City · Walton County, Georgia

Social Circle, Georgia

Social Circle is a city in Walton County, Georgia, part of the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metro area. It has 5,217 residents. Social Circle, Georgia has a quality-of-life score of 29 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,101 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Georgia it ranks #136 of 386 cities and towns. It ranks best on child care cost burden (low), income inequality (Gini index) (low) and property crime rate (low). It ranks worst on loneliness (high), primary care physicians (low) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (high).

29Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,101 of 15,651 cities and towns
Georgia: #136 of 386 in GA
Population: 5,217 (2020-2024)
Land area: 16 mi²
Density: 327.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 1371660

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.

Safety61#6,146/15,637
Economy63#5,808/15,631
Housing45#8,271/14,977
Health37#9,880/15,609
Healthcare27#11,475/15,650
Environment50#7,684/15,453
Education44#8,720/15,649
Infrastructure23#11,986/15,650
Community21#12,402/15,651
Leisure & amenities3#15,141/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Social Circle, Georgia ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Walton 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 · low18.6%
97/100Georgia 23.0%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWalton County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.328
96/100Georgia 0.477United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Property crime rate · low446 /100k
92/100Georgia 1,409 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCovers part of the area: some reporting agencies or member counties have no figureWalton County value
Primary care shortage · low0.0
90/100Georgia 8.2United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationWalton County value
Voter turnout · high76.8%
90/100Georgia 67.6%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionWalton County value
New homes permitted · high10.4 /1k
89/100Georgia 5.5 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data

Weaknesses

Loneliness · high37.9%
8/100Georgia 37.9%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Primary care physicians · low25 /100k
9/100Georgia 67 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWalton County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · high9.1 µg/m³
9/100Georgia 9.1 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyWalton County value
Restaurants and bars · low4.9 /10k
9/100Georgia 8.5 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsWalton County value
Grocery stores · low0.9 /10k
9/100Georgia 1.6 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsWalton County value
Firearm deaths · high22.5 /100k
10/100Georgia 16.7 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataWalton County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
4,447 (2015-2019) → 5,217 (2020-2024)
+17%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
High school diploma or higherImproving
73.0% (2015-2019) → 91.9% (2020-2024)
+19 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Average commute timeWorsening
22.9 min (2015-2019) → 40.0 min (2020-2024)
+75%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Median household incomeImproving
$53,538 (2015-2019) → $88,591 (2020-2024)
+65%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
78.3% (2015-2019) → 88.7% (2020-2024)
+10 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateImproving
17.5% (2015-2019) → 7.3% (2020-2024)
−10 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%

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, Social Circle, Georgia improved on 3 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 6 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

High school++19 points73.0% → 91.9%
Inequality−0.1070.435 → 0.328
Household income+65%$53,538 → $88,591

Declined2

Commute+17.1 min22.9 min → 40.0 min
Price / income+0.9×2.6× → 3.5×

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Social Circle, Georgia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	22.9 min2015-2019	40.0 min2020-2024	+17.1 min	Declined	0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.0%2015-2019	24.7%2020-2024	+6.7 points	Within the margin of error	78%
Broadband subscriptions	78.3%2015-2019	88.7%2020-2024	+10 points	Within the margin of error	62%
Effective property tax rate	0.76%2015-2019	0.78%2020-2024	+0 points	Within the margin of error	12%
High school diploma or higher	73.0%2015-2019	91.9%2020-2024	+19 points	Improved	99%
Home price to income ratio	2.6×2015-2019	3.5×2020-2024	+0.9×	Declined	27%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4352015-2019	0.3282020-2024	−0.107	Improved	96%
Median household income	$53,5382015-2019	$88,5912020-2024	+65%	Improved	93%
Rent-burdened households	47.3%2015-2019	39.0%2020-2024	−8.3 points	Within the margin of error	79%
Unemployment rate	6.8%2015-2019	6.6%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	55%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	13.4%2015-2019	17.2%2020-2024	+3.8 points	Within the margin of error	15%

“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 Social Circle, Georgia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Social Circle, 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, Social Circle, Georgia itself moved +8.2 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

5,217 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

1,732 households (±236)

Social Circle, Georgia
Georgia share

Under $25k8.1%†140
$25k–50k22%†379
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,732 households (±236)

Social Circle, Georgia
Georgia share

Own80%1,387
Rent20%†345

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

2,573 workers (±287)

Social Circle, Georgia
Georgia share

Drive alone66%1,697
Carpool4.7%†122
Public transit1.2%†

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 Walton County, the county holding most of Social Circle's residents.

Walton County has 2,000 employer establishments, 187 for every 10,000 residents (0.75× the US rate of 248; 0.79× Georgia's), with 21,184 paid employees at an average annual pay of $47,079. The Census Bureau also counts 12,317 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 2,000; 12,317 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 187; US 248 · Georgia 236
Paid employees: 21,184
Average annual pay: $47,079; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	265	24.7	1.60×More than typical	1,779	$62,942	1,402
Ambulatory health care services	138	12.9	0.62×Fewer than typical	1,149	$64,462	404
Restaurants and other eating places	131	12.2	0.67×Fewer than typical	2,972	$18,665	59
Building equipment contractors	129	12	2.00×More than typical	747	$59,747	308
Lessors of real estate	112	10.5	0.85×About typical	234	$42,701	871
Services to buildings and dwellings	90	8.4	1.25×About typical	663	$43,078	1,111
Construction of buildings	86	8	1.06×About typical	308	$92,510	575
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors	76	7.1	2.15×More than typical	425	$61,588	137
Limited-service restaurants	64	6	0.75×Fewer than typical	1,774	$16,327	22
Landscaping services	60	5.6	1.60×More than typical	399	$41,281	460
Real estate agents and brokers	60	5.6	1.15×About typical	88	$37,500	335
Religious organizations	60	5.6	1.01×About typical	501	$19,064	—

Rank places for an industry Open Walton County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 107,080 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 Social Circle, 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

0FY2017
6.6KFY2019
1.3KFY2021

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 Social Circle, Georgia, so they do not add up across cities.

Social Circle, Georgia's figures are part of those of Walton County, GA and Newton County, GA ($8.8M 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: Social Circle is mostly in Walton County.

See federal money in Walton 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.

Social Circle, Georgia is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

County

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

Walton County47100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA57

Other cities and towns in Walton 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/1371660

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends