Georgia · county 13281

Towns County, Georgia: public records at a glance

What national public records say about Towns County — people, schools, health, drinking water, bridges, disaster risk, the jail, federal grants and how to vote — each with its source. A full County Commons site (the budget line by line, your tax bill, audits, local offices) isn't built for Towns County yet — not gathered, never hidden.

13,184 people (2024 Census estimate, +5.0% since 2020)
166 square miles of land · 79 people per square mile

How Towns County compares — against the other counties in Georgia

“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.

Drinking water — public water systems serving Towns County

5 active community water systems list Towns County in the area they serve, reporting 19,823 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).

TOWNS COUNTY
buys surface water · local government · GA2810007
11,791 served
HIAWASSEE
surface water · local government · GA2810000
5,496 served
YOUNG HARRIS
groundwater · local government · GA2810001
2,211 served
HI-RIVER COUNTRY SUBDIVISION
buys surface water · private · GA2810050
260 served
BAREFOOT HILLS SUBDIVISION
groundwater · private · GA2810041
65 served

Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.

The jail — people held in the county jail

About 27 people were held in Towns County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2026). In 2021 it was about 36.

Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.

Public schools — district budgets, fiscal 2023

1 school district has its office in Towns County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.

TOWNS CO SCH DIST1,002 students

Spent $19.2 million — $18.9 million to run schools, about $18,874 per student, plus $254,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $12.4 million local (mostly property tax), $4.7 million state, $2.7 million federal.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.

Health, money and internet at home — Towns County beside Georgia

Life expectancy75.8 years · Georgia 75.6 years
Adults under 65 without health insurance14.4% · Georgia 13.6%
Children in poverty18.5% · Georgia 18.8%
Households without enough food (food insecurity)16.7% · Georgia 13.1%
Households with broadband internet87.5% · Georgia 89.4%
Households with severe housing problems15.2% · Georgia 15.2%
Residents per primary care doctor1,839 · Georgia 1,517
Residents per mental health provider1,862 · Georgia 525
Unemployment4.2% · Georgia 3.2%
Median household income$60,563 · Georgia $74,521

Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.

Disaster risk — FEMA's National Risk Index

Overall risk: Very Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Towns County about $7.8 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Very High.

The costliest hazards here

River and inland flooding$4.6 million a year · Relatively Low
Cold wave$1.6 million a year · Relatively Moderate
Tornado$735,597 a year · Relatively Low
Strong wind$171,174 a year · Relatively Low
Earthquake$156,564 a year · Very Low

Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.

Bridges — condition of every public bridge, 2025

46 bridges in Towns County: 19 in good condition, 25 fair, and 2 poor (4.3%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.

Busiest bridges rated poor

TITUS VALLEY ROAD
over HALL CREEK · built 1997
323 vehicles a day
HIGH RIVER ROAD
over HIAWASSEE RIVER · built 1958
323 vehicles a day

Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.

Federal grants — the money that came in, and what's open now

Federal grants paid for $-4,799,060 of work in Towns County in fiscal 2025, about $-384 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.

Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.

Open now: federal grants county governments can apply for

F26AS00062: Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act FY 2026
Fish and Wildlife Service · F26AS00062
closes 2026-10-13
OVC FY 2026 Enhanced Collaborative Model (ECM) Task Force to Combat Human Trafficking
Office for Victims of Crime · O-OVC-2026-172699
closes 2026-10-14
BJA FY 2026 Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Program
Bureau of Justice Assistance · O-BJA-2026-172661
closes 2026-10-15
FY26 Bureau of Land Management Youth Conservation Corps - Bureau wide
Bureau of Land Management · L26AS00064
closes 2026-10-16
FY 2027 Notice of Funding Opportunity: Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) FAA Contract Tower (FCT) Competitive Grant Program
Airport Improvement Program Discretionary Grants · DOT-FAA-26-0117-002
closes 2026-10-19
Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Service Area Competition (SAC)
Health Resources and Services Administration · HRSA-27-005
closes 2026-10-19
Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 AmeriCorps Seniors RSVP Competition
AmeriCorps · AC-08-20-2026
closes 2026-10-20
DOJ FY 2026 Assisting Neighborhoods and Governments with Enforcement of Laws (ANGEL) Grant Program
Bureau of Justice Assistance · O-BJA-2026-172778
closes 2026-10-20
Long-term health outcomes of people living with spina bifida
Centers for Disease Control - NCBDDD · CDC-RFA-DD-26-0222
closes 2026-10-26
OJJDP FY 2026 Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Program
Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention · O-OJJDP-2026-172741
closes 2026-10-29
BJA FY 2026 Veterans Treatment Court Program
Bureau of Justice Assistance · O-BJA-2026-172714
closes 2026-10-29
BJA FY 2026 Prosecuting Cold Cases Using DNA
Bureau of Justice Assistance · O-BJA-2026-172708
closes 2026-10-29

From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.

Voting

Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Georgia are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.

Not here yet

The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Towns County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Towns County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.

More of Georgia: the state government and every county in Georgia.

Nearby counties: Clay County, NC (10 mi) · Union County (15 mi) · White County (18 mi) · Rabun County (19 mi) · Habersham County (22 mi) · Macon County, NC (25 mi).