Palmetto, Georgia
Seal of Georgia
Palmetto · Coweta County, Georgia
Population 4,681 (est. 2026: ~5,100)
Source: Census ACS 2023 · ACS 2023 + 2.48% annual growth projection

Palmetto, Georgia

Coweta County, Georgia · Population 5,071

Palmetto sits in the southwestern corner of metro Atlanta's sprawl, about 25 miles from downtown Atlanta along the US-29 corridor. It's small enough to feel self-contained but close enough to the city that a significant share of residents commute north each morning. The town straddles the line between rural Coweta County and the outer suburban edge of one of the fastest-growing metros in the country — a position that shapes everything from its housing prices to its demographics to how people get to work. Palmetto's population is majority Black, its incomes are modest, and its housing remains among the more affordable in the region.

People & Demographics

Palmetto's 4,650 counted residents (ACS 2022) make it a small city by any measure. Coweta County holds 146,158 people — Palmetto accounts for roughly 3% of that total. The racial composition is distinctly different from Coweta County overall: 2,579 residents (55%) identify as Black, while 1,093 (24%) are white. The Hispanic and Latino population numbers 803, representing about 17% of the total. The Asian population is 24.

Median age is 38.2 years. There are 1,065 children under 18 in a town of this size, making up nearly a quarter of the counted population. Of 1,880 households, 1,168 are family households. Average household size is 2.43.

Economy & Employment

Median household income in Palmetto is $52,444. Per capita income sits at $30,907. For context, Georgia's statewide median household income regularly runs several thousand dollars higher, placing Palmetto below the state norm. Coweta County as a whole skews higher due to wealthier communities like Newnan.

Of 2,618 residents in the labor force, 181 are unemployed — an unemployment rate of roughly 6.9%. The poverty count stands at 539 residents, representing about 11.6% of the measured population.

Most working residents commute out. Palmetto itself does not have a large employment base, and the town's proximity to Atlanta, Newnan, and Peachtree City means the local workforce disperses across a wide geographic area each workday.

Housing

Total housing units: 2,096. Of those, 1,880 are occupied and 216 are vacant — a vacancy rate of about 10.3%. The split between ownership and renting is close: 1,001 units are owner-occupied and 879 are renter-occupied, meaning 46.7% of occupied households rent.

Median home value is $149,600 — well below what buyers face in most of metro Atlanta's closer-in suburbs. Median gross rent is $1,143 per month. For buyers priced out of Peachtree City or Newnan, Palmetto represents one of the more accessible entry points in the southern metro corridor.

Schools

Two schools serve Palmetto under NCES records.

Palmetto Elementary School covers grades K–5 with 358 students. It is the primary public school for the town's children.

Georgia Baptist Children's Home and Family Ministries operates a small educational program for grades 7–11 with 16 students, serving a specialized residential population rather than the general public.

For middle and high school grades, students generally feed into the Coweta County School System, which operates its secondary campuses in and around Newnan.

Getting Around

Palmetto is a car-required town. Of 2,320 workers, 1,640 drive alone to work — 70.7%. Another 182 carpool. Only 18 use public transit, and the work-from-home count is 251, reflecting some post-pandemic flexibility. The aggregate travel time for all workers totals 59,310 minutes, which averages out to roughly 25.5 minutes per commuter each way — consistent with a southern metro suburb where destinations are spread across Newnan, Peachtree City, and Atlanta.

Healthcare

The nearest hospital facilities serving Palmetto are Piedmont Newnan Hospital and Southeastern Regional Medical Center, both located in Newnan, Georgia — approximately 10–15 miles to the east and southeast.

For individual provider searches, the CMS NPI Registry can be queried for Palmetto-area providers: NPI Registry — Palmetto, GA

Library

The Palmetto Branch Library serves the local community and is part of the Coweta Public Library System. Phone: (404) 613-4075.

Parks & Recreation

Three National Park Service units are accessible from Palmetto within a reasonable drive.

Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park (Atlanta) — The visitor center is 23.7 miles from town and interprets the life and legacy of Dr. King in his birth neighborhood in Sweet Auburn.

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park — 32.0 miles north. A Civil War battlefield with extensive trail networks and a visitor center popular with hikers and history visitors.

Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area — The Island Ford Visitor Center is 37.8 miles away. The Chattahoochee unit system offers paddling, fishing, and trail access along the river as it runs through the northern Atlanta suburbs.

Natural Hazards

Coweta County has a long and varied federal disaster history. The county has been struck by or affected by:

The pattern reflects the full range of threats that Georgia's inland piedmont faces: ice storms that can shut down the region for days, occasional tornado outbreaks, remnant tropical systems that dump rainfall on already-saturated ground, and the 2024 Helene declaration, a reminder that powerful hurricanes can still reach this far inland with destructive effect.

Government & Municipal Code

Palmetto's municipal code is published through Municode and accessible at library.municode.com/ga/palmetto.

Note: Palmetto does not have a locally adopted building code on file in the dataset. Residents and contractors should confirm current requirements directly with the city.

Weather

Current forecast for Palmetto: NWS Forecast — Palmetto, GA

Active weather alerts: NWS Alerts

The nearest weather observation station is PALMETTO 3.2 NW, located 2.6 miles from the town center.

References

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