Athens GA Stats and Facts
Founded
Clarke County was founded in 1801.
The city of Athens was chartered in 1806.
Consolidated Athens-Clarke County in 1991
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
- 123,912 (2015 U.S. Census estimate, includes UGA & other college students residing in Clarke Co.)
- Clarke County is among the 100 fastest-growing counties in the nation, ranking #80 with a 2.6% increase from 2014 to 2015.
Transportation
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 (2011)
- Government 31.6%
- Leisure and Hospitality (includes retail, accommodations, food service, arts & entertainment)
22.7% - Health Care 15%
- Other Services 11.8%
- Manufacturing & Construction 11.6%
- Finance / Insurance / Real Estate 3.5%
- Wholesale Trade 2.8%
- Other 1%
(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 2,341 rooms.
- Visitors to Athens contributed to $281 million in spending, 2,660 jobs and $19.04 million in state and local tax revenues in 2015. (Source: Georgia Department of Economic Development Economic Impact Report for 2015.)
- In 2015, overnight tourists and day trip visitors generated $58.9 billion in spending in Georgia, supporting over 439,000 jobs. (Source: Georgia Economic Impact of Travel Report for 2015.)
- 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
