Know before you go
- Atlanta, Decatur, Marietta and Buford run their own school systems; elsewhere the county district serves the address.
- School levies are the largest part of most bills, from 17.97 mills in Marietta to 22.780 in DeKalb in 2026.
- Georgia’s standard $2,000 homestead exemption does not apply to school taxes levied by cities.
Key takeaways
- Your public school system is set by the address, not the city name in the mailing address.
- Atlanta, Decatur and Marietta run independent city school systems, and so does Buford in Gwinnett.
- The school system also decides the largest piece of your property tax bill.
In Georgia, most public schools are run by county school districts, but some cities run their own independent systems. In metro Atlanta that creates a patchwork: two homes a short walk apart can belong to different school systems, pay different school tax rates and qualify for different exemptions. Here is how the pieces fit.
The systems and what they levy
| School system | Serves | School millage on 2026 bills |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Public Schools | City of Atlanta, in Fulton and DeKalb | 20.5 (rate held since 2022; Fulton’s 2026 bills are temporary) |
| Fulton County Schools | Fulton County outside Atlanta | 2025 rate on temporary bills; new rate under review |
| DeKalb County School District | DeKalb outside Atlanta and Decatur | 22.780 |
| City Schools of Decatur | City of Decatur | 20.300 |
| Cobb County School District | Cobb outside Marietta | 18.70 |
| Marietta City Schools | City of Marietta | 17.97 |
| Gwinnett County Public Schools | Gwinnett County outside Buford | 18.7 plus 1.45 school bond |
The rates come from the 2026 rate sheets of the DeKalb, Cobb and Gwinnett tax commissioners, the Atlanta Public Schools budget page and Fulton County’s notice on its temporary 2026 bills. Fulton County has two public school systems, which is why the table lists both; in August 2026 the Fulton County Schools superintendent told his board he intended to recommend a new millage rate.
How the independent city systems show up on a bill
The DeKalb rate sheet makes the split easy to see. An address in unincorporated DeKalb pays 22.780 mills to the DeKalb County School District. A Decatur address pays nothing to the county district and instead pays 20.300 mills for city schools as part of the City of Decatur’s levy. The Atlanta district within DeKalb likewise shows no DeKalb school levy. In Cobb, Marietta addresses skip the county’s 18.70-mill school levy and pay 17.97 mills for Marietta’s own system. In Gwinnett, the 2026 sheet shows no county school or school bond levy for the City of Buford, and notes that Buford city taxes pay for the Buford City School District.
Size and scale
The systems vary enormously in size. City Schools of Decatur says it supports approximately 5,300 students living within the city’s four-square-mile area. Fulton County Schools describes itself as the fourth largest school system in Georgia, with more than 10,900 full- and part-time employees and an enrollment of approximately 89,600 students in 104 schools. Some families prefer a small district where everyone knows each other; others want the range of programs a large one can offer.
Census figures hint at where families with children live. Under-18 residents are 27.5 percent of Decatur’s population, 26.0 percent of Johns Creek’s and 24.1 percent of Gwinnett County’s, against 16.6 percent in the City of Atlanta.
Tip: Do not rely only on a listing that says a home is zoned for a particular school. Check the address with the school district itself, since attendance zones can change.
School taxes and exemptions
Homestead exemptions treat school taxes differently from county taxes, and the details matter:
- The state’s standard $2,000 homestead exemption applies to county and school taxes, but the Department of Revenue says it does not apply to school taxes levied by municipalities or to bond debt.
- Owners 62 or older whose household income was $10,000 or less in the prior year, not counting retirement income up to the Social Security maximum, may claim up to $10,000 off assessed value for school taxes in both county and independent districts.
- Fulton County lists a $10,000 Fulton County Schools exemption at 65 for owners with five years of homestead in Fulton, and a $54,000 county school exemption for owners 65 or disabled with income up to $30,000 that does not apply in the City of Atlanta.
- For City of Atlanta residents, Fulton’s basic exemption also takes $30,000 off the city school tax, and there is a separate age- and income-based $25,000 city school exemption.
How exemptions are filed is covered in The Georgia Homestead Exemption for Atlanta-Area Buyers: Who Qualifies and How It Floats, and the full tax picture by county is in Atlanta-Area Property Taxes by County: 2026 Rates for DeKalb, Cobb, Gwinnett and Fulton.
How to confirm the school for an address
- Find the tax district on the county property records site. It tells you the county, the city and therefore the school system.
- Use that school system’s own address lookup or call its enrollment office to confirm the assigned elementary, middle and high school.
- Ask what documents enrollment needs; proof of residence is standard.
- If you are renting, check that the lease start date works with the enrollment calendar.
Choosing with schools in mind
Start from the school system, then look at homes within it. The independent city systems are geographically small, so homes inside them are limited, and in Decatur the Census median home value is $701,400. Larger county systems cover much more ground at a wider range of prices. For neighborhood comparisons, see Decatur for Newcomers: A Small City With Its Own Schools, Next to Atlanta, Marietta and Cobb County: Cities, Tax Districts and What Changes at Each Line and Alpharetta and North Fulton: Sandy Springs, Roswell, Johns Creek and Alpharetta Compared.