City · Habersham County, Georgia

Demorest, Georgia

Demorest is a city in Habersham County, Georgia, part of the Cornelia, GA metro area. It has 2,512 residents. Demorest, Georgia has a quality-of-life score of 55 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #7,074 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Georgia it ranks #55 of 386 cities and towns. It ranks best on child care cost burden (low), pharmacies (high) and property crime rate (low). It ranks worst on arts, entertainment and recreation (low), mental health providers (low) and loneliness (high).

55Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #7,074 of 15,651 cities and towns
Georgia: #55 of 386 in GA
Population: 2,512 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 1,119.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 1322304

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.

Safety81#2,974/15,637
Economy42#9,021/15,631
Housing87#1,963/14,977
Health40#9,361/15,609
Healthcare19#12,724/15,650
Environment78#3,375/15,453
Education61#6,051/15,649
Infrastructure62#5,989/15,650
Community30#10,889/15,651
Leisure & amenities21#12,368/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Demorest, Georgia ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Habersham 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 · low16.2%
99/100Georgia 23.0%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHabersham County value
Pharmacies · high3.0 /10k
96/100Georgia 1.8 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHabersham County value
Property crime rate · low329 /100k
96/100Georgia 1,409 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCovers part of the area: some reporting agencies or member counties have no figureHabersham County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Georgia 7.4 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataHabersham County value
New homes permitted · high14.3 /1k
93/100Georgia 5.5 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Violent crime rate · low74 /100k
92/100Georgia 297 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCovers part of the area: some reporting agencies or member counties have no figureHabersham County value

Weaknesses

Arts, entertainment and recreation · low1.8 /10k
8/100Georgia 4.9 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHabersham County value
Mental health providers · low71 /100k
10/100Georgia 201 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHabersham County value
Loneliness · high36.8%
10/100Georgia 37.9%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Primary care shortage · high16.0
14/100Georgia 8.2United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationHabersham County value
Firearm deaths · high20.5 /100k
15/100Georgia 16.7 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataHabersham County value
Average weekly wage · low$993
17/100Georgia $1,404United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHabersham County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
1,973 (2015-2019) → 2,512 (2020-2024)
+27%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
66.6% (2015-2019) → 96.2% (2020-2024)
+30 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$34,865 (2015-2019) → $77,941 (2020-2024)
+124%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Child poverty rateImproving
17.6% (2015-2019) → 5.1% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
High school diploma or higherImproving
83.1% (2015-2019) → 93.3% (2020-2024)
+10 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
42.8% (2015-2019) → 33.3% (2020-2024)
−9.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%

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, Demorest, Georgia improved on 2 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 10 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.

Improved2

Household income+124%$34,865 → $77,941
Broadband+30 points66.6% → 96.2%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Demorest, Georgia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	20.1 min2015-2019	20.1 min2020-2024	−0.0 min	Within the margin of error	48%
Bachelor's degree or higher	26.0%2015-2019	28.3%2020-2024	+2.3 points	Within the margin of error	45%
Broadband subscriptions	66.6%2015-2019	96.2%2020-2024	+30 points	Improved	98%
Effective property tax rate	0.92%2015-2019	0.68%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	65%
High school diploma or higher	83.1%2015-2019	93.3%2020-2024	+10 points	Within the margin of error	96%
Home price to income ratio	3.4×2015-2019	3.0×2020-2024	−0.4×	Within the margin of error	92%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5082015-2019	0.4412020-2024	−0.067	Within the margin of error	90%
Median household income	$34,8652015-2019	$77,9412020-2024	+124%	Improved	99%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	23.8%2015-2019	18.4%2020-2024	−5.4 points	Within the margin of error	84%
Rent-burdened households	42.8%2015-2019	33.3%2020-2024	−9.4 points	Within the margin of error	81%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	11.4%2015-2019	13.9%2020-2024	+2.4 points	Within the margin of error	22%

“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 Demorest, Georgia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Demorest, 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, Demorest, Georgia itself moved +25.5 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

2,512 residents (±535)

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

702 households (±138)

Demorest, Georgia
Georgia share

Under $25k17%†116
$25k–50k19%†135
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

702 households (±138)

Demorest, Georgia
Georgia share

Own54%376
Rent46%†326

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

1,136 workers (±298)

Demorest, Georgia
Georgia share

Drive alone65%743
Carpool18%†210
Public transit0.0%0

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 Cornelia, 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 Habersham County, the county holding most of Demorest's residents.

Habersham County has 951 employer establishments, 195 for every 10,000 residents (0.79× the US rate of 248; 0.83× Georgia's), with 11,474 paid employees at an average annual pay of $45,975. The Census Bureau also counts 4,130 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 951; 4,130 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 195; US 248 · Georgia 236
Paid employees: 11,474
Average annual pay: $45,975; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	72	14.8	0.71×Fewer than typical	565	$70,062	140
Specialty trade contractors	71	14.6	0.94×About typical	249	$56,960	431
Restaurants and other eating places	68	14	0.76×Fewer than typical	1,214	$20,781	26
Religious organizations	53	10.9	1.96×More than typical	263	$21,118	—
Lessors of real estate	42	8.6	0.70×Fewer than typical	166	$48,892	335
Services to buildings and dwellings	40	8.2	1.22×About typical	174	$36,092	434
Gasoline stations	35	7.2	2.22×More than typical	134	$22,701	3
Limited-service restaurants	33	6.8	0.84×About typical	778	$18,228	7
Building equipment contractors	31	6.4	1.06×About typical	132	$50,242	86
Offices of physicians	30	6.2	0.95×About typical	282	$85,170	23
Automotive repair and maintenance	25	5.1	1.02×About typical	117	$43,274	109
Full-service restaurants	24	4.9	0.64×Fewer than typical	351	$25,385	17

Rank places for an industry Open Habersham County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 48,712 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 $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Demorest, Georgia: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; 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

Spending by fiscal year

3.8KFY2022

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

Demorest, Georgia's figures are part of those of Habersham County, GA ($941.3K 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: Demorest is mostly in Habersham County.

See federal money in Habersham 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.

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

House

Andrew S. ClydeR-GA-9 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 4.6%

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.

Habersham County49100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Cornelia, GA45

Other cities and towns in Habersham 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/1322304

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends