City · Dawson County, Georgia

Dawsonville, Georgia

Dawsonville is a city in Dawson County, Georgia, part of the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metro area. It has 4,403 residents. Dawsonville, Georgia has a quality-of-life score of 64 out of 100 (high), ranking #5,567 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Georgia it ranks #26 of 386 cities and towns. It ranks best on new homes permitted (high), child care cost burden (low) and voter turnout (high). It ranks worst on average weekly wage (low), distance to an emergency room (high) and loneliness (high).

64High

Quality-of-life score: #5,567 of 15,651 cities and towns
Georgia: #26 of 386 in GA
Population: 4,403 (2020-2024)
Land area: 10 mi²
Density: 458.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 1321940

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.

Safety40#9,325/15,637
Economy76#3,784/15,631
Housing45#8,187/14,977
Health55#6,968/15,609
Healthcare27#11,386/15,650
Environment73#4,186/15,453
Education69#4,879/15,649
Infrastructure50#7,786/15,650
Community71#4,482/15,651
Leisure & amenities82#2,826/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Dawsonville, Georgia ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Dawson 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

New homes permitted · high110.2 /1k
100/100Georgia 5.5 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Child care cost burden · low16.6%
99/100Georgia 23.0%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDawson County value
Voter turnout · high84.1%
99/100Georgia 67.6%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionDawson County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.320
97/100Georgia 0.477United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Primary care shortage · low0.0
90/100Georgia 8.2United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationDawson County value
Median Air Quality Index · low34
88/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyDawson County value

Weaknesses

Average weekly wage · low$843
2/100Georgia $1,404United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsDawson County value
Distance to an emergency room · high12.3 mi
11/100Georgia 7.4 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesDawson County value
Loneliness · high35.2%
14/100Georgia 37.9%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · high8.8 µg/m³
17/100Georgia 9.1 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2019Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyDawson County value
Mental health providers · low125 /100k
19/100Georgia 201 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDawson County value
Pharmacies · low1.1 /10k
19/100Georgia 1.8 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsDawson County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
2,882 (2015-2019) → 4,403 (2020-2024)
+53%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedImproving
27.0 /1k (2021) → 110.2 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+308%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
23.0% (2015-2019) → 36.0% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
85.3% (2015-2019) → 95.5% (2020-2024)
+10 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$62,500 (2015-2019) → $90,929 (2020-2024)
+45%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
16.8% (2015-2019) → 9.4% (2020-2024)
−7.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%

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, Dawsonville, Georgia improved on 3 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 8 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.

Improved3

Bachelor's++13 points23.0% → 36.0%
Uninsured−7.3 points16.8% → 9.4%
Household income+45%$62,500 → $90,929

Declined1

Price / income+0.9×3.1× → 4.0×

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Dawsonville, Georgia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	30.3 min2015-2019	31.2 min2020-2024	+1.0 min	Within the margin of error	37%
Bachelor's degree or higher	23.0%2015-2019	36.0%2020-2024	+13 points	Improved	95%
Broadband subscriptions	85.3%2015-2019	95.5%2020-2024	+10 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Effective property tax rate	0.68%2015-2019	0.51%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	51%
High school diploma or higher	89.5%2015-2019	93.5%2020-2024	+3.9 points	Within the margin of error	75%
Home price to income ratio	3.1×2015-2019	4.0×2020-2024	+0.9×	Declined	25%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3522015-2019	0.3202020-2024	−0.032	Within the margin of error	75%
Median household income	$62,5002015-2019	$90,9292020-2024	+45%	Improved	81%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.9%2020-2024	+0.9 points	Within the margin of error	99%
Rent as share of income	28.3%2015-2019	27.0%2020-2024	−1.3 points	Within the margin of error	65%
Rent-burdened households	41.4%2015-2019	43.9%2020-2024	+2.5 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	16.8%2015-2019	9.4%2020-2024	−7.3 points	Improved	93%

“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 Dawsonville, Georgia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Dawsonville, 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, Dawsonville, Georgia itself moved +6.6 points in standing on average over the same 10 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

4,403 residents (±24)

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

1,451 households (±162)

Dawsonville, Georgia
Georgia share

Under $25k8.5%†124
$25k–50k14%†202
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,451 households (±162)

Dawsonville, Georgia
Georgia share

Own73%1,052
Rent27%†399

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

2,067 workers (±217)

Dawsonville, Georgia
Georgia share

Drive alone71%1,465
Carpool6.9%†143
Public transit0.9%†19

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 Dawson County, the county holding most of Dawsonville's residents.

Dawson County has 921 employer establishments, 289 for every 10,000 residents (1.17× the US rate of 248; 1.22× Georgia's), with 10,069 paid employees at an average annual pay of $36,961. The Census Bureau also counts 3,530 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 921; 3,530 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 289; US 248 · Georgia 236
Paid employees: 10,069
Average annual pay: $36,961; US $68,342

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

Clothing and accessories stores	89	28	7.71×More than typical	1,398	$21,624	36
Restaurants and other eating places	86	27	1.47×More than typical	2,089	$19,621	10
Specialty trade contractors	65	20.4	1.32×More than typical	306	$51,150	326
Ambulatory health care services	59	18.5	0.89×About typical	532	$79,331	90
Limited-service restaurants	42	13.2	1.65×More than typical	1,025	$18,049	4
Construction of buildings	39	12.3	1.62×More than typical	108	$59,648	197
Lessors of real estate	37	11.6	0.94×About typical	79	$48,608	327
Full-service restaurants	30	9.4	1.23×About typical	824	$23,262	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	28	8.8	1.30×More than typical	150	$39,747	244
Management, scientific and technical consulting	23	7.2	1.08×About typical	53	$71,019	132
Real estate agents and brokers	23	7.2	1.48×More than typical	23	$48,913	145
Religious organizations	23	7.2	1.30×More than typical	190	$23,342	—

Rank places for an industry Open Dawson County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 31,833 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 $12.2K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Dawsonville, Georgia: $2.76 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $12.2K; −33% vs FY2025
Per resident: $2.76; US $1,994
Sole-source: 1.9%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; 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

Agricultural Research Service$11.9K98%
Department of the Army$2371.9%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

3.9KFY2017
663FY2018
90.5KFY2019
29KFY2020
288.3KFY2021
61.5KFY2022
3.1KFY2023
1.8KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Building equipment contractors · 2382$7,29960%
Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413$4,62438%
Electric power generation, transmission and distribution · 2211$2371.9%

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 Dawsonville, Georgia, so they do not add up across cities.

Dawsonville, Georgia's figures are part of those of Dawson County, GA ($256.8K in FY2026), never added to them: 4.7% of that total.

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

See federal money in Dawson 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.

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

House

Richard McCormickR-GA-7 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 0.4%

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.

Dawson County74100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA57

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/1321940

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends