Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety5#14,885/15,637
Economy4#15,022/15,631
Housing55#6,753/14,977
Health7#14,568/15,609
Healthcare4#15,007/15,650
Environment18#12,642/15,453
Education9#14,253/15,649
Infrastructure4#15,077/15,650
Community2#15,394/15,651
Leisure & amenities7#14,590/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Comfortable days · high32.4%
88/100Georgia 31.5%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationEmanuel County value
Home price to income ratio · low2.2×
86/100Georgia 3.9×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Pharmacies · high2.2 /10k
80/100Georgia 1.8 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsEmanuel County value
Hospital quality rating · high4.0
80/100Georgia 3.0United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesEmanuel County value
High ozone days · low0 days
76/100Georgia 1 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyEmanuel County value
Depression · low21.4%
76/100Georgia 19.3%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate

Weaknesses

Access to exercise opportunities · low14.0%
1/100Georgia 74.6%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEmanuel County value
Primary care shortage · high20.0
1/100Georgia 8.2United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationEmanuel County value
Preventable hospital stays · high4,849 /100k
2/100Georgia 3,147 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEmanuel County value
Loneliness · high41.4%
3/100Georgia 37.9%United States 33.2%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Child poverty rate · high41.1%
3/100Georgia 16.9%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
Food environment index · low5.8
3/100Georgia 6.2United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEmanuel County value

Trends

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

New homes permittedWorsening
0.1 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
69.8% (2015-2019) → 88.9% (2020-2024)
+19 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$26,975 (2015-2019) → $49,750 (2020-2024)
+84%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
47.6% (2015-2019) → 34.4% (2020-2024)
−13 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
High school diploma or higherImproving
77.6% (2015-2019) → 85.0% (2020-2024)
+7.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Unemployment rateWorsening
9.1% (2015-2019) → 13.8% (2020-2024)
+4.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%

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, Swainsboro, Georgia improved on 2 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 12 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+84%$26,975 → $49,750
Broadband+19 points69.8% → 88.9%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Swainsboro, Georgia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	22.6 min2015-2019	26.1 min2020-2024	+3.5 min	Within the margin of error	16%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.3%2015-2019	13.3%2020-2024	−2 points	Within the margin of error	16%
Broadband subscriptions	69.8%2015-2019	88.9%2020-2024	+19 points	Improved	89%
Child poverty rate	41.6%2015-2019	41.1%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	48%
Effective property tax rate	1.22%2015-2019	1.08%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	44%
High school diploma or higher	77.6%2015-2019	85.0%2020-2024	+7.4 points	Within the margin of error	91%
Home price to income ratio	2.7×2015-2019	2.2×2020-2024	−0.5×	Within the margin of error	93%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4762015-2019	0.5032020-2024	+0.027	Within the margin of error	28%
Median household income	$26,9752015-2019	$49,7502020-2024	+84%	Improved	97%
Poverty rate	32.2%2015-2019	29.0%2020-2024	−3.2 points	Within the margin of error	71%
Rent as share of income	28.6%2015-2019	25.7%2020-2024	−2.9 points	Within the margin of error	74%
Rent-burdened households	47.6%2015-2019	34.4%2020-2024	−13 points	Within the margin of error	87%
Unemployment rate	9.1%2015-2019	13.8%2020-2024	+4.8 points	Within the margin of error	4%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	18.2%2015-2019	20.7%2020-2024	+2.5 points	Within the margin of error	22%

“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 Swainsboro, Georgia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Swainsboro, 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, Swainsboro, Georgia itself moved +9 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

7,571 residents (±26)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19
Under 10

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: 10–19 women (−3.9 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

7,571 residents (±26)

Swainsboro, Georgia
Georgia share

White33%2,516
Black54%4,097
Hispanic or Latino5.3%†401

Education

4,601 residents (±266)

Swainsboro, Georgia
Georgia share

No high school diploma15%689
High school or GED45%2,065
Some college21%†950

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

2,550 households (±247)

Swainsboro, Georgia
Georgia share

Under $25k27%†679
$25k–50k24%†600
$50k–75k22%†552
$75k–100k10%†256
$100k–150k12%†310
$150k–200k4.1%†105
$200k or more1.9%†48

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Under $25k (−19.0 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,550 households (±247)

Swainsboro, Georgia
Georgia share

Own45%1,142
Rent55%1,408

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

1,348 households (±243)

Swainsboro, Georgia
Georgia share

Under $75041%†548
$750–1,00022%†302
$1,000–1,50036%†492

Home values

1,142 homes (±217)

Swainsboro, Georgia
Georgia share

Under $150k71%807
$150k–250k25%†285
$250k–400k3.9%†45

Age of homes

3,099 homes (±266)

Swainsboro, Georgia
Georgia share

2010 or later3.1%†97
2000–200912%†370
1980–199930%†929

Size of homes

3,099 homes (±266)

Swainsboro, Georgia
Georgia share

Studio0.2%†7
1 bedroom11%†329
2 bedrooms25%†783

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

2,639 workers (±322)

Swainsboro, Georgia
Georgia share

Drive alone71%1,878
Carpool12%†327
Public transit0.0%0
Walk3.7%†97
Bike0.0%0
Work from home9.1%†239
Other3.7%†98

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Work from home (+6.7 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

2,400 workers (±337)

Swainsboro, Georgia
Georgia share

Under 15 min47%1,133
15–29 min21%†514
30–44 min3.6%†87

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

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 Emanuel County, the county holding most of Swainsboro's residents.

Emanuel County has 413 employer establishments, 179 for every 10,000 residents (0.72× the US rate of 248; 0.76× Georgia's), with 5,792 paid employees at an average annual pay of $45,269. The Census Bureau also counts 1,908 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 413; 1,908 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 179; US 248 · Georgia 236
Paid employees: 5,792
Average annual pay: $45,269; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	36	15.6	0.85×About typical	462	$16,597	13
Ambulatory health care services	25	10.8	0.52×Fewer than typical	257	$49,735	75
Truck transportation	22	9.5	1.88×More than typical	109	$42,248	190
Religious organizations	21	9.1	1.64×More than typical	55	$20,800	—
Limited-service restaurants	19	8.2	1.02×About typical	305	$17,800	6
Gasoline stations	18	7.8	2.40×More than typical	71	$25,000	—
Specialty trade contractors	18	7.8	0.50×Fewer than typical	124	$40,008	162
Full-service restaurants	14	6.1	0.79×Fewer than typical	138	$12,377	5
Fabricated metal product manufacturing	13	5.6	3.52×More than typical	526	$42,359	7
Automotive repair and maintenance	9	3.9	0.77×Too few to compare	42	$37,095	44
Insurance agencies and brokerages	9	3.9	0.89×Too few to compare	29	$51,862	31
Construction of buildings	8	3.5	0.46×Too few to compare	14	$55,643	59

Rank places for an industry Open Emanuel County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 23,130 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 Swainsboro, 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

10.8KFY2017
88.5KFY2020
999.4FY2024

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

Swainsboro, Georgia's figures are part of those of Emanuel County, GA ($57.3M 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: Swainsboro is mostly in Emanuel County.

See federal money in Emanuel 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.

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

House

Rick W. AllenR-GA-12 · 100% of residentsWith party 100%Missed 1.6%

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.

Emanuel County5100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Emanuel 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/1374964