City · Gwinnett County, Georgia

Sugar Hill, Georgia

Sugar Hill is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, part of the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metro area. It has 26,128 residents. Sugar Hill, Georgia has a quality-of-life score of 65 out of 100 (high), ranking #5,516 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Georgia it ranks #23 of 386 cities and towns. It ranks best on new business applications (high), depression (low) and injury deaths (low). It ranks worst on public libraries (low), fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (high) and average commute time (high).

65High

Quality-of-life score: #5,516 of 15,651 cities and towns
Georgia: #23 of 386 in GA
Population: 26,128 (2020-2024)
Land area: 11 mi²
Density: 2,312.0 /mi²
FIPS code: 1374180

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 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.

Safety59#6,444/15,637
Economy84#2,465/15,631
Housing26#11,062/14,977
Health87#2,028/15,609
Healthcare48#8,088/15,650
Environment43#8,744/15,453
Education78#3,404/15,649
Infrastructure69#4,859/15,650
Community21#12,386/15,651
Leisure & amenities73#4,143/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

New business applications · high28.1 /1k
97/100Georgia 22.5 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauGwinnett County value
Depression · low16.8%
94/100Georgia 19.3%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Injury deaths · low53 /100k
94/100Georgia 80 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGwinnett County value
Mental health care shortage · low0.0
91/100Georgia 9.6United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationGwinnett County value
Frequent mental distress · low15.0%
89/100Georgia 19.6%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Broadband subscriptions · high96.3%
89/100Georgia 91.0%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002

Weaknesses

Public libraries · low0.2 /10k
3/100Georgia 0.4 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesGwinnett County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · high9.3 µg/m³
6/100Georgia 9.1 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyGwinnett County value
Average commute time · high33.2 min
8/100Georgia 28.3 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Time spent in the emergency room · high229 min
9/100Georgia 168 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesGwinnett County value
Loneliness · high37.2%
10/100Georgia 37.9%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Rent as share of income · high35.6%
17/100Georgia 31.3%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071

Trends

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

PopulationRising
23,121 (2015-2019) → 26,128 (2020-2024)
+13%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedImproving
3.0 /1k (2021) → 8.6 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+189%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
78.6% (2015-2019) → 96.3% (2020-2024)
+18 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
39.3% (2015-2019) → 48.5% (2020-2024)
+9.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.7× (2015-2019) → 3.8× (2020-2024)
+44%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
High school diploma or higherImproving
87.5% (2015-2019) → 94.0% (2020-2024)
+6.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%

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, Sugar Hill, Georgia improved on 4 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 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.

Improved4

Broadband+18 points78.6% → 96.3%
Bachelor's++9.2 points39.3% → 48.5%
Uninsured−4.9 points16.3% → 11.5%
Household income+23%$87,090 → $107,389

Declined1

Price / income+1.2×2.7× → 3.8×

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Sugar Hill, Georgia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	33.4 min2015-2019	33.2 min2020-2024	−0.2 min	Within the margin of error	50%
Bachelor's degree or higher	39.3%2015-2019	48.5%2020-2024	+9.2 points	Improved	88%
Broadband subscriptions	78.6%2015-2019	96.3%2020-2024	+18 points	Improved	86%
Child poverty rate	8.6%2015-2019	11.5%2020-2024	+2.9 points	Within the margin of error	27%
Effective property tax rate	1.06%2015-2019	1.01%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	25%
High school diploma or higher	87.5%2015-2019	94.0%2020-2024	+6.5 points	Within the margin of error	88%
Home price to income ratio	2.7×2015-2019	3.8×2020-2024	+1.2×	Declined	16%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4002015-2019	0.4012020-2024	+0.001	Within the margin of error	50%
Median household income	$87,0902015-2019	$107,3892020-2024	+23%	Improved	40%
Poverty rate	8.4%2015-2019	7.3%2020-2024	−1.1 points	Within the margin of error	54%
Rent as share of income	30.6%2015-2019	35.6%2020-2024	+5 points	Within the margin of error	22%
Rent-burdened households	51.4%2015-2019	56.5%2020-2024	+5 points	Within the margin of error	38%
Unemployment rate	4.1%2015-2019	4.0%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	52%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	16.3%2015-2019	11.5%2020-2024	−4.9 points	Improved	86%

“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 Sugar Hill, Georgia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Sugar Hill, 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, Sugar Hill, Georgia itself moved +2.1 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

26,128 residents (±39)

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

8,750 households (±352)

Sugar Hill, Georgia
Georgia share

Under $25k7.6%†662
$25k–50k12%1,048
$50k–75k18%†1,595

Homes

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

Owners and renters

8,750 households (±352)

Sugar Hill, Georgia
Georgia share

Own80%6,993
Rent20%1,757

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

13,064 workers (±629)

Sugar Hill, Georgia
Georgia share

Drive alone67%8,782
Carpool8.0%1,041
Public transit0.3%†41

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 Gwinnett County, the county holding most of Sugar Hill's residents.

Gwinnett County has 27,653 employer establishments, 279 for every 10,000 residents (1.12× the US rate of 248; 1.18× Georgia's), with 372,873 paid employees at an average annual pay of $61,011. The Census Bureau also counts 159,471 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 27,653; 159,471 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 279; US 248 · Georgia 236
Paid employees: 372,873
Average annual pay: $61,011; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	2,205	22.2	1.07×About typical	22,898	$60,099	5,454
Restaurants and other eating places	2,154	21.7	1.18×About typical	33,041	$21,339	1,305
Specialty trade contractors	2,059	20.8	1.34×More than typical	20,602	$71,195	15,938
Lessors of real estate	1,339	13.5	1.10×About typical	3,793	$59,876	9,749
Limited-service restaurants	1,024	10.3	1.29×More than typical	15,666	$19,270	338
Construction of buildings	998	10.1	1.33×More than typical	4,877	$92,330	8,408
Services to buildings and dwellings	869	8.8	1.30×More than typical	9,446	$37,081	12,437
Full-service restaurants	848	8.5	1.11×About typical	14,112	$24,616	738
Truck transportation	777	7.8	1.55×More than typical	5,103	$57,639	5,074
Insurance agencies and brokerages	766	7.7	1.76×More than typical	7,740	$60,605	2,036
Management, scientific and technical consulting	743	7.5	1.12×About typical	3,755	$109,634	4,451
Building finishing contractors	721	7.3	1.91×More than typical	4,722	$70,037	6,780

Rank places for an industry Open Gwinnett County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 992,058 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 $1.7M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Sugar Hill, Georgia: $66.96 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $1.7M; −20% vs FY2025
Per resident: $66.96; US $1,994
Sole-source: 77%; US 30%
Single offer: 1.3%; 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

Federal Bureau of Investigation$1.1M66%
Defense Logistics Agency$296.4K17%
Department of the Navy$94.9K5.4%
Department of the Army$84.8K4.8%
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Acquisition and Property Management Division$69K3.9%
Department of Veterans Affairs$22.6K1.3%
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention$17.1K1.0%
Federal Prison System / Bureau of Prisons$14.1K0.8%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

2.3MFY2017
3.1MFY2018
3.8MFY2019
6.1MFY2020
22MFY2021
8.3MFY2022
-1.7MFY2023
1.8MFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Nonresidential building construction · 2362$1.1M65%
Computer systems design and related services · 5415$80.7K4.6%
Commercial and service industry machinery manufacturing · 3333$70.2K4.0%
Advertising, public relations, and related services · 5418$69K3.9%
Engine, turbine, and power transmission equipment manufacturing · 3336$66.3K3.8%
Electrical equipment manufacturing · 3353

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 Sugar Hill, Georgia, so they do not add up across cities.

Sugar Hill, Georgia's figures are part of those of Gwinnett County, GA ($304.4M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.6% of that total.

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

See federal money in Gwinnett 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.

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

House

County

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

Gwinnett County65100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA57

Other cities and towns in Gwinnett 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/1374180

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends