Georgia Distress Index: county report
Georgia has 4 counties in the LeadCounty data. 1.6% of their 1,200,311 properties have unpaid property tax, compared with 3.0% across all counties we cover. The Georgia Distress Index is 31 out of 100, rank 16 of 19. DeKalb County is highest at 5.0%. From official county records, refreshed weekly.
Summary in plain English
- 1.6% of properties in these Georgia counties have unpaid tax; the highest share is in DeKalb County, GA (5.0%).
- 24.6% of properties belong to absentee owners and 26.7% have been held 15 years or more.
- Georgia collects unpaid tax by this system: tax sale with a right of redemption Redemption: The owner can redeem for 12 months after the sale by paying a premium; after that the buyer can send notice to end the right to redeem.
Georgia counties
| Rank | County | Index | Tax delinquent | Foreclosure | Code cases | Inherited (12 mo) | Absentee | Owned 15+ yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | DeKalb County, GA | 66 | 5.0% | 0.2% | n/a | n/a | 25.7% | 35.0% |
| 62 | Cobb County, GA | 24 | 0.9% | n/a | n/a | 0.1% | 22.7% | 20.0% |
| 68 | Fulton County (Atlanta), GA | 13 | 0.1% | 0.1% | n/a | <0.1% | 25.9% | 26.0% |
| – | Gwinnett County, GA | – | 1.2% | n/a | n/a | n/a | 23.8% | 27.0% |
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How the Distress Index is built
For each county we take four distress measures from its official records: the share of properties that are tax delinquent, in foreclosure, have an open code case, or received an inheritance deed in the last 12 months. Each measure is turned into a percentile among the counties that publish it (0 is the lowest share, 100 the highest). The index is the average of the percentiles a county has.
- A county is scored only if the tax-delinquent measure and at least one more are available. A record a county's offices do not publish is left out, never counted as zero.
- Shares use all properties in the county file as the base. Absentee owners, long-held properties and sales are shown for context and are not part of the index.
- Sales are shown only where a county publishes sale dates and prices. Counties that do not (for example Texas) show n/a.
- A state's index is the average of its scored counties, weighted by number of properties.
- The index compares the counties LeadCounty covers. It is not a national ranking and not investment advice.
Edition 1. Counts come from official county records and are refreshed weekly. Full method: methodology, editorial standards, data sources.
More Georgia resources
Questions
How distressed is property in Georgia?
In the 4 Georgia counties LeadCounty covers, 1.6% of properties have unpaid property tax, against 3.0% across all counties we cover. The Georgia Distress Index is 31 out of 100, rank 16 of 19 scored states.
Where do the Georgia numbers come from?
From the county offices named on our data sources page: the auditor or assessor for properties and owners, the treasurer or tax collector for unpaid tax, the recorder for deeds and the city or county for code cases. Counts are refreshed weekly.
Does this cover all of Georgia?
No. It covers only the 4 Georgia counties in the table. A statewide figure would need every county.
How we make these guides
Written by the LeadCounty editorial and data team from official county, court and state sources and our own weekly counts. We name the office behind every number, say what we cannot see, and fix mistakes when you tell us. See our editorial standards and methodology. General information, not legal or financial advice. Refreshed weekly.
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