Ranked #354 of 1,017 cities across the two states · Ware County · Small-town & rural Georgia · 2 ZIP areas
The city score is the population-weighted average of its 2 scored ZIP areas on the model’s own weights. Its strongest ZIP area is Waycross 31503 at 66, ranked #271 of 1,274 ZIP areas — a plant goes in a ZIP area, so that is the number to plant on.
Why Waycross scores 53
+620 in five years, +1,264 forecast
36,207 residents today
Church of God coverage — context, not in the score
7 Church of God churches filed in its ZIP areas · nearest 0.4 mi · 0 of 2 ZIP areas with none within 6 mi (10 km). By the owner's ruling, how near a Church of God church is carries no weight in the score.
- Strongest ZIP area
- Waycross 3150366#271
- Weakest ZIP area
- Waycross 3150128
- Growth ZIP areas
- 1
Where the Church of God stands here
ZIP areas with no Church of God church within reach, of the 2 scored.
- Within 3 mi (5 km)
- 0 of 2
- Within 6 mi (10 km)
- 0 of 2
- Within 12 mi (20 km)
- 0 of 2
The range across its ZIP centres — any faith, from OpenStreetMap. A sanity check on the gap, not a scoring input.
Ware County: 61.0% of residents are adherents of some religious body · largest body Southern Baptist Convention · 105 congregations
2020 U.S. Religion Census, county-level, context only.
ZIP areas in Waycross
| ZIP area | People | Last 5 yrs | Next 5 yrs | Churches ≤12 mi | Nearest | Other congregations ≤12 mi | Priority | Rank | Pipeline |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waycross 31503growth corridor | 23,173 | +2,549 | +3,439 | 9 | 0.4 mi | 161 | 66 | #271 | — |
| Waycross 31501 | 13,034 | -1,929 | -2,175 | 9 | 1.0 mi | 162 | 28 | #936 | — |
Who lives here
Population makeup
The five parts add to the 36,207 people who live in its ZIP areas.
- White, not Hispanic
- 61.4%
- 22,229
- Black, not Hispanic
- 29.5%
- 10,671
- Hispanic or Latino
- 5.1%
- 1,855
- Other, not Hispanic
- 2.9%
- 1,045
- Asian, not Hispanic
- 1.1%
- 407
Age, money, schooling, home and language
- Households with children
- 29.7%
- 3,846 of 12,958 households
- Below the poverty level
- 22.6%
- 7,686 of the 33,994 people poverty status is determined for
- Unemployed
- 5.1%
- 710 of a labor force of 14,057
- High school or higher
- 80.5%
- of 24,384 residents aged 25 and over
- Bachelor’s degree or higher
- 14.3%
- of 24,384 residents aged 25 and over
- Spanish spoken at home
- 3.3%
- 1,129 people aged 5 and over, 635 of them speaking English less than “very well”
- Foreign-born
- 2.8%
- 1,029 residents
- Owner-occupied homes
- 60.4%
- 7,829 owned, 5,129 rented
- Median household income by ZIP area
- from $37,203 (Waycross 31501) to $55,042 (Waycross 31503)
- Median age by ZIP area
- from 37.2 yrs (Waycross 31503) to 38.9 yrs (Waycross 31501)
- Median home value by ZIP area
- from $100,000 (Waycross 31501) to $108,100 (Waycross 31503)
Sums are exact across the city’s ZIP areas. Medians cannot be summed, so each is shown as its range across the ZIP areas that publish one. ACS 2019–2023 five-year estimates by ZIP area. Medians are ZIP-level medians, not averages. An em dash means the Census Bureau publishes no estimate; it never means zero.
Futuros — the Hispanic picture
- Hispanic residents
- 1,855
- Change, 2018 to 2023
- +462
- +33.2%
- Share of everyone who lives here
- 5.1%
- Venezuelan origin
- 67
- Spanish-language Church of God churches in its ZIP areas
- 0
- none
- Strongest Futuros ZIP area
- Waycross 3150360
- Futuros score, weighted by Hispanic residents
- 59.0
No official Hispanic forecast exists below state level, so the Futuros score looks forward on the observed five-year shift.
Open the Futuros view →Arrivals
- Moved in from another state, past year
- 463
- Moved in from abroad, past year
- 119
Foreign-born residents by country of birth
- Mexico357
- India145
- Nigeria94
- Burma (Myanmar)84
- Venezuela71
- Philippines59
- Canada53
- Malaysia36
New homes
No county of this city reached 2,000 permitted homes over 2023–25, the threshold the map draws.
Building permits are published by county, so these are county figures, not the city’s.
Church health
7 Church of God churches are filed in its ZIP areas.
Every church that could be matched to a state-office report has filed something, or has a dated online presence.
Georgia has no attendance series yet — North Georgia has published two quarters — so no Georgia church can be marked shrinking.
Church of God churches in Waycross
| Church | City | Pastor | Contact | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remnant Church of God | Waycross 31503 | Caleb Michael Lancaster | (912) 548-1725 | |
| River of Life Church of God,Inc | Waycross 31501 | Sarah Michelle Carver | Website · (912) 283-8773 | |
| Victory Drive | Waycross 31501 | Billy Joe Johnson | Website · (912) 338-8868 | |
| Waresboro | Waycross 31503 | Larry L Cox | (912) 285-0521 | |
| Waycross-Cornerstone | Waycross 31502 | Brian Harry Powell | Website · (912) 281-6644 | |
| Waycross-Highway 1 | Waycross 31503 | Randy Turner | ||
| Waycross-Inner City | Waycross 31503 | John M Burroughs | (912) 674-2196 |
What a city is here. The place name the Postal Service gives a ZIP code, so Waycross is every ZIP area whose mailing city is Waycross — the city everyone means, not the incorporated limits. The score is the population-weighted average of those ZIP areas’ planting scores (86% growth, 14% viability; how near a Church of God church is carries no weight); a plant goes in a ZIP area, and the ranking to plant on is the ZIP area’s own. Church of God counts are the churches filed in those ZIP areas; the rings on each ZIP area still count every church within reach, across city and county lines.