Ball Ground, Georgia
Seal of Georgia
Ball Ground · Cherokee County, Georgia
Population 2,665 (est. 2026: ~3,400)
Source: Census ACS 2023 · ACS 2023 + 7.17% annual growth projection

Ball Ground, Georgia

Cherokee County, Georgia · Population 2,560

Ball Ground sits in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northeastern Cherokee County, about 45 miles north of Atlanta. The Etowah River runs nearby, and the town's name traces to a Cherokee ball-play ground that once occupied the area. What was a quiet crossroads for most of the twentieth century has become one of the more distinctive small towns on Atlanta's northern fringe — it kept its historic downtown core while the surrounding county absorbed decades of suburban growth. At 2,560 residents, Ball Ground is small enough that most people know their neighbors, but close enough to Canton and the I-575 corridor that commuting to metro Atlanta remains entirely practical.

People & Demographics

Ball Ground's population comes in at 2,527 in ACS estimates, with a median age of 38.5. The town is predominantly white (2,306 residents), with Black residents at 104 and Hispanic or Latino residents at 78. Asian population is not recorded in the data. The town holds 1,006 households, of which 724 are family households, and an average household size of 2.51. There are 579 children under 18 — roughly a quarter of the population — which tracks with the family-oriented character of the area. Cherokee County overall holds 266,620 people, making Ball Ground one of its smaller incorporated municipalities.

Economy & Employment

Median household income in Ball Ground is $103,429 — a strong figure that reflects the broader affluence of Cherokee County's professional class and its proximity to Atlanta's job market. Per capita income stands at $44,086. Of 1,504 people in the labor force, only 54 are unemployed, a low unemployment rate that aligns with the tight labor markets typical of Atlanta's northern suburbs. Poverty affects 93 residents — a small share of the total population, though not zero. The data does not break out major local employers, but the commute patterns (see below) suggest most working residents leave Ball Ground for employment elsewhere.

Housing

Ball Ground's 1,025 total housing units are nearly fully occupied — only 19 sit vacant, a vacancy rate under 2%, which reflects both regional demand and the town's limited housing stock. Of the 1,006 occupied units, 818 are owner-occupied and 188 are renter-occupied. That 81% ownership rate is high, consistent with a small town that has attracted families looking for permanence rather than transient renters. Median home value is $318,100, and median gross rent is $1,381. These numbers reflect Cherokee County's position as a desirable but still more affordable alternative to Fulton or Cobb County closer to Atlanta.

Schools

Ball Ground Elementary School serves grades pre-K through 5 with 592 students enrolled — a notably large enrollment for a town of 2,560, suggesting it draws from surrounding unincorporated areas as well. Secondary students attend school in the broader Cherokee County school system, with Canton serving as the county seat and home to additional district facilities.

Getting Around

Ball Ground is car country. Of 1,436 workers, 1,189 drove alone to work and 137 carpooled. Zero workers commute by public transit, and zero walked to work — neither figure is surprising given the rural-suburban layout and the absence of transit infrastructure. 110 residents worked from home. Aggregate travel time across all workers totals 37,090 minutes, which works out to an average one-way commute of roughly 26 minutes — modest by metro Atlanta standards, though it assumes most workers are heading south toward Canton, Woodstock, or Atlanta itself.

Healthcare

The closest hospital is Northside Hospital Cherokee, located in Canton. Canton is approximately 10 miles south of Ball Ground on GA-5/GA-20 — a straightforward drive. For a full directory of local healthcare providers registered with CMS, the NPI Registry search for Ball Ground, GA returns licensed providers operating within the city.

Library

The Ball Ground Public Library serves the community and can be reached at (770) 735-2025. It is part of the Cherokee County library system, which also operates branches in Canton and other county communities.

Parks & Recreation

Three National Park Service units sit within day-trip range. The Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area is the closest major federal outdoor space, stretching along the river through the northern Atlanta metro. The Island Ford Visitor Center is 24.1 miles away and serves as a practical entry point into that corridor of protected river land. Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, 26.5 miles south, preserves a significant Civil War site with extensive trail systems. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta is 39.8 miles away. The Etowah River itself, running through Cherokee County, offers local paddling and fishing access that Ball Ground residents use regularly.

Natural Hazards

Cherokee County has a substantial FEMA disaster history, and Ball Ground sits inside every county-level declaration. The county has been hit by tropical systems repeatedly — Hurricane Opal (1995), Hurricane Ivan (2004), Hurricane Katrina evacuation support (2005), Hurricane Irma (2017, two separate declarations), Tropical Storm Zeta (2021), and Hurricane Helene (2024). Severe winter storms struck in 2000, 2014, and again in January 2026. Severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding brought a major disaster declaration in April 2011, and flooding events also triggered declarations in 1998 and 2009. COVID-19 produced both an emergency declaration (March 13, 2020) and a major disaster declaration (March 29, 2020). Anyone living in this area should understand that the combination of tropical remnants tracking inland, ice storms from the north, and flash flooding from the mountain foothills makes Cherokee County one of the more multi-hazard counties in Georgia.

Government & Municipal Code

Ball Ground's municipal code is published through Municode and accessible at library.municode.com/ga/ball_ground. The data does not indicate a locally adopted building code on file with Municode.

Weather

Current forecasts and conditions are available through the National Weather Service at the Ball Ground forecast page. Active weather alerts for the area can be monitored at the NWS alerts page. The nearest weather observation station is Ball Ground 0.1 W, located 0.5 miles from the town center.

References

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