at an average annual pay of $53,903. The Census Bureau also counts 11,690 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 2,358; 11,690 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 186; US 248 · Georgia 236
Paid employees: 43,788
Average annual pay: $53,903; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Carroll County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Restaurants and other eating places	214	16.9	0.92×About typical	4,537	$17,555	64
Ambulatory health care services	188	14.8	0.71×Fewer than typical	2,179	$85,631	457
Specialty trade contractors	178	14	0.91×About typical	2,343	$80,607	1,033
Limited-service restaurants	111	8.8	1.09×About typical	2,491	$16,282	29
Religious organizations	107	8.4	1.52×More than typical	620	$26,787	—
Lessors of real estate	102	8	0.65×Fewer than typical	273	$37,744	790
Construction of buildings	89	7	0.93×About typical	431	$86,371	496
Building equipment contractors	86	6.8	1.13×About typical	1,216	$83,902	242
Full-service restaurants	80	6.3	0.82×About typical	1,757	$19,999	25
Gasoline stations	71	5.6	1.73×More than typical	479	$27,328	8
Offices of physicians	65	5.1	0.79×Fewer than typical	1,076	$116,340	53
Services to buildings and dwellings	59	4.7	0.69×Fewer than typical	842	$29,341	1,227

Rank places for an industry Open Carroll County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 126,783 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated -$30.2K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Bowdon, Georgia: -$15.05 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: -$30.2K; −832% vs FY2025
Per resident: -$15.05; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

BREMEN-BOWDON INVESTMENT COMPANY-$30.2K0.0%

Spending by fiscal year

645.5KFY2017
1MFY2018
1.1MFY2019
947.2KFY2020
58.2KFY2021
170.3KFY2022
-55.6FY2023
4.1KFY2025
-30.2K

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Bowdon, Georgia, so they do not add up across cities.

Bowdon, Georgia's figures are part of those of Carroll County, GA ($174.1K in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Bowdon is mostly in Carroll County.

See federal money in Carroll County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Bowdon, Georgia is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Brian JackR-GA-3 · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 0.0%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Carroll County37100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA57

Other cities and towns in Carroll County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/1309544

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends