Hiram, Georgia
Seal of Georgia
Hiram · Paulding County, Georgia
Population 5,073 (est. 2026: ~5,600)
Source: Census ACS 2023 · ACS 2023 + 3.11% annual growth projection

Hiram, Georgia

Paulding County, Georgia · Population 4,929

Hiram sits in the western edge of metro Atlanta's sprawl, about 30 miles from downtown, where Paulding County's suburban growth runs up against older small-town bones. It's not a destination — it's a place people choose deliberately, trading Atlanta proximity for lower costs and quieter streets. The population of 4,929 makes it one of Paulding County's larger municipalities within a county of 168,661, but it still feels like a town rather than a suburb. US-278 runs through it, connecting Hiram to Douglasville to the east and Cedartown to the west. Everything here requires a car.

People & Demographics

Hiram's 4,911 residents skew younger than most of Georgia, with a median age of 35.4. The town is racially mixed in ways that distinguish it from much of the surrounding county: Black residents number 2,085, White residents 1,420, Asian residents 436, and 699 people identify as Hispanic or Latino. That racial composition reflects Paulding County's demographic shift over the past two decades — the county has grown rapidly and diversified alongside metro Atlanta's western expansion.

The 1,725 households average 2.84 people, and 1,087 of those are family households. Children are a significant presence: 1,429 residents are under 18, roughly 29% of the total population.

Economy & Employment

The median household income in Hiram is $81,055 — a solid figure that compares favorably to Georgia's statewide median. Per capita income sits at $33,952. Of the 2,535 residents in the labor force, only 44 are unemployed, an unemployment rate below 2%. That tight labor market reflects how much of Hiram's workforce commutes out to Atlanta-area jobs rather than working locally. Poverty touches 446 residents, about 9% of the population.

Hiram itself has commercial activity along US-278 — retail, healthcare services, and the infrastructure that supports a growing county seat area — but the economic engine for most residents is the broader Atlanta metro.

Housing

Hiram's 1,917 housing units are 90% occupied, with 192 vacant. Owner-occupied units number 1,130 against 595 renter-occupied — a 65/35 split that reflects the town's family-oriented character. The median home value is $205,900, which remains attainable by metro Atlanta standards even as regional prices have risen. Median rent, however, has climbed to $1,787 per month — a number that puts pressure on renter households given per capita income levels.

Schools

Hiram is served by Paulding County School District. Three elementary schools feed into the system locally:

Secondary students attend:

Among the adult population 25 and older (3,141 people), 535 hold a high school diploma as their highest credential, 690 have a bachelor's degree, 215 a master's degree, and 20 hold doctorates.

Getting Around

Hiram is car-dependent without exception. Of 2,491 workers, 1,983 drove alone to work and 114 carpooled. Zero workers reported using public transit. Only 4 walked. Working from home accounts for 390 workers — about 15.7% of the workforce, a meaningful share that reflects remote-work adoption.

The aggregate commute burden is 76,545 minutes across all workers, pointing to the long Atlanta-area drives that define daily life here. Expect 45–60 minutes to reach central Atlanta in normal traffic via I-20 or US-278 through Douglasville.

Healthcare

WellStar Paulding Medical Center serves Hiram and the surrounding county. The facility is located in Hiram itself, making it one of the more convenient aspects of living in a fast-growing outer suburb — residents don't have to travel far for hospital-level care.

For a full list of licensed healthcare providers in Hiram, the CMS NPI Registry returns current results across all specialties.

Library

The Maude P. Ragsdale Public Library serves Hiram as part of the Paulding County library system. Phone: (770) 439-3964.

Parks & Recreation

The nearest National Park Service site is Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, roughly 12.8 miles east — a Civil War battlefield with extensive hiking trails and a visitor center that draws heavily from the Atlanta suburbs. Further out, the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (visitor center at Island Ford, 26.2 miles) offers river access and trails along one of Georgia's most significant natural corridors. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta is approximately 23.9 miles from Hiram's visitor center.

Natural Hazards

Paulding County has a long FEMA declaration history that maps closely to Georgia's broader vulnerability patterns:

Hiram and the county have been touched by tropical systems repeatedly — Hurricane Opal (1995), Hurricane Irma (2017), Tropical Storm Zeta (2020/declared 2021), and most recently Hurricane Helene (September 2024, with both an emergency declaration and a major disaster declaration). Helene caused significant inland flooding and wind damage across north Georgia.

Severe winter storms appear in 1993, 2000, 2014, and most recently January 2026 — a reminder that northwest Georgia's elevation and cold air intrusions can produce ice events that shut down roads built for mild winters.

Severe storms and flooding triggered declarations in 1998 and 2009. The county also served as an evacuation destination during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

For current conditions: NWS Forecast for Hiram · Active weather alerts

Government & Municipal Code

Hiram's municipal code is published through Municode and available at library.municode.com/ga/hiram. The code does not include a local building code — construction standards default to county and state-level regulations.

Weather

The nearest weather observation station is HIRAM 2.6 NNE, located 1.4 miles from town. Northwest Georgia's climate runs hot and humid in summer, with occasional severe thunderstorm and tornado risk in spring. Ice storms are a recurring winter hazard, as the FEMA record confirms.

Current NWS forecast

References

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