Stone Mountain, Georgia
Seal of Georgia
Stone Mountain · DeKalb County, Georgia
Population 6,639 (est. 2026: ~6,600)
Source: Census ACS 2023 · ACS 2023 + -0.24% annual growth projection

Stone Mountain, Georgia

DeKalb County, Georgia · Population 6,703

Stone Mountain sits about 16 miles east of downtown Atlanta, tucked into the western edge of DeKalb County. The town is small — under 7,000 people — but it carries an outsized identity. The 825-foot granite dome that gives the city its name towers at the edge of the city limits, visible for miles and familiar to anyone who has lived in metro Atlanta. The town itself is a working-class, majority-Black community with deep roots and a tight geographic footprint. It is not a suburb in the manicured sense. It is a real place with real pressures: modest incomes, competitive rents, and schools that draw thousands of students from across the surrounding area.

People & Demographics

Stone Mountain's population of 6,703 is overwhelmingly Black — 5,671 residents out of 6,638 counted, roughly 85 percent of the total. White residents number 827. Asian and Hispanic populations are minimal at 11 and 27 respectively. The median age is 34.4, meaning this is a relatively young community. There are 1,548 children under 18, accounting for nearly a quarter of the population. Average household size is 2.64 across 2,513 occupied households, and just over half of those — 1,432 — are family households. DeKalb County as a whole holds 764,382 people, making the city a small slice of a large and diverse metro county.

Economy & Employment

Median household income in Stone Mountain is $44,950, and per capita income is $25,142. Both figures fall well below typical metro Atlanta and Georgia statewide benchmarks. Of the 3,459 residents in the labor force, 193 are unemployed. Poverty touches 1,036 residents — a significant share of the population, reflecting the economic strain common to inner-ring suburban communities that sit adjacent to major metros but do not capture their prosperity. The town does not have a dominant local employment base; most workers commute outward toward Atlanta and the broader DeKalb–Gwinnett corridor.

Housing

There are 2,809 total housing units in Stone Mountain, with 296 sitting vacant. Of the 2,513 occupied units, renters hold a slight majority — 1,297 renter-occupied versus 1,216 owner-occupied. The median home value is $162,700, which is accessible by Georgia standards and far below Atlanta's urban core. Median rent, however, runs $1,356 per month — a figure that strains households at the local median income. The rent-to-income pressure here is real: a household at the $44,950 median income spending $1,356 per month on rent is allocating roughly 36 percent of gross income to housing.

Schools

Stone Mountain falls within DeKalb County Schools. The concentration of large schools in and around the city is notable. At the high school level, Stephenson High School enrolls 1,354 students, Stone Mountain High School enrolls 1,202, and Redan High School serves 951. Middle grades are served by Freedom Middle School (1,131 students), Stone Mountain Middle School (1,072), Stephenson Middle School (812), The Champion Middle Theme School (751), and the DeKalb Agriculture Technology and Environment School (763, grades K–8). Elementary schools include Rockbridge Elementary (894), Allgood Elementary (636), Pine Ridge Elementary (597), Stone Mill Elementary (592), Wynbrooke Elementary (592), Smoke Rise Elementary (530), and Eldridge L. Miller Elementary (492). The scale of enrollment across these campuses reflects the broader DeKalb County population the schools serve, not just city residents.

Post-secondary options within the city include Pro Way Hair School and United Education Institute–Stone Mountain, both offering vocational and career-track programs.

Getting Around

Stone Mountain is car country. Of 3,198 workers, 2,484 drive alone and 188 carpool. Public transit accounts for 125 commuters — a modest but real number reflecting MARTA access at the eastern edge of the rail system. Fifty-four residents walk to work. Working from home covers 251 workers. Aggregate travel time across all workers reaches 95,690 minutes, implying an average one-way commute of roughly 30 minutes. The nearest major employment centers — Decatur, downtown Atlanta, and the I-285 perimeter corridor — are all reachable within that window by car.

Healthcare

No hospital sits within Stone Mountain city limits. The nearest major facilities are along the DeKalb and Gwinnett corridors — Emory Decatur Hospital and Piedmont Rockdale are among the closest regional options. For a full list of licensed healthcare providers registered in Stone Mountain, the CMS NPI Registry can be searched directly: NPI Provider Search – Stone Mountain, GA.

Library

The Hairston Crossing Branch of the DeKalb County Public Library system serves Stone Mountain. Contact: (404) 508-7170.

Parks & Recreation

The granite mountain itself is the centerpiece of Stone Mountain Park, a Georgia state park that draws visitors year-round and sits immediately adjacent to the city. Beyond the state park, the broader region offers access to several National Park Service sites. The Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area provides river corridors and trails across the northern metro. Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, about 26 miles northwest, offers significant Civil War history and hiking terrain with a visitor center on site. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park — centered in Atlanta's Sweet Auburn neighborhood roughly 11 miles away — preserves the birthplace, church, and legacy of Dr. King, with a visitor center on location.

Natural Hazards

DeKalb County has accumulated 15 federal disaster declarations since 1993, covering a full range of Georgia's hazard profile. Tropical systems have hit repeatedly — Hurricane Opal (1995), Ivan (2004), Irma (2017), and Hurricane Helene (2024). Severe winter storms have triggered emergency declarations in 1993, 2000, 2014, and as recently as January 2026. Major flooding events struck in 1998 and 2009. The county also served as a Hurricane Katrina evacuation destination in 2005. For residents, the takeaway is that both ice storms and tropical remnants represent genuine risks, not theoretical ones. Flood insurance and preparedness for extended power outages are reasonable considerations.

Government & Municipal Code

Stone Mountain's municipal code is published through Municode and accessible at library.municode.com/ga/stone_mountain. The city does not maintain a separate municipal building code in the Municode system — construction and building regulations default to DeKalb County and state standards.

Weather

Current forecasts and conditions for Stone Mountain are available through the National Weather Service: NWS Forecast – Stone Mountain. Active weather alerts can be monitored at NWS Alerts. The nearest reporting weather station is Avondale Estates 0.4 ESE, approximately 4.6 miles from the city center.

References

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