Town · Cook County, Georgia

Sparks, Georgia

Sparks is a town in Cook County, Georgia. It has 2,056 residents. Sparks, Georgia has a quality-of-life score of 1 out of 100 (very low), ranking #15,433 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Georgia it ranks #355 of 386 cities and towns. It ranks best on homicide rate (low), comfortable days (high) and drinking water violations (low). It ranks worst on primary care shortage (high), preventable hospital stays (high) and loneliness (high).

1Very low

Quality-of-life score: #15,433 of 15,651 cities and towns
Georgia: #355 of 386 in GA
Population: 2,056 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 518.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 1372556

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 70 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.

Safety47#8,271/15,637
Economy10#14,131/15,631
Housing37#9,466/14,977
Health7#14,481/15,609
Healthcare2#15,284/15,650
Environment21#12,256/15,453
Education5#14,883/15,649
Infrastructure1#15,512/15,650
Community6#14,773/15,651
Leisure & amenities5#14,935/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Georgia 7.4 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataCook County value
Comfortable days · high33.3%
91/100Georgia 31.5%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationCook County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Georgia 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCook County value
Child care cost burden · low23.1%
84/100Georgia 23.0%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCook County value
Dental care shortage · low0.0
84/100Georgia 5.9United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationCook County value
Home price to income ratio · low2.2×
82/100Georgia 3.9×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077

Weaknesses

Primary care shortage · high21.0
1/100Georgia 8.2United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationCook County value
Preventable hospital stays · high4,989 /100k
2/100Georgia 3,147 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCook County value
Loneliness · high41.5%
2/100Georgia 37.9%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Traffic deaths · high45.6 /100k
2/100Georgia 15.1 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataCook County value
Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Georgia 6.7 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyCook County value
Lack of reliable transportation · high18.1%
4/100Georgia 9.8%United States 8.3%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
2,464 (2015-2019) → 2,056 (2020-2024)
−17%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
0.9 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
55.4% (2015-2019) → 72.7% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateImproving
45.7% (2015-2019) → 33.6% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
High school diploma or higherImproving
66.8% (2015-2019) → 77.7% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Median household incomeImproving
$29,375 (2015-2019) → $39,191 (2020-2024)
+33%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, Sparks, 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

High school++11 points66.8% → 77.7%
Broadband+17 points55.4% → 72.7%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Sparks, Georgia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	20.0 min2015-2019	17.5 min2020-2024	−2.5 min	Within the margin of error	75%
Broadband subscriptions	55.4%2015-2019	72.7%2020-2024	+17 points	Improved	85%
Child poverty rate	45.7%2015-2019	33.6%2020-2024	−12 points	Within the margin of error	85%
High school diploma or higher	66.8%2015-2019	77.7%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	96%
Home price to income ratio	1.8×2015-2019	2.2×2020-2024	+0.4×	Within the margin of error	55%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4982015-2019	0.4662020-2024	−0.033	Within the margin of error	76%
Median household income	$29,3752015-2019	$39,1912020-2024	+33%	Within the margin of error	62%
Poverty rate	33.8%2015-2019	27.6%2020-2024	−6.2 points	Within the margin of error	85%
Rent as share of income	29.8%2015-2019	27.0%2020-2024	−2.8 points	Within the margin of error	73%
Rent-burdened households	49.4%2015-2019	43.1%2020-2024	−6.3 points	Within the margin of error	75%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	20.1%2015-2019	18.4%2020-2024	−1.8 points	Within the margin of error	67%

“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 Sparks, Georgia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Sparks, 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, Sparks, Georgia itself moved +9.1 points in standing on average over the same 8 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

2,056 residents (±484)

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

651 households (±169)

Sparks, Georgia
Georgia share

Under $25k35%†226
$25k–50k23%†147
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

651 households (±169)

Sparks, Georgia
Georgia share

Own44%†286
Rent56%†365

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

643 workers (±196)

Sparks, Georgia
Georgia share

Drive alone87%†560
Carpool1.9%†12
Public transit0.0%

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 Cook County, the county holding most of Sparks's residents.

Cook County has 339 employer establishments, 191 for every 10,000 residents (0.77× the US rate of 248; 0.81× Georgia's), with 3,580 paid employees at an average annual pay of $46,622. The Census Bureau also counts 1,443 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 339; 1,443 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 191; US 248 · Georgia 236
Paid employees: 3,580
Average annual pay: $46,622; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	25	14.1	0.77×Fewer than typical	426	$16,671	11
Specialty trade contractors	24	13.5	0.87×About typical	218	$49,509	141
Ambulatory health care services	20	11.3	0.54×Fewer than typical	119	$64,395	36
Gasoline stations	20	11.3	3.47×More than typical	83	$22,277	—
Limited-service restaurants	18	10.1	1.26×More than typical	370	$15,616	—
Fabricated metal product manufacturing	13	7.3	4.58×More than typical	262	$53,504	6
Building equipment contractors	12	6.8	1.12×About typical	84	$46,417	35
Religious organizations	11	6.2	1.12×About typical	29	$34,241	—
Construction of buildings	8	4.5	0.60×Too few to compare	34	$62,176	83
General merchandise stores	8	4.5	2.55×Too few to compare	271	$28,657	11
Grocery and convenience stores	8	4.5	1.52×Too few to compare	72	$18,486	5
Electrical contractors and wiring installation	7	3.9	1.59×Too few to compare	54	$48,704	13

Rank places for an industry Open Cook County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 17,760 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

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

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

See federal money in Cook 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.

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

House

Austin ScottR-GA-8 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 0.3%

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.

Cook County2100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Cook 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/1372556

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends