Fast facts
| Metric | Value | Source / year |
|---|---|---|
| County | Cobb County | — |
| Population, 2020 Census | 16,887 | U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 |
| Population estimate, July 2025 | 21,004 | Census Bureau QuickFacts, Vintage 2025 |
| ZIP code | 30127 | U.S. Census Bureau |
| Land area (2020) | 7.38 sq mi | U.S. Census Bureau |
| Elevation | 945 ft (288 m) | USGS topographic data |
| Time zone | Eastern (EDT/EST) | — |
| Median household income | $105,070 | Census ACS 2020–2024 5-yr est. |
| Median home value (owner-occupied) | $332,900 | Census ACS 2020–2024 5-yr est. |
| Distance to downtown Atlanta | 22 mi, about 26 min via I-20 | mapping-service route calculation |
| Distance to Hartsfield-Jackson Airport | 32 mi, about 47 min | mapping-service route calculation |
| Mayor | Albert Thurman | City of Powder Springs, confirmed Jan. 2026 |
The Census Bureau’s own count is what matters here, and it has moved fast: 16,887 in 2020, 21,004 by the middle of 2025.
What county is Powder Springs, GA in?Cobb County, in the Atlanta metro area’s northwest quadrant.
How far is Powder Springs from downtown Atlanta?22 miles by car via I-20, about 26 minutes without traffic. The airport is farther: 32 miles, about 47 minutes.
History and how it got its name
Settlers arrived around 1819 chasing the Georgia gold rush, working small claims near Lost Mountain and Brownsville Road. They found little gold. What they found instead were seven mineral springs within a few hundred yards of each other, water the Cherokee and Creek who lived along Powder Creek had already named Gunpowder Springs, for the sulfur-heavy sediment it left behind, dark and fine like gunpowder when the water ran off. A mild climate made the area a modest health resort for decades afterward. The town was incorporated as Springville on December 29, 1838, and renamed Powder Springs on December 19, 1859, after the same mineral-blackened water that had already given the springs their informal name.
The Seven Springs Museum, in the historic Bodiford House on Marietta Street, holds the Civil War and pioneer-era artifacts behind this account and is run by volunteers from the Seven Springs Historical Society.
Government and civic life
Powder Springs runs on a council-manager government. The mayor is elected at large to a four-year term; three council members represent the city’s three wards and two more are elected at large, for five council seats total. Albert Thurman has held the mayor’s office since his 2015 election, when he became the first Black mayor in Cobb County’s history, and he chaired a council work session as recently as January 2026.
Things to do
Parks and outdoor recreation
The Silver Comet Trail is a paved, 61.5-mile rail-trail running from Smyrna to the Georgia/Alabama line, built on a Seaboard Air Line Railroad corridor that CSX abandoned in 1989. Powder Springs sits along its early stretch, with the Hiram Trailhead at trail mile 14.6. The city’s own bicycle network ties directly into it: the 1.5-mile Wildhorse Trail and the roughly 1-mile Lucille Trail both connect local parks and the historic downtown loop to the regional trail, per the city’s trail directory, so a rider can start from a Powder Springs neighborhood and reach the Alabama line without touching a road bike lane.
Lost Mountain Park, on Dallas Highway, is county-run rather than city-run and carries a 22-review rating on TripAdvisor. It’s a mixed-use park: softball fields, two playgrounds, a lake, and mountain-bike loops that riders on regional forums describe as tight and root-heavy compared with the trail’s smooth pavement.
Downtown, museums, and the water park
Historic downtown centers on Old Towne Square, walkable from the Seven Springs Museum. The city also lists the Southern Quilt Trail and the Cobb County BMX park among its attractions, though neither carries the independent rating data Lost Mountain Park does.
Living in Powder Springs
Median household income is $105,070 and the median value of an owner-occupied home is $332,900, both from the Census Bureau’s 2020–2024 five-year estimate. That Census figure lags the market: Redfin’s tracking shows a median sale price of $352,000 for the three months ending May 2026, down 2.1% from the same period a year earlier, with homes taking about 64 days to sell on average. Homeownership sits at 82.4% of occupied units, well above a typical Atlanta-suburb rate.
Commuting is the tradeoff for that housing profile: the mean travel time to work is 33.3 minutes, longer than most of the Atlanta metro’s inner suburbs, reflecting the drive back toward I-285 and downtown employment centers.
Is Powder Springs a good place to live?It depends on how much a longer commute is worth to you: a 30-plus-minute average drive to work buys more house per dollar and household incomes that outpace the area’s housing costs, which suits buyers prioritizing space and value over a short commute.
Nearby cities
| City | Distance from Powder Springs | County | Distinguishing trait |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austell | About 4 to 6 mi southeast | Cobb | Closest incorporated neighbor, shares the Silver Comet corridor |
| Hiram | About 5 mi northwest | Paulding | Trail continues directly into it past the Hiram Trailhead |
| Marietta | About 11 mi northeast | Cobb | County seat, the area’s largest nearby city |
| Kennesaw | About 12 to 15 mi northeast | Cobb | Home to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park |
Austell and Hiram sit close enough to functionally share the trail and shopping radius with Powder Springs, while Marietta and Kennesaw pull in the opposite direction, toward denser Cobb County commerce.
Climate
Summers run hot and humid: the National Weather Service’s Atlanta-area normal for early July is a high near 90°F and a low near 71°F. Winters are mild by northern U.S. standards, with average annual snowfall at just 2.2 inches under NOAA’s 1991–2020 climate normals. Annual precipitation has risen past 50 inches in the same normals period, making a wet spring and early summer more the rule than the exception.
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