City · Clay County, Georgia

Fort Gaines, Georgia

Fort Gaines is a city in Clay County, Georgia. It has 1,248 residents. Fort Gaines, Georgia has a quality-of-life score of 1 out of 100 (very low), ranking #15,524 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Georgia it ranks #370 of 386 cities and towns. It ranks best on students per teacher (low), grocery stores (high) and drug overdose deaths (low). It ranks worst on average weekly wage (low), dentists (low) and job growth (low).

1Very low

Quality-of-life score: #15,524 of 15,651 cities and towns
Georgia: #370 of 386 in GA
Population: 1,248 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 261.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 1330816

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 71 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.

Safety6#14,770/15,637
Economy1#15,463/15,631
Housing48#7,848/14,977
Health15#13,207/15,609
Healthcare1#15,427/15,650
Environment20#12,383/15,453
Education9#14,312/15,649
Infrastructure1#15,560/15,650
Community14#13,382/15,651
Leisure & amenities13#13,617/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Students per teacher · low8.0×
100/100Georgia 14.1×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsClay County value
Grocery stores · high7.1 /10k
100/100Georgia 1.6 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsClay County value
Drug overdose deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Georgia 14.1 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100k2024Centers for Disease Control and PreventionClay County value
Pharmacies · high3.5 /10k
98/100Georgia 1.8 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsClay County value
Public libraries · high3.6 /10k
97/100Georgia 0.4 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesClay County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Georgia 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteClay County value

Weaknesses

Average weekly wage · low$742
0/100Georgia $1,404United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsClay County value
Dentists · low0 /100k
0/100Georgia 54 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteClay County value
Job growth · low-10.9%
0/100Georgia 0.0%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataClay County value
Math scores · low2.04
0/100Georgia 2.92United States 3.032018University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteClay County value
Reading scores · low2.27
0/100Georgia 2.97United States 3.052018University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteClay County value
Traffic deaths · high63.3 /100k
1/100Georgia 15.1 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataClay County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
895 (2015-2019) → 1,248 (2020-2024)
+39%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
72.0% (2015-2019) → 22.9% (2020-2024)
−49 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateImproving
61.6% (2015-2019) → 37.3% (2020-2024)
−24 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Poverty rateImproving
51.4% (2015-2019) → 31.7% (2020-2024)
−20 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Unemployment rateImproving
28.0% (2015-2019) → 9.8% (2020-2024)
−18 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$21,759 (2015-2019) → $38,071 (2020-2024)
+75%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

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, Fort Gaines, Georgia improved on 2 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 9 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+75%$21,759 → $38,071
Rent / income−13 points38.7% → 26.2%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Fort Gaines, Georgia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	20.7 min2015-2019	21.3 min2020-2024	+0.6 min	Within the margin of error	40%
Bachelor's degree or higher	9.1%2015-2019	10.6%2020-2024	+1.4 points	Within the margin of error	38%
Broadband subscriptions	72.0%2015-2019	82.1%2020-2024	+10 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Effective property tax rate	1.29%2015-2019	0.84%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	87%
High school diploma or higher	80.2%2015-2019	87.2%2020-2024	+7 points	Within the margin of error	89%
Home price to income ratio	2.7×2015-2019	2.4×2020-2024	−0.3×	Within the margin of error	90%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4702015-2019	0.4332020-2024	−0.037	Within the margin of error	78%
Median household income	$21,7592015-2019	$38,0712020-2024	+75%	Improved	96%
Poverty rate	51.4%2015-2019	31.7%2020-2024	−20 points	Within the margin of error	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	38.7%2015-2019	26.2%2020-2024	−13 points	Improved	96%

“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 Fort Gaines, Georgia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Fort Gaines, 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, Fort Gaines, Georgia itself moved +14.8 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

1,248 residents (±233)

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

452 households (±115)

Fort Gaines, Georgia
Georgia share

Under $25k25%†113
$25k–50k38%†171
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

452 households (±115)

Fort Gaines, Georgia
Georgia share

Own48%†219
Rent52%†233

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

496 workers (±139)

Fort Gaines, Georgia
Georgia share

Drive alone80%†398
Carpool10%†50
Public transit

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 Clay County, the county holding most of Fort Gaines's residents.

Clay County has 50 employer establishments, 175 for every 10,000 residents (0.71× the US rate of 248; 0.74× Georgia's), with 305 paid employees at an average annual pay of $46,082. The Census Bureau also counts 251 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 50; 251 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 175; US 248 · Georgia 236
Paid employees: 305
Average annual pay: $46,082; US $68,342

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

Grocery and convenience stores	7	24.5	8.26×Too few to compare	30	$18,800	—
Construction of buildings	3	10.5	1.39×Too few to compare	112	$60,652	9
Religious organizations	3	10.5	1.89×Too few to compare	6	$13,833	—
Schools, colleges and instruction	3	10.5	3.00×Too few to compare	19	$30,158	4
Accounting, tax preparation and payroll services	0	0	0.00×Too few to compare	0	—	—
Advertising, public relations and related services	0	0	0.00×Too few to compare	0	—	—
Ambulatory health care services	0	0	0.00×Too few to compare	0	—	15
Amusement, gambling and recreation industries	0	0	0.00×Too few to compare	0	—	—
Architectural, engineering and related services	0	0	0.00×Too few to compare	0	—	5
Auto parts, accessories and tire stores	0	0	0.00×Too few to compare	0	—	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	0	0	0.00×Too few to compare	0	—	8
Banks and credit unions	0	0	0.00×Too few to compare	0	—	—

Rank places for an industry Open Clay County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 2,854 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 $82.8K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Fort Gaines, Georgia: $66.33 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $82.8K; −50% vs FY2025
Per resident: $66.33; US $1,995
Sole-source: 7.0%; 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

Department of the Army$82.8K100%

Top recipients

ANDERSON CONSTRUCTION COMPANY OF FORT GAINES$65.4K79%
CARTER'S CONTRACTING SERVICES, INC., A CLOSE CORPORATION$10.6K13%
ALABAMA POWER COMPANY$3,3584.1%
GEORGIA POWER COMPANY$1,3421.6%
BAKERHILL WATER AUTHORITY$8621.0%
BROGDON SR, LARRY E$4880.6%
PHILLIPS JOHN$4870.6%
CITY OF FORT GAINES$2300.3%

Spending by fiscal year

104.4KFY2017
101.3KFY2018
110.7KFY2019
165.2KFY2020
121.4KFY2021
108.8KFY2022
112.9KFY2023
156.1K

Top industries (NAICS)

Facilities support services · 5612$65.4K79%
Other heavy and civil engineering construction · 2379$10.6K13%
Electric power generation, transmission and distribution · 2211$4,6995.7%
Water, sewage and other systems · 2213$1,0921.3%
RV parks and recreational camps · 7212$9751.2%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 7, 2026, loaded Oct 7, 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 Fort Gaines, Georgia, so they do not add up across cities.

Fort Gaines, Georgia's figures are part of those of Clay County, GA ($2.2M in FY2026), never added to them: 3.8% of that total.

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

See federal money in Clay 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.

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

House

Sanford D. Bishop, Jr.D-GA-2 · 100% of residentsWith party 93%Missed 1.9%

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.

Clay County2100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Clay County

Largest first.

Bluffton350

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/1330816

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends