Good Hope, Georgia
Seal of Georgia
Good Hope · Walton County, Georgia
Population 479 (est. 2026: ~900)
Source: Census ACS 2023 · ACS 2023 + 21.5% annual growth projection

Good Hope, Georgia

Walton County, Georgia · Population 339

Good Hope sits in the rolling Piedmont of Walton County, roughly halfway between Monroe—the county seat—and the Madison County line. With fewer than 340 residents, it is one of the smallest incorporated places in Georgia, a tight cluster of households surrounded by pasture and woodland that has remained deliberately small. The nearest significant city is Monroe, about eight miles to the southwest, which is where residents go for most services. Atlanta's eastern suburbs reach toward Walton County but have not absorbed Good Hope; the town retains the feel of a place that knows what it is and has not been in a hurry to change.

People & Demographics

The 2022 ACS counted 365 residents in Good Hope across 153 households. Median age is 38.3. The town is overwhelmingly white—357 of 365 residents—with 8 Black residents and no Asian or Hispanic population recorded. Average household size is 2.39. There are 90 children under 18, which represents about one in four residents, a meaningful share for a community this size. Family households account for 127 of the 153 total households, pointing to a residential character built around families rather than single-person or non-family arrangements.

Walton County as a whole runs nearly 97,000 people, so Good Hope holds less than half a percent of the county's population.

Economy & Employment

Median household income in Good Hope is $72,188, which sits above Georgia's statewide median and reflects a working- and middle-class homeowner community. Per capita income is $32,694. Of the 161 residents in the labor force, the ACS recorded zero unemployed—a figure that likely reflects both the small sample size and the survey period rather than a permanently zero unemployment rate. Forty-two residents fall below the poverty line, roughly 11.5 percent of the population.

The town has no significant commercial or industrial base of its own. Residents work out, primarily in Monroe, the broader Walton County economy, and the Atlanta metropolitan edge.

Housing

Good Hope has 164 total housing units, 153 of which are occupied, leaving 11 vacant—a vacancy rate of about 6.7 percent, tight by most measures. Owner-occupied units dominate: 129 of 153 occupied units are owned, with only 24 rentals. That 84 percent ownership rate is strikingly high and consistent with a settled, family-oriented community rather than a transient or rental-heavy one.

Median home value is $247,100. Median rent is $1,136 per month. Both figures are moderate relative to the Atlanta metro's inner suburbs but reflect the rising pressure that has moved outward through Walton County as growth from the east side of the metro has extended further.

Schools

Good Hope students attend Walton County Schools. The elementary options nearby include Atha Road Elementary (840 students, PreK–5), Walker Park Elementary (715 students), Harmony Elementary (674 students), and Monroe Elementary (563 students). Middle school students feed into Carver Middle School (801 students, grades 6–8). High schoolers attend Monroe Area High School, which enrolls 1,158 students in grades 9–12. All of these schools are centered in or near Monroe, the county's main population hub.

Getting Around

Good Hope is car country. Of 161 workers, 138 drove alone to work and 21 carpooled. No one commuted by public transit or on foot. Only 2 workers worked from home. Total aggregate commute time across all workers was 5,060 minutes, which works out to roughly 31 minutes per worker per trip—consistent with a community whose jobs are concentrated in Monroe or further out toward the Atlanta area. There is no local transit service.

Healthcare

The primary hospital serving Walton County is Piedmont Walton Hospital in Monroe. Ridgeview Institute Monroe, also in Monroe, provides behavioral health services. Both are accessible within a short drive from Good Hope. For a full list of individual healthcare providers registered in Good Hope, the CMS NPI Registry can be queried directly: NPI Registry – Good Hope, GA.

Library

The Monroe-Walton County Library is the public library serving this area, located 2.3 miles from Good Hope. Phone: (770) 267-4630. It is the county's main branch and provides the full range of public library services for residents who lack closer options.

Parks & Recreation

Two National Park Service units are within reasonable driving distance. Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area offers river access, trails, and outdoor recreation along the Chattahoochee corridor northwest of Good Hope. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta preserves the birthplace, church, and memorial sites associated with Dr. King. The Island Ford Visitor Center (part of the Chattahoochee NRA) is about 36.6 miles away; the MLK National Historical Park Visitor Center is approximately 37.5 miles out.

Natural Hazards

Walton County has a long FEMA disaster declaration history that reflects the range of threats facing north-central Georgia. Tornado and flooding events struck in 1973 and again in 1993. A severe drought triggered an emergency declaration in 1977. Winter storms—a recurring and underappreciated hazard in this part of the South—resulted in declarations in 1993, 2000, 2014, and again in January 2026. Hurricane Irma triggered both an emergency and a major disaster declaration in September 2017, and Hurricane Helene prompted an emergency declaration in September 2024. The county also served as a receiving area during Hurricane Katrina evacuations in 2005. COVID-19 generated both an emergency declaration (March 13, 2020) and a major disaster declaration (March 29, 2020).

The pattern tells a consistent story: ice storms and severe winter weather, tropical system remnants, and severe convective events are the primary hazards for residents of Good Hope.

Government & Municipal Code

Good Hope is an incorporated city with its own municipal code, published through Municode and accessible at library.municode.com/ga/good-hope-city-georgia. The city does not have a locally adopted building code on file.

Weather

Current National Weather Service forecasts for Good Hope are available at forecast.weather.gov. Active weather alerts for the area can be checked at alerts.weather.gov. The nearest observation station is Monroe 1.8 ENE, approximately 0.6 miles from town.

References

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