Lake City, Georgia
Seal of Georgia
Lake City · Clayton County, Georgia
Population 2,911 (est. 2026: ~2,900)
Source: Census ACS 2023 · ACS 2023 + -0.07% annual growth projection

Lake City, Georgia

Clayton County, Georgia · Population 2,952

Lake City sits in the northern corner of Clayton County, tucked between the city of Morrow to the south and the larger urban fabric of metro Atlanta pressing in from the north. At roughly 2,952 residents, it functions less as a standalone city and more as a quiet residential node in one of the most densely populated counties in Georgia. Clayton County's population of 297,595 dwarfs Lake City's, and the county's infrastructure — hospitals, courts, major transit — is what most Lake City residents actually rely on day to day. The city's identity is shaped less by its own institutions and more by its position: close enough to Atlanta to benefit from metro employment, small enough that most civic life spills across municipal boundaries.

People & Demographics

Lake City's 2,916 residents (ACS 2022) skew older than much of the surrounding county, with a median age of 41.9. The city is genuinely diverse. Black residents make up the largest single group at 1,235, followed by Asian residents at 871 — a notably high figure for a city this size, suggesting concentrated settlement patterns rather than diffuse diversity. White residents number 469, and 425 residents identify as Hispanic or Latino.

The city holds 906 occupied households with an average size of 2.64 people. Of those households, 500 are family households. There are 478 children under 18, making up roughly 16 percent of the population.

Economy & Employment

Median household income in Lake City is $62,941, and per capita income sits at $24,316. The labor force counts 1,634 people, with just 29 reported as unemployed — a low figure that suggests most working-age residents are employed, though many likely commute out of the city for work. Of 235 residents living below the poverty line, the rate is modest but present in a community where per capita income reflects the compression of household income across multiple earners.

The metro Atlanta job market is the dominant economic engine here. Lake City itself has no large industrial or commercial anchor visible in the data.

Housing

The city has 961 total housing units, of which 906 are occupied and 55 sit vacant — a vacancy rate of about 5.7 percent, which is tight. The renter-to-owner split leans toward renters: 476 renter-occupied units against 430 owner-occupied, making it a slightly renter-majority community.

Median home value is $144,400 — well below Georgia's broader metro-area norms and reflective of Clayton County's position as one of the more affordable counties adjacent to Atlanta. Median rent of $1,118 per month, however, is not dramatically lower than surrounding areas, which means renters here face a tighter affordability burden relative to local incomes than homeowners do.

Schools

Lake City is home to one public school:

Lake City Elementary School serves grades pre-K through 5 with an enrollment of 509 students. That enrollment relative to the city's total population of under 3,000 indicates the school draws from a broader attendance zone than city limits alone.

For middle and high school, students feed into the Clayton County Public Schools system, which operates countywide.

Clayton State University, located nearby in Morrow, provides the closest four-year higher education option, reachable at 678-466-4000.

Getting Around

Lake City is a driving community. Of 1,584 total workers, 1,046 drive alone to work, and 334 carpool — together accounting for nearly 87 percent of commuters. Public transit accounts for only 34 workers, and 28 walk. Eighty-nine residents work from home.

Aggregate travel time across all workers totals 32,075 minutes, which works out to an average commute of roughly 20 minutes. For a community this close to Atlanta, that's manageable, but it depends heavily on direction and time of day. Interstate 75 and the network of Clayton County roads are the practical arteries.

Healthcare

Clayton County's primary hospital is Southern Regional Medical Center, which serves the region including Lake City residents. Riverwoods Behavioral Health System provides psychiatric and behavioral health services in the county. Specific ratings and emergency service classifications were not available in current data.

For a full list of healthcare providers registered in Lake City, the CMS NPI Registry can be searched directly: NPI Registry – Lake City, GA.

Library

The nearest public library branch is the Forest Park Branch Library, located 1.2 miles from Lake City. It is part of the Clayton County Library System and can be reached at 770-347-0160.

Parks & Recreation

Despite its small size, Lake City sits within reach of three significant National Park Service units:

The Chattahoochee River corridor, in particular, provides accessible outdoor recreation without requiring a long drive.

Natural Hazards

Clayton County has a long federal disaster declaration record stretching back to 1973, and Lake City sits within every one of those risk corridors. Declared events include:

The pattern is clear: this part of Georgia is not immune to tropical systems, severe winter weather, or flash flooding. Residents should treat those risks as recurring rather than exceptional.

Government & Municipal Code

Lake City's municipal code is published through Municode and accessible at library.municode.com/ga/pine_lake. The city does not have a locally adopted building code on file in the current dataset.

Weather

Current forecasts and active alerts for Lake City are available through the National Weather Service:

The nearest weather observation station is Morrow 1.3 N, approximately 1.4 miles from Lake City.

References

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