Official Federal Data
Oconee County, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County, GA · Population 43,551
9 Sources
Updated September 10, 2026
$121,217 up from the baseline named below
Median Income (nominal) vs 2019
$80,734 national
2.7% up from the baseline named below
Unemployment vs 2024
4.3% national
$2.6B up from the baseline named below
GDP (nominal) real change vs 2023
55.9% up from the baseline named below
Bachelor's+ vs 2019
35.7% national
Demographics & Population
Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates
Household Income
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median Household (nominal)
$121,217 up from 2019 vs 2019
Per Capita
$57,550 up from 2019 vs 2019
Mean Household
$166,638 up from 2019 vs 2019
Median Household (cost-of-living adjusted)
$129,922 metro RPP 93.3
Poverty Rate
6.2% unchanged from 2019 vs 2019
Median Income Comparison
Oconee County$121,217
Georgia$77,353
National$80,734
Cost-of-living adjustment uses the BEA all-items regional price parity for Athens-Clarke County, GA, 93.3 against a national average of 100 (2024). BEA publishes regional price parity at state and metropolitan level only; there is no county figure, so the metro index stands in for Oconee County and the adjusted median is an approximation. Per capita and mean household income above are nominal and carry no adjustment.
Population Profile
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B01001, B02001, B03003
CohortsShare of total population
Under 18 · 25.9%
18-34 · 16.2%
35-54 · 28.7%
55-64 · 12.4%
65+ · 16.8%
Race & Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.
Educational Attainment
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+
96.4%
High School+
National: 89.6%
up from national +6.8 pts vs national
55.9%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
up from national +20.2 pts vs national
28.3%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
up from national +14.2 pts vs national
Employment Overview
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
43,551
Population
22,066
Labor Force
Employed
21,404
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2025 annual
2.7% up from 2024 +0.1 pts vs 2024
Mean Commute 2 min below national avg
24.7 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
17%
Labor Force and Employed are ACS 5-Year survey estimates; the Unemployment Rate above comes from BLS LAUS, a separate monthly survey with its own methodology. The two won't reconcile by subtracting one from the other.
Key Takeaways
- Income premium: Households earn well above the national median, supporting strong retail and housing markets.
- Cost of living stretches income further: Local prices run 6.7% below the national average, so the nominal median of $121,217 is worth $129,922 at national average prices. BEA publishes price parity at metro level, not county level.
- Talent advantage: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment exceeds the national average by 20.2 pts, supports knowledge-economy and tech attraction.
Economy & Industry
Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis
$2.6B up from 2023 +8.2% vs 2023
Gross Domestic Product · 2024
+8.2% real (inflation-adjusted)
·
+11.5% nominal
· 2023 to 2024
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis · level and nominal change from CAGDP2 (current dollars); real change from CAGDP9 (chained 2017 dollars), both all-industry total. The two series agree in 2017, the chain reference year, and diverge by the amount of price change since.
93.3
Cost of Living · metro · Below Avg
Key Takeaways
- Largest private-sector industry: Retail Trade employs 3,023 workers (22.3% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $39,472. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 1,654 and is counted separately.
- Economic scale: Regional GDP of $2.6B (2024).
- Wage stratification: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services averages $87,495 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $20,488, a 4.3x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP.
Seeing a change here?
Get Deeper Trends
EP customers get year-over-year deltas, WARN notices, and SEC filings for every sector tracked above, surfaced as proactive alerts, not after-the-fact news.
Industry Concentration
Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.
Cluster Depth
Source: BLS QCEW · Sub-sectors with LQ ≥ 1.5 indicate genuine cluster concentration
Concentrated Sub-Sectors
14 sub-sectors at LQ ≥ 1.5
Largest grouping among them is Retail Trade Cluster at 44.9% of the employment across all of them, which signals supply-chain fit for site selectors
3,573
Employment in the sub-sectors listed
5.47x
Peak sub-sector LQ
Sub-Sector Detail, Highest 10 By LQ
Furniture, Home Furnishings, and Other Retailers
5.47x 492
Crop Production
3.54x 219
Waste Management and Remediation Services
3.33x 202
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
3.06x 159
Health and Personal Care Retailers
2.57x 319
Building Material and Garden Supply Retailers
2.38x 382
Educational Services
2.14x 814
General Merchandise Retailers
1.87x 708
Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing
1.72x 67
Gasoline Stations and Fuel Dealers
1.72x 211
+ 4 more sub-sectors at LQ ≥ 1.5, holding a further 1,127 jobs not counted in the total above. See the spider chart for the broader picture.
Attraction Opportunities
LQ < 0.5 with ≥ 50 employed, screened against local siting constraints. Source: BLS QCEW
0.42x
Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods
167 employed
Screened on industrial power cost, rail-truck intermodal access, land base.
Industrial electricity in Georgia costs 7.81¢/kWh against 8.62¢/kWh nationally (2025).
Georgia has 11 rail-truck intermodal terminals, the nearest 54 miles from the county.
Land area 184 sq mi, larger than 6% of US counties.
Sources: EIA, BTS NTAD, Census Gazetteer.
Key Takeaways
- Top specialization: Furniture, Home Furnishings, and Other Retailers concentrates at 5.47x the national norm, top-decile concentration, the kind of signature sector that defines a region's economic identity to site selectors.
- Cluster depth: 14 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, but 51.1% of the employment across them depends on one source of demand: resident household spending. Read the count as depth within that single demand base rather than as spread across separate ones.
Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.
Housing & Affordability
Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026
Housing Overview
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064, B25004
$461,600 up from the baseline named below
Median Home Value vs 2019
$1,462 up from the baseline named below
Rent/Mo vs 2019
81.3% down from the baseline named below
Owner-Occ vs 2019
4.4% down from the baseline named below
Vacancy vs 2019
1.8% available
for rent or sale
for rent or sale
3.8x
Home Value to Income Ratio
vs. ~4.1x national average
HUD Fair Market Rents
HUD publishes these by FMR area, which may cover more than one county · Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026 · Affordability threshold and renter cost burden from Census ACS B25119, B25070
Studio
$1,159/mo
1 Bedroom
$1,183/mo
2 Bedroom
$1,331/mo
3 Bedroom
$1,734/mo
4 Bedroom
$1,831/mo
30% of monthly median renter household income (~$1,936/mo, from a renter median of $77,460) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
Measured: 23.7% of renter households already pay 30% or more of income on rent, and 12.6% pay 50% or more.
Key Takeaways
- In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 3.8x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
- High home ownership: 81.3% owner-occupied; rental supply may be tight for incoming workers.
- Broadly affordable rents: All 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes shown above sit below what a household on the median renter income of $77,460 can pay without cost burden (~$1,936/mo), and 23.7% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened; a cost-of-living advantage for workforce attraction.
Source: Census ACS housing tables + HUD Fair Market Rents.
Workforce Pipeline
Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition
Labor Market Overview
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23001, B23025, B08303, B08301
24,946 up from the baseline named below
Working Age (18-64) vs 2019
Mean Commute 2 min below national avg
24.7 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
17%
Prime-Age Employed (25-54)
84%
of prime-age population
Prime-age rate numerator is civilian employed (B23001); the denominator is total population aged 25-54 (B01001), which also includes armed forces.
of population age 16 and over (34,023)
down from 2019 vs 2019
Education & Talent Pipeline
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003
Bachelor's+
55.9% up from 2019 vs 2019
HS Diploma+
96.4% up from 2019 vs 2019
Aging Workforce
Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
21.6%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)
Same cohort is 12.4% of total population, the basis used in the Demographics cohort chart.
Elevated retirement risk, above the 20% threshold. Succession planning recommended.
Workforce by Occupation
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+
Management / Professional
54.1%
Service
12.2%
Sales & Office
20.9%
Construction / Maint.
5.5%
Production / Transport
7.3%
Bars are drawn on a 0% to 60% axis, so bar length is proportional to actual share. Labels give each group's share of 21,404 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
- Healthy participation: 64.9% labor force participation reflects a steady, available local workforce.
Source: ACS workforce data and College Scorecard.
AI Insights
Sample output. Pulse AI analysis draws on 9 federal data sources.
Sample AI Insight
Oconee County shows strong potential for furniture, home furnishings, and other retailers attraction, with a 5.47x concentration and 492 jobs in this sub-sector. It ranks in the top decile nationally.
Most of the employment across the concentrated sub-sectors traces back to a single source of demand. Resident household spending accounts for 51.1% of it, with educational services the largest single sub-sector at 17.3%. Recruitment that widens the demand base changes that exposure; recruitment inside the same base deepens it.
Industry Shift Analysis
Manufacturing Automation Risk
High
Healthcare Growth Forecast
+4.2% CAGR
Remote Work Migration
67/100
Prospect Match Scores
Advanced Manufacturing
92/100
Life Sciences
84/100
Data Centers
71/100
Illustrative example
Take it further
AI Insights: Built into ExecutivePulse. Continuous analysis tied to your own pipeline: industry-shift signals, prospect matches, retention prompts.
Managed Services: Prefer to hand it off? Our team delivers the analysis and consulting for you.
Schedule a DemoAvailable as premium offerings.
Data Sources
Updated from official federal government data.
Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2025 annual
BLS LAUS2025 annual
BEA Regional GDP2024
BEA Regional Price Parity2024
Census CBP2023
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
FCC Broadband Map2024
USAspending.govFY2026
American Community Survey figures on this page are 2020-2024 five-year averages rather than single-year counts. A five-year estimate pools 60 months of survey responses, so each value describes the period as a whole.
Frequently Asked Questions
Key economic and demographic figures for Oconee County, Georgia, from federal data sources.
What is the population of Oconee County, Georgia?
43,551 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the median household income in Oconee County, Georgia?
$121,217 in nominal dollars (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates). Adjusted for local prices using the BEA all-items regional price parity for Athens-Clarke County, GA (93.3 against a national average of 100), that is $129,922 at national average prices. BEA publishes regional price parity at metro level; there is no county-level figure.
What is the unemployment rate in Oconee County, Georgia?
2.7% (2025 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).
What is the GDP of Oconee County, Georgia?
$2.6B (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAGDP2).
Oconee County, GA: Public data. Imagine the full platform.
Get a Demo →