Kingston, Georgia
Seal of Georgia
Kingston · Bartow County, Georgia
Population 930 (est. 2026: ~1,200)
Source: Census ACS 2023 · ACS 2023 + 6.77% annual growth projection

Kingston, Georgia

Bartow County, Georgia · Population 722

Kingston sits along U.S. Highway 41 in the northwestern corner of Bartow County, roughly equidistant between Cartersville to the southeast and Rome to the northwest. It is a small, quiet town — fewer than 800 people — that functions less as a commercial hub than as a residential anchor for families who work elsewhere in Bartow County or commute into the broader Rome-Cartersville corridor. The town's median age of 43.3 skews noticeably older than Georgia as a whole, and its housing stock is among the more affordable anywhere in the state. Kingston earned its place in the Civil War record books — it was the site of the Great Locomotive Chase's first stop — though daily life here is defined more by modest incomes, deep roots, and a short drive to everything the county seat offers.

People & Demographics

The ACS 2022 count puts Kingston's population at 774, organized into 276 households. Average household size is 2.80 people. Of those households, 159 are family households.

Racial composition breaks down as 454 white residents, 222 Black residents, and 45 Hispanic or Latino residents. No Asian population was recorded. Children under 18 number 166, representing a meaningful share of a town this size.

Bartow County's total population is 108,901, meaning Kingston holds less than one percent of county residents — a true small town by any measure.

Economy & Employment

Median household income in Kingston is $50,000. Per capita income is $20,525, which runs well below Georgia's statewide per capita figures and reflects the town's working-class character. Of the 389 residents counted in the labor force, 35 were unemployed at the time of the survey — an unemployment rate around 9 percent.

Poverty is a real presence: 188 residents fall below the federal poverty line, out of a population of 774. That is nearly one in four people.

Kingston does not have a significant employment base of its own. Most workers commute outward to Cartersville, Rome, or points south. The town's economy is residential, not commercial.

Housing

Kingston's housing market is one of its most defining features. Median home value sits at $82,300 — a figure that stands sharply below Georgia's statewide median and makes ownership genuinely accessible for working households. Median rent is $839 per month.

The town has 304 total housing units. Of those, 276 are occupied and 28 are vacant — a vacancy rate of about 9 percent. Among occupied units, 201 are owner-occupied and 75 are renter-occupied, putting the homeownership rate at roughly 73 percent. For a lower-income community, that is a notably high ownership share.

Schools

Kingston is served by Kingston Elementary School, a public school covering grades pre-K through 5 with an enrollment of 526 students — a number that significantly exceeds the town's own child population, indicating the school draws from the surrounding rural area as well. Middle and high school students attend Bartow County schools outside of town.

Getting Around

Kingston is car country. Of 352 workers who commute, 291 drive alone and 46 carpool. Zero residents reported using public transit or walking to work. Fifteen people work from home.

Aggregate commute time across all workers totals 10,355 minutes, working out to an average one-way commute of roughly 29 minutes. That figure is consistent with a town whose residents drive to Cartersville, Rome, or other Bartow County employment centers daily. No public transportation serves the town.

Healthcare

The closest hospital is Piedmont Cartersville Medical Center in Cartersville, the Bartow County seat, accessible via U.S. 41 south. For provider-level searches within Kingston, the CMS NPI Registry can be queried directly: NPI Registry — Kingston, GA.

Library

The nearest public library is the Emmie Nelson Public Library, located 4.8 miles from Kingston. It can be reached at (770) 382-2057. The library is part of the Bartow County library system and serves as the primary public library resource for Kingston residents.

Parks & Recreation

Two significant federal recreation areas sit within reasonable driving distance. Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, a Civil War site with extensive trails and a visitor center 25.9 miles away, is the closest NPS unit. Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, with its Island Ford Visitor Center 38.3 miles away, offers river access and hiking along the outskirts of metro Atlanta. Further afield, Little River Canyon National Preserve in northeastern Alabama is about 42 miles from the nearest visitor center. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta rounds out the regional NPS presence.

For Civil War history specifically, Kingston's own position on the Western & Atlantic Railroad makes the town itself a site of historical interest, connected directly to the story told at Kennesaw Mountain.

Natural Hazards

Bartow County has accumulated 15 FEMA disaster declarations since 1994, a frequency that reflects the region's genuine exposure to multiple hazard types. Severe weather is the most persistent threat: the county has been declared for tornadoes and severe storms in 1994, 2008, and 2011; flooding events in 1998 and 2009; and severe winter storms in 2000, 2014, and 2026. Hurricane-force impacts reached this far inland during both Opal (1995) and Irma (2017), with Irma generating both an emergency declaration and a major disaster declaration within days. Hurricane Helene triggered an emergency declaration in September 2024. The COVID-19 pandemic produced back-to-back declarations in March 2020. Residents should treat severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and winter ice events as recurring realities, not rare exceptions.

Government & Municipal Code

Kingston's municipal code is published through Municode and accessible at library.municode.com/ga/kingston-city-georgia. The city does not currently have a building code on file in the available records — prospective builders and contractors should verify requirements directly with city hall.

Weather

Current forecasts for Kingston are available through the National Weather Service: NWS Forecast for Kingston, GA. Active weather alerts can be monitored at NWS Alerts. The nearest official weather observation station is Kingston Station, 1.5 miles from town.

References

The law belongs to the people. Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 590 U.S. (2020)