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: Heidi Davison, elected 2002; re-elected 2006
http://www.athensclarkecounty.com
Population
112,760 (2007 U.S. Census estimate, includes UGA students residing in Clarke Co.)
Industry According to Employment
- Government 29%
- Manufacturing 14%
- Retail Services and Tourism 23%
- Other Services 14%
- Health Care 12%
- Finance / Insurance / Real Estate 3%
- Wholesale Trade 3%
(Source: Georgia Department of Labor, Clarke County Labor Profile.)
Tourism Work$ for Athens-Clarke County
- Hotel/motel tax: 7%
- Sales tax: 7%
- Athens has 21 hotels with 2,045 rooms.
- Tourism expenditures for 2006 contributed $198.84 million to Athens- Clarke County's economy, generated 2,400 jobs and supported a $43.16 million payroll.
- Visitors to Georgia spent $17.7 billion in 2006, directly supporting 219,300 jobs and adding $1.34 billion in state and local tax revenue.
- Tourism saves each Georgia household $367 in taxes on the local and state level.
- Each motorcoach of travelers that overnights in Athens spends an estimated $156 per person, per night.
- In 2006, the Athens Welcome Center greeted 12,034 visitors from 51 different countries and made 3,878 referrals for lodging, food, shopping, and attractions.
- In FY 07, the Athens CVB distributed 160,000+ brochures to individuals, hotels, and other welcome centers. www.visitathensga.com has had over 1.6 million page views, and averaged 60,000 visits each month.
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.
More facts and figures are available at:
- Athens-Clarke County by the numbers: from the Athens Clarke County Unified Government Public Information Office
- Georgia Department of Economic Development, Tourism Division: state-level industry research
