City · Walker County, Georgia

LaFayette, Georgia

LaFayette is a city in Walker County, Georgia, part of the Chattanooga, TN-GA metro area. It has 6,967 residents. LaFayette, Georgia has a quality-of-life score of 7 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,499 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Georgia it ranks #268 of 386 cities and towns. It ranks best on child care cost burden (low), unemployment rate (low) and drinking water violations (low). It ranks worst on restaurants and bars (low), dentists (low) and drug overdose deaths (high).

7Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,499 of 15,651 cities and towns
Georgia: #268 of 386 in GA
Population: 6,967 (2020-2024)
Land area: 8 mi²
Density: 861.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 1344312

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 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.

Safety33#10,407/15,637
Economy32#10,553/15,631
Housing74#3,955/14,977
Health12#13,787/15,609
Healthcare4#15,045/15,650
Environment24#11,784/15,453
Education21#12,290/15,649
Infrastructure10#14,112/15,650
Community4#15,052/15,651
Leisure & amenities2#15,332/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where LaFayette, Georgia ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Walker 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 · low19.9%
95/100Georgia 23.0%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWalker County value
Unemployment rate · low0.6%
94/100Georgia 3.4%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Georgia 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWalker County value
Students per teacher · low12.3×
80/100Georgia 14.1×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsWalker County value
Distance to an airport · low15 mi
76/100Georgia 42 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauWalker County value
Rent as share of income · low27.0%
76/100Georgia 31.3%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071

Weaknesses

Restaurants and bars · low3.3 /10k
2/100Georgia 8.5 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsWalker County value
Dentists · low16 /100k
3/100Georgia 54 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWalker County value
Drug overdose deaths · high37.4 /100k
4/100Georgia 14.1 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataWalker County value
Primary care physicians · low19 /100k
4/100Georgia 67 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWalker County value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · low1.4 /10k
5/100Georgia 4.9 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsWalker County value
Average weekly wage · low$913
7/100Georgia $1,404United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsWalker County value

Trends

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

Child poverty rateImproving
40.0% (2015-2019) → 15.8% (2020-2024)
−24 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
65.5% (2015-2019) → 87.8% (2020-2024)
+22 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
54.8% (2015-2019) → 35.3% (2020-2024)
−19 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Poverty rateImproving
26.6% (2015-2019) → 14.3% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
High school diploma or higherImproving
74.3% (2015-2019) → 86.6% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Median household incomeImproving
$30,615 (2015-2019) → $46,018 (2020-2024)
+50%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, LaFayette, Georgia improved on 5 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 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.

Improved5

Poverty−12 points26.6% → 14.3%
Broadband+22 points65.5% → 87.8%
Rent burden−19 points54.8% → 35.3%
Household income+50%$30,615 → $46,018
Rent / income−4 points31.0% → 27.0%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of LaFayette, Georgia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	21.8 min2015-2019	26.9 min2020-2024	+5.1 min	Within the margin of error	10%
Bachelor's degree or higher	10.6%2015-2019	12.1%2020-2024	+1.5 points	Within the margin of error	39%
Broadband subscriptions	65.5%2015-2019	87.8%2020-2024	+22 points	Improved	93%
Effective property tax rate	0.93%2015-2019	0.79%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	45%
High school diploma or higher	74.3%2015-2019	86.6%2020-2024	+12 points	Within the margin of error	97%
Home price to income ratio	3.1×2015-2019	3.1×2020-2024	+0.1×	Within the margin of error	74%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4092015-2019	0.4052020-2024	−0.003	Within the margin of error	54%
Median household income	$30,6152015-2019	$46,0182020-2024	+50%	Improved	85%
Poverty rate	26.6%2015-2019	14.3%2020-2024	−12 points	Improved	95%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	31.0%2015-2019	27.0%2020-2024	−4 points	Improved	79%
Rent-burdened households	54.8%2015-2019	35.3%2020-2024	−19 points	Improved	93%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	10.9%2015-2019	13.0%2020-2024	+2.1 points	Within the margin of error	25%

“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 LaFayette, Georgia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of LaFayette, 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, LaFayette, Georgia itself moved +12.2 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

6,967 residents (±23)

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

2,887 households (±225)

LaFayette, Georgia
Georgia share

Under $25k24%706
$25k–50k27%792
$50k–75k22%†641

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,887 households (±225)

LaFayette, Georgia
Georgia share

Own60%1,735
Rent40%1,152

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+18.2 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

3,183 workers (±306)

LaFayette, Georgia
Georgia share

Drive alone74%2,363
Carpool14%†432
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 Chattanooga, TN-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 Walker County, the county holding most of LaFayette's residents.

Walker County has 756 employer establishments, 109 for every 10,000 residents (0.44× the US rate of 248; 0.46× Georgia's), with 12,406 paid employees at an average annual pay of $41,539. The Census Bureau also counts 4,979 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 756; 4,979 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 109; US 248 · Georgia 236
Paid employees: 12,406
Average annual pay: $41,539; US $68,342

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

Religious organizations	60	8.6	1.55×More than typical	385	$25,740	—
Restaurants and other eating places	57	8.2	0.45×Fewer than typical	865	$22,472	29
Specialty trade contractors	53	7.6	0.49×Fewer than typical	450	$106,369	542
Gasoline stations	39	5.6	1.73×More than typical	190	$23,658	4
Limited-service restaurants	28	4	0.50×Fewer than typical	651	$21,894	13
Ambulatory health care services	27	3.9	0.19×Fewer than typical	186	$50,478	133
Building equipment contractors	25	3.6	0.60×Fewer than typical	298	$132,423	107
Full-service restaurants	24	3.4	0.45×Fewer than typical	202	$24,644	11
Construction of buildings	23	3.3	0.44×Fewer than typical	91	$44,934	261
Insurance agencies and brokerages	23	3.3	0.75×Fewer than typical	96	$63,438	86
Grocery and convenience stores	22	3.2	1.07×About typical	354	$21,455	11
General merchandise stores	20	2.9	1.63×More than typical	411	$28,543	24

Rank places for an industry Open Walker County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 69,595 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 LaFayette, 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

808.3FY2017
1.2KFY2022

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

LaFayette, Georgia's figures are part of those of Walker County, GA ($31.6K 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: LaFayette is mostly in Walker County.

See federal money in Walker 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.

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

House

Clay FullerR-GA-14 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%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.

Walker County17100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Chattanooga, TN-GA52

Other cities and towns in Walker 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/1344312

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends