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Best Urban Planning Schools Near Athens, GA (2026)
Updated September 5, 2026BLS dataCollege ScorecardOn this page
Athens, Georgia has 4 accredited schools offering urban planning programs. Athens has a population of about 137,582. In Georgia, the top-earning urban planning-related role is Management Analysts at a median $99,600 annually (BLS, May 2025).
Closest Urban Planning Schools to Athens
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer urban planning programs near Athens, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Athens city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
How We Rank Schools
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most
recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS).
To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the
U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked
against schools at the same credential level:
BOCSCORE
Graduation rate 30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry 25%
Average net price (lower is better) 20%
Retention rate 15%
Fully online availability 10%
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score.
On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Athens.
Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
BOC
Ranked by BOC Score — U.S. Dept. of Education outcome data. Advertising never affects rankings.
Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all Georgia schools on the Georgia urban planning page.
Urban Planning Wages Near Athens
Athens is part of the Athens-Clarke County, GA metro area (BLS area code 12020). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Georgia statewide.
Occupation
Median Wage
Source
COL-Adjusted (US=100)
Urban and Regional Planners
$59,370
Athens-Clarke County, GA
$63,633
Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health
$76,200
Athens-Clarke County, GA
$81,672
Surveyors
$58,100
GA statewide
$62,272
Geographers
N/A
GA statewide
–
Social and Community Service Managers
$68,260
Athens-Clarke County, GA
$73,162
Management Analysts
$99,600
GA statewide
$106,752
Cartographers and Photogrammetrists
$62,630
GA statewide
$67,128
Managers, All Other
$94,240
Athens-Clarke County, GA
$101,008
Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.
Athens at a Glance
Metric
Value
Source
Regional Price Parity (US=100)
93.3 (below U.S. average)
BEA RPP 2024
Other Athens-Area Cities With Urban Planning Programs
How many accredited urban planning schools are near Athens, GA?
Our directory has 4 accredited schools offering urban planning programs near Athens. The closest is University of Georgia in Athens, GA (0.5 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is Augusta University (86.0 miles). 4 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.
What are the highest-paying urban planning roles near Athens?
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying urban planning-related roles near Athens are: Management Analysts ($99,600), Managers, All Other ($94,240), Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health ($76,200). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Georgia statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
Should I look at programs in Winder instead of Athens?
Winder, GA is 20.4 miles from Athens and has its own set of local urban planning programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.
How do I verify a program is accredited?
Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.
Data verified: September 5, 2026.
Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
