Known for being the longtime home of folk artist and country philosopher Howard Finster
and for being the place where famed Cherokee Indian Sequoyah developed a written alphabet for the Cherokee language, Chattooga County, Georgia borders the state of Alabama.
Another notable resident was attorney
Bobby Lee Cook, who served as a judge,
a state senator from 1957-58, and a
member of Georgia House of
Representatives from 1949-50, and was
reputed to be the inspiration for the television
character Ben Matlock in the original Matlock series.
The county is home to the cities of Lyerly, Menlo, Summerville and Trion. Summerville is its county seat.
Mohawk floor coverings and Mount Vernon Mills apparel are represented in Chattooga County. In fact, Mount Vernon Mills is considered the “oldest continuously
operating manufacturing plant in the Southeast,” according to Jeff Mullis of Northwest Georgia Joint Development Authority (Site Selection magazine View
from the Top May 2013).
| Demographics | |
|---|---|
| Population | 25,016 |
| Population change 2010 to 2020 | -4.1% |
| Age | |
| Persons under 5 years, percent, 2025 | 5.5% |
| Persons under 20 years, percent, 2025 | 23.5% |
| Persons 65 years and over, percent, 2025 | 19.9% |
| Gender | |
| Female persons, percent, 2025 | 48.6% |
| Male persons, percent, 2025 | 51.4% |
| Race | |
| White, percent, 2025 | 80.2% |
| Black or African American, percent, 2025 | 9.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native, percent, 2025 | 0.5% |
| Asian, percent, 2025 | 0.4% |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 2025 | 0.0% |
| Two or More Races, percent, 2025 | 5.4% |
| Hispanic or Latino, percent, 2025 | 5.7% |
| Education | |
| High school graduate or higher, percent of persons age 25+ | 76.5% |
| Bachelor’s degree or higher, percent of persons age 25+ | 11.9% |
| Commuting | |
| Mean travel time to work (minutes) | 27.4 |
| Homeownership & Income | |
| Homeownership rate, 2025 | 61.9% |
| Households, 2025 | 9,579 |
| Per capita money income in past 12 months, 2025 | $22,736 |
| Median household income, 2025 | $45,559 |
| Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2025 | $119,943 |
| Labor Force | 9,499 |
|---|---|
| Employed | 9,128 |
| Unemployed | 371 |
| Unemployment Rate | 3.9% |
| Average Goods Producing Weekly Wage | $931 |
| Average Service Providing Weekly Wage | $738 |
Sources: Esri 2025; GA Department of Labor Area Labor Profile