With a median household income of more than $85,000 and a home ownership rate of nearly 86 percent, Forsyth County is the "richest" county in Georgia, according to a 2015 analysis.

24/7 Wall St. compiled and compared median annual household income, estimated educational attainment, poverty, health coverage and homeownership rates, all from the U.S. Census for 2009-2013, for counties, parishes and boroughs with at least 10,000 residents. Annual unemployment rates were taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2013 figures.

Some trends prevailed across the richest counties nationally, including Forsyth: high levels of education, low levels of unemployement, and — often — a large gap between its median income and both the state's median household income and the median income of that state's poorest county.

Forsyth's $86,569 median income is nearly $40,000 more than the state average ($49,179) — and $60,000 more than the median income of Telfair County ($26,634), the poorest in the state and one of the poorest counties nationwide.

Almost 10 percent of Forsyth households make $200,000 or more. And it's tops in other ways, too: Forsyth is both the fastest growing county in the state and the healthiest.

About the Author

Keep Reading

Georgia Power's Plant Bowen in Cartersville is shown. The utility wants to add about 10,000 megawatts of power supplies in just five years, mainly to serve data centers. (Hyosyb Shin/AJC 2015)

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Featured

A MARTA operator is seen inside the control room of one of the new MARTA trains during the unveiling of these trains on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez