Athens is a relatively large city located in the state of Georgia. With a population of 128,628 people and 35 associated neighborhoods, Athens is the sixth largest community in Georgia. Athens real estate is some of the most expensive in Georgia, although Athens house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Athens is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Athens is a city of professionals, service providers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Athens who work in teaching (13.58%), food service (9.95%), and management occupations (9.72%). Of important note, Athens is also a city of artists. Athens has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Athens’s character. Also of interest is that Athens has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 11.88% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. Combining city textures and college town sensibilities, Athens really has a nice blend of characteristics. While not a huge city, Athens is big enough to offer a healthy dose of diversion, opportunity, and amenity to its residents and to the thousands of college students who descend on it every fall. Its size and diversity makes Athens more than just a college town, but removing the students from the equation would undeniably change Athens’s character and quality of life. The citizens of Athens are among the most well-educated in the nation: 48.72% of adults in Athens have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree, whereas the average US city has 21.84% holding at least a bachelor's degree. The per capita income in Athens in 2022 was $31,836, which is upper middle income relative to Georgia, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $127,344 for a family of four. However, Athens contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Athens is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Athens home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Athens residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Athens also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 11.49% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Athens include English, German, Irish, Italian, and European. The most common language spoken in Athens is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Langs. of India.
