Jackson County, Georgia | |
|---|---|
 Jackson County courthouse in Jefferson | |
 Seal | |
 Location within the U.S. state ofGeorgia | |
| Coordinates:34°08′N83°34′W / 34.13°N 83.56°W /34.13; -83.56 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Georgia |
| Founded | 1796; 230 years ago (1796) |
| Named after | James Jackson |
| Seat | Jefferson |
| Largest city | Jefferson |
| Area | |
• Total | 343 sq mi (890 km2) |
| • Land | 340 sq mi (880 km2) |
| • Water | 3.4 sq mi (8.8 km2) 1.0% |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 75,907 |
• Estimate (2024) | 93,825 |
| • Density | 220/sq mi (86/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| Congressional district | 9th |
| Website | jacksoncountygov.com |
Jackson County is acounty located in theEast Central region of theU.S. state ofGeorgia. As of the2020 census, the population was 75,907.[1] Thecounty seat isJefferson.[2] Jackson County comprises the Jefferson, GAMicropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in theAtlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs, GACombined Statistical Area.
Most of the first non-Native American settlers came fromEffingham County in 1786.[3] On February 11, 1796, Jackson County was split off from part ofFranklin County,Georgia. The new county was named in honor of Revolutionary War Lieutenant Colonel, Congressman, Senator and GovernorJames Jackson.[4] The county originally covered an area of approximately 1,800 square miles (4,662.0 km2), withClarksboro as its first county seat.
In 1801, theGeorgia General Assembly granted 40,000 acres (160 km2) of land in Jackson County for a state college. Franklin College (nowUniversity of Georgia) began classes the same year, and the city ofAthens was developed around the school. Also the same year, a new county was developed around the new college town, and Jackson lost territory to the newClarke. The county seat was moved to an old Indian village called Thomocoggan, a location with ample water supply from Curry Creek and four large springs. In 1804, the city was renamedJefferson, afterThomas Jefferson.
Jackson lost more territory in 1811 in the creation ofMadison County, in 1818 in the creation ofWalton,Gwinnett, andHall counties, in 1858 in the creation ofBanks County,[5] and in 1914 in the creation ofBarrow County.
The first county courthouse, a log and wooden frame building with an attached jail, was built on south side of the public square; a second, larger, two-story brick courthouse with a separate jailhouse was built in 1817. In 1880, a third was built on a hill north of the square. This courthouse was the oldest continuously operating courthouse in the United States until 2004, when the current courthouse was constructed north of Jefferson.
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 343 square miles (890 km2), of which 340 square miles (880 km2) is land and 3.4 square miles (8.8 km2) (1.0%) is water.[6]
The vast majority of Jackson County is located in the UpperOconee River sub-basin of theAltamaha River basin, with just a small portion of the county's northern edge, betweenMaysville to just east ofCommerce, located in theBroad River sub-basin of theSavannah River basin.[7]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1800 | 7,736 | — | |
| 1810 | 10,569 | 36.6% | |
| 1820 | 8,355 | −20.9% | |
| 1830 | 9,004 | 7.8% | |
| 1840 | 8,522 | −5.4% | |
| 1850 | 9,768 | 14.6% | |
| 1860 | 10,605 | 8.6% | |
| 1870 | 11,181 | 5.4% | |
| 1880 | 16,297 | 45.8% | |
| 1890 | 19,176 | 17.7% | |
| 1900 | 24,039 | 25.4% | |
| 1910 | 30,169 | 25.5% | |
| 1920 | 24,654 | −18.3% | |
| 1930 | 21,609 | −12.4% | |
| 1940 | 20,089 | −7.0% | |
| 1950 | 18,997 | −5.4% | |
| 1960 | 18,499 | −2.6% | |
| 1970 | 21,093 | 14.0% | |
| 1980 | 25,343 | 20.1% | |
| 1990 | 30,005 | 18.4% | |
| 2000 | 41,589 | 38.6% | |
| 2010 | 60,485 | 45.4% | |
| 2020 | 75,907 | 25.5% | |
| 2024 (est.) | 93,825 | [8] | 23.6% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[9] 1790-1880[10] 1890-1910[11] 1920-1930[12] 1930-1940[13] 1940-1950[14] 1960-1980[15] 1980-2000[16] 2010[17] | |||
| Race | Num. | Perc. |
|---|---|---|
| White (non-Hispanic) | 59,064 | 77.81% |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 5,136 | 6.77% |
| Native American | 127 | 0.17% |
| Asian | 1,744 | 2.3% |
| Pacific Islander | 30 | 0.04% |
| Other/Mixed | 3,094 | 4.08% |
| Hispanic orLatino | 6,712 | 8.84% |
As of the2020 census, there were 75,907 people in the county.[19] The median age was 38.2 years, 25.6% of residents were under the age of 18, and 15.0% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 97.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 94.7 males age 18 and over. 37.2% of residents lived in urban areas, while 62.8% lived in rural areas.[20]
The racial makeup of the county was 79.7% White, 6.9%Black or African American, 0.3%American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.3%Asian, 0.1%Native Hawaiian andPacific Islander, 4.1% from some other race, and 6.6% fromtwo or more races.Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 8.8% of the population.[21]
As of the2020 census, there were 26,174 households in the county, including 19,467 families; 39.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 20.8% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 18.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[19]
There were 27,699 housing units, of which 5.5% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 80.0% were owner-occupied and 20.0% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.6%.[19]
| Commission post | Office holder |
| Chairman | Marty Clark (Jackson County, Georgia) |
| District 1 - Central Jackson | Jim Hix |
| District 2 - North Jackson | Chas Hardy |
| District 3 - West Jackson | Ralph Richardson Jr. |
| District 4 - East Jackson | Marty Seagraves |
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 1912 | 46 | 2.65% | 1,123 | 64.65% | 568 | 32.70% |
| 1916 | 71 | 5.23% | 1,185 | 87.26% | 102 | 7.51% |
| 1920 | 334 | 23.81% | 1,069 | 76.19% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1924 | 142 | 11.70% | 993 | 81.80% | 79 | 6.51% |
| 1928 | 818 | 48.78% | 859 | 51.22% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1932 | 80 | 5.39% | 1,389 | 93.54% | 16 | 1.08% |
| 1936 | 187 | 7.09% | 2,447 | 92.76% | 4 | 0.15% |
| 1940 | 166 | 9.37% | 1,599 | 90.29% | 6 | 0.34% |
| 1944 | 221 | 11.19% | 1,754 | 88.81% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1948 | 145 | 6.53% | 1,866 | 83.98% | 211 | 9.50% |
| 1952 | 409 | 10.91% | 3,341 | 89.09% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1956 | 438 | 12.38% | 3,100 | 87.62% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1960 | 472 | 11.44% | 3,653 | 88.56% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1964 | 1,664 | 29.62% | 3,953 | 70.38% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1968 | 1,139 | 18.52% | 1,537 | 25.00% | 3,473 | 56.48% |
| 1972 | 4,124 | 79.63% | 1,055 | 20.37% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1976 | 1,239 | 17.28% | 5,931 | 82.72% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1980 | 2,209 | 31.79% | 4,591 | 66.07% | 149 | 2.14% |
| 1984 | 4,202 | 60.73% | 2,717 | 39.27% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1988 | 4,407 | 62.56% | 2,607 | 37.00% | 31 | 0.44% |
| 1992 | 3,976 | 43.38% | 3,792 | 41.37% | 1,397 | 15.24% |
| 1996 | 4,782 | 50.38% | 3,746 | 39.46% | 964 | 10.16% |
| 2000 | 7,878 | 67.71% | 3,420 | 29.39% | 337 | 2.90% |
| 2004 | 12,611 | 77.84% | 3,468 | 21.40% | 123 | 0.76% |
| 2008 | 17,776 | 77.23% | 4,950 | 21.51% | 290 | 1.26% |
| 2012 | 19,135 | 80.59% | 4,238 | 17.85% | 372 | 1.57% |
| 2016 | 21,784 | 79.44% | 4,491 | 16.38% | 1,146 | 4.18% |
| 2020 | 29,502 | 78.29% | 7,642 | 20.28% | 541 | 1.44% |
| 2024 | 36,497 | 77.04% | 10,472 | 22.10% | 406 | 0.86% |
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 2020 | 29,166 | 78.02% | 7,262 | 19.43% | 955 | 2.55% |
| 2020 | 25,793 | 79.17% | 6,785 | 20.83% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 2020 | 14,914 | 40.14% | 4,783 | 12.87% | 17,459 | 46.99% |
| 2020 | 25,658 | 78.75% | 6,925 | 21.25% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 2022 | 24,379 | 76.89% | 6,504 | 20.51% | 823 | 2.60% |
| 2022 | 21,613 | 78.69% | 5,854 | 21.31% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 2022 | 26,223 | 82.25% | 5,420 | 17.00% | 238 | 0.75% |
As of the 2020s, Jackson County is a strongly Republican voting county, voting 77% forDonald Trump in2024. For elections to theUnited States House of Representatives, Jackson County is part ofGeorgia's 10th congressional district, currently represented byMike Collins. For elections to theGeorgia State Senate, Jackson County is divided between districts47 and50.[24] For elections to theGeorgia House of Representatives, Jackson County is part of districts119 and120.[25]
Most of the county is in theJackson County School District. Portions in Commerce and Jefferson are in, respectively,Commerce City School District andJefferson City School District.[26]
Interstate 85
U.S. Route 129
U.S. Route 129 Business
U.S. Route 441U.S. Route 441 Business
State Route 11
State Route 11 Business
State Route 11 Connector
State Route 15
State Route 15 Alternate
State Route 53
State Route 59
State Route 60
State Route 82
State Route 82 Connector
State Route 98
State Route 124
State Route 330
State Route 332
State Route 334
State Route 335
State Route 346 (former)
State Route 403 (unsigned designation for I-85)Places adjacent to Jackson County, Georgia | ||||||||||||||||
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Municipalities and communities ofJackson County, Georgia,United States | ||
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| Cities |  | |
| Towns | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
