Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / Georgia

Zebulon, Georgia

Zebulon is a small town of about 1,400 people in Pike County, Georgia. It's the county seat. It's growing fast: its population is up 11% since 2020. A typical home costs about 4.3 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, Atlanta, is about 47 miles away as the crow flies.

Boom townCounty seat

Population
1,358
up 11% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$213,400
Pike County prices up 16% since 2022
Household income
$49,706
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Atlanta area
100.1
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
11 miles
Griffin, GA
To Atlanta
47 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 0.1% above the U.S. average in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 4.3 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Zebulon itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town5 public schools: 2 elementary, 1 middle and 2 high schools.
  • A hospital close byWellstar Spalding Medical Center in Griffin, about 11 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityAtlanta is about 47 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 Zebulon 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.

What kind of town

Boom town. The population is up 11% since 2020. Growing fast, with rising home values. Watch for chain stores and big apartment complexes: the small-town feel may not last.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$213,400U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 16%Pike County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$937 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$49,706U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
54%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,679 a yearGeorgia: $2,341
Homes built before 1940
15%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
6%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
100.1U.S. average = 100 (the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metro area)

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 16% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metro area, not Zebulon 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
1,3582020: 1,225
Median age
39 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
16%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
20%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
17%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
5%U.S.: 6%
College students
7%share of all residents

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 (19%); retail (17%); professional and business services (16%)
Work from home
11%U.S.: 15%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Wellstar Spalding Medical Center, Griffin, GA, about 11 miles away. 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

5 public schools in Zebulon, run by Pike County.

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
46%U.S.: 76%

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
34°F
July average high
90°F
Days 90°F or hotter
65 a year
Nights at or below freezing
36 a year
Rain and melted snow
50.7 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
842 feet

Weather stations: The Rock Rch (11 miles away) and Woodbury (17 miles away, rain and snow). 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: Wellstar Spalding Medical Center, South Fulton, Atlanta.

Pike County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park45 miles
  • Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historical Park46 miles
  • Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area51 miles
  • Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park58 miles

Read about Zebulon's history on Wikipedia.

Know Zebulon?

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

  • Meansville, GA288 people, 3 miles
  • Concord, GA420 people, 6 miles
  • Hilltop, GA (unincorporated)222 people, 6 miles
  • Williamson, GA765 people, 6 miles
  • Milner, GA819 people, 9 miles
  • Aldora, GA192 people, 10 miles
  • Orchard Hill, GA236 people, 10 miles
  • The Rock, GA (unincorporated)109 people, 11 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.