Stats and Facts

Founded
Clarke County was founded in 1801.
The city of Athens was chartered in 1806.

Size and Location
Georgia's smallest county, at 122 square miles, is located 61 miles northeast of Atlanta.

Government
In 1991, the Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County became the 28th consolidated city-county government in the U.S. and the third in Georgia.
Mayor: Nancy Denson, elected 2010
http://www.athensclarkecounty.com

Population
116,342
(2009 U.S. Census estimate, includes UGA students residing in Clarke Co.)

Transportation
Ground and air shuttle service is available from Atlanta's airport. Athens Ben Epps Airport, 3 miles from downtown, is served by Georgia Skies. Local transportation includes car rental, public transit (bus), taxi and limousine service.

Climate
Athens benefits from a four-season climate, with warm summers but few extremes.
Warmest month: July, 69°F avg. low; 90°F avg. high
Coolest month: January, 33°F avg. low; 51°F avg. high
Avg. rainfall: 48"
Avg. snowfall: 2.5".

Elevation
802 feet

Industry According to Employment (2009)

1.Government 31.5%
2.Leisure and Hospitality (includes retail, accommodations, food service, arts & entertainment) 22.6%
3.Manufacturing & Construction 12.7%
4.Health Care 14.4%
5.Other Services 12.0%
6.Finance / Insurance / Real Estate 3.3%
7.Wholesale Trade 2.8%
8.Other .7%

(Source: Georgia Department of Labor, Clarke County Labor Profile.)

Tourism Work$ for Athens-Clarke County

• Hotel/motel tax: 7%
• Sales tax: 7%
• Athens has 24 hotels with 2,431 rooms.
• Visitors to Athens contributed to $220.03 million in spending, 2,390 jobs and $45.46 million in wages earned in 2010. (Source: Georgia Departmen of Economic Development Economic Impact Report for 2010.)
• Each motorcoach of travelers that overnights in Athens spends an estimated $156 per person, per night.
• In 2009, overnight tourists and day trip visitors spent over $19 billion in Georgia, supporting 234,000 jobs. (Source: Georgia Economic Impact of Travel Report for 2009.)
• Tourism saves each Georgia household $498 in taxes on the local and state level. (Source: Georgia Economic Impact of Travel Report for 2009.)
• One out of nine jobs in the U.S. depend upon travel and tourism.
  (Source: U.S. Travel Association.)

A division of The Classic Center Authority, the Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau is funded primarily by hotel and motel tax and functions as a destination management agency promoting Athens as the destination of choice for travelers and conventions.

*Hotel-motel tax is allocated as follows: ACC receives 14.29% of collections, the CVB 31.42%, and The Classic Center 54.29%.

>>Learn more about the economic impact of the meetings & conventions segment of local tourism at The Classic Center's website.

More facts and figures are available at:

• The Power of Travel, state tourism economic impact statistics
• Athens-Clarke County: from the Athens Clarke County Unified Government Public Information Office
• Georgia Department of Economic Development
• U.S. Travel Association
• U.S. Travel Answer Sheet