Polk County vs Thomas County

A side-by-side comparison of Polk County and Thomas County: population, income, housing, and more.

Polk County and Thomas County are counties in Georgia. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Thomas County has the higher population (45,696 vs 43,365 in Polk County). Thomas County has the higher median household income ($60,140 vs $55,308 in Polk County). Thomas County has the higher median home value ($185,300 vs $163,500 in Polk County).

Population, income & housing

	Polk County	Thomas County
Population	43,365	45,696
Median age	38.5 yrs	39.9 yrs
Median household income	$55,308	$60,140
Median home value	$163,500	$185,300
Median gross rent	$870	$996
Housing units	17,301	20,957
Homeownership rate	64.5%	61.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	14.5%	23.6%
Unemployment rate	5.8%	6.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Polk County	Thomas County
Population	41,908 → 43,365 (+3.5%)	44,630 → 45,696 (+2.4%)
Median household income	$44,891 → $55,308 (+23.2%)	$43,740 → $60,140 (+37.5%)
Median home value	$110,700 → $163,500 (+47.7%)	$146,800 → $185,300 (+26.2%)
Median gross rent	$718 → $870 (+21.2%)	$861 → $996 (+15.7%)

Polk County

Population

41,90843,365

Median household income

$44,891$55,308

Median home value

$110,700$163,500

Median gross rent

$718$870

Thomas County

Population

44,63045,696

Median household income

$43,740$60,140

Median home value

$146,800$185,300

Median gross rent

$861$996

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Polk County	Thomas County
Under 5	6.5%	6.1%
5 to 17	18.8%	17.8%
18 to 24	8.1%	7.9%
25 to 34	12.8%	11.7%
35 to 44	12.7%	12.6%
45 to 54	12.8%	11.9%
55 to 64	12.7%	13.6%
65 to 74	9.4%	11.0%
75 and over	6.1%	7.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Polk County	Thomas County
White (non-Hispanic)	70.8%	57.2%
Black or African American	11.9%	35.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.2%
Asian	1.0%	0.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.8%	0.2%
Two or more races	2.1%	2.0%
Hispanic or Latino	13.5%	3.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Polk County	Thomas County
No high school diploma	17.9%	12.0%
High school graduate	40.4%	32.9%
Some college or associate's	27.2%	31.5%
Bachelor's degree	8.8%	15.2%
Graduate or professional degree	5.6%	8.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Polk County	Thomas County
Drove alone	82.4%	78.0%
Carpooled	9.5%	13.7%
Public transit	0.5%	0.4%
Walked	1.1%	0.6%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.3%
Worked from home	4.8%	6.7%
Other means	1.6%	0.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Polk County	Thomas County
1-unit, detached	76.5%	65.4%
1-unit, attached	1.2%	2.3%
2 to 4 units	4.9%	7.2%
5 to 19 units	4.8%	6.2%
20 or more units	1.5%	1.0%
Mobile home & other	11.0%	17.9%

Poverty & households

	Polk County	Thomas County
Poverty rate	19.4%	17.9%
Average household size	2.76	2.45
Mean commute (minutes)	29	20
Median year structure built	1983	1986