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Towns / Georgia

Thomasville, Georgia

Thomasville is a small town of about 18,700 people in Thomas County, Georgia. It's the county seat. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 4.1 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Jacksonville, is about 142 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
18,667
down 1.1% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$205,200
Thomas County prices up 25% since 2022
Household income
$49,673
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Georgia
87
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Archbold Memorial Hospital
To Jacksonville
142 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 13% below the U.S. average in the parts of Georgia outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 4.1 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood79 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 4.3 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 26.1 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town11 public schools: 6 elementary, 2 middle and 3 high schools.
  • A hospital close byArchbold Memorial Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityJacksonville is about 142 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Thomasville meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$205,200U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 25%Thomas County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,077 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$49,673U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
50%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,645 a yearGeorgia: $2,341
Homes built before 1940
10%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
8%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
2%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
87U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Georgia outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 25% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Georgia outside metro areas, not Thomasville alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
18,6672020: 18,869
Median age
38.6 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
21%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
23%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
25%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
6%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (28%); professional and business services (15%); retail (11%)
Unemployment rate
6%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
16 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
6%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
17%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Archbold Memorial Hospital, Thomasville, GA, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

11 public schools in Thomasville, run by Thomas County and Thomasville City.

Colleges in or next to town: Southern Regional Technical College (5,000 to 9,999 students); Thomas University (1,000 to 4,999 students).

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Georgia's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
76%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
89%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
38°F
July average high
90°F
Days 90°F or hotter
78 a year
Nights at or below freezing
30 a year
Rain and melted snow
50.9 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
272 feet

Weather station: Cairo 1SW (14 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Tallahassee, Jacksonville.

Thomas County is outside any metro area, with 20,000 or more people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 4, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

39 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Lapham-Patterson House, Box Hall Plantation, the Dawson Street Residential Historic District and the Dewey City Historic District. One is a National Historic Landmark, the country's highest honor for a historic place.

Campus life. Check Thomas University's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.

Read about Thomasville's history on Wikipedia.

Know Thomasville?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Ochlocknee, GA685 people, 10 miles
  • Coolidge, GA558 people, 14 miles
  • Barwick, GA352 people, 15 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.