Cobb County, Georgia

Cobb County is a located in the  of. It was created December 3, 1832. As of the, the  is 607,751. The county's population continues to grow. The estimate from the  put the population at 679,325. Its is, located in the center of the county.

The county was named for, who in the early 19th century was a and  from. He also served as a judge of the of Georgia.

The county is part of the core, which is included in the --.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 892 (345 ). 881 km² (340 sq mi) of it is land and 11 km² (4 sq mi) of it (1.27%) is water.

The county is divided between two major s. Most  flows into the  (along the southeastern border), via, , , , and. A from  in the west, to  in the north, to  in the extreme northeast, divides the far north-northwest of the county into the  area, including the northward-flowing.

There are several high points in Cobb.

Sweat Mountain: in the extreme northeast portion, runs along the border with

Blackjack Mountain: a low ridge in central Cobb

Kennesaw Mountain: The highest point in Cobb County located in the western reaches of the county.

Little Kennesaw Mountain: An offshoot of Kennesaw

Major highways

 * [[Image:I-20.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:I-75.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:I-285.svg|25px]]
 * [[Image:I-575.svg|25px]]
 * [[Image:US 41.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 78.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 278.svg|25px]]
 * [[Image:Georgia 3.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Georgia 5.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Georgia 6.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Georgia 8.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Georgia 92.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Georgia 120.svg|25px]]
 * [[Image:Georgia 176.svg|25px]]
 * [[Image:Georgia 280.svg|25px]]
 * [[Image:Georgia 360.svg|25px]]

Adjacent counties

 * - north
 * - east, southeast
 * - south
 * - west
 * - northwest

Addressing
Despite the lack of a system of s though the county, all es have their numeric  at the southwest corner of the  in Marietta.

From here, the north/south boundary heads west on Georgia 120, which is Whitlock Avenue and Highway. All addresses actually on this road are considered "southwest", even on the north side of the street, To the east, it follows 120 (South Park Square, Roswell Street, and Roswell Road), then onto Lower Roswell Road, and finally skipping to  Road across a roadless strip, and down a small section of  Road to the river.

The east/west boundary follows Church Street and its extension north to Road, with all addresses on it being "northwest", even on the east side of the street. To the south, it follows an arbitrary path toward Mableton, usually running between roads instead of along them.

Because the delivers mail from s in other counties in some places, it has assigned the names and s of those cities to areas in Cobb. This creates a situation where an address can appear to be in southeast Atlanta, but is actually northwest of Atlanta in southeast Cobb, for example.

Demographics
As of 2005, there were 663,818 people (2005), 241,847 households (2004), and 170,167 families (2004) residing in the county. The was 763/km² (1,952/sq mi). There were 261,659 housing units at an average density of 301/km² (770/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county in 2005 was 64.3%, 21.2% , 0.5% , 3.8% , 0.0% , 8.8% from , and 1.4% from two or more races. 10.0% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 241,847 (2004) households out of which 35.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.30% were living together, 10.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.20% were non-families. 23.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.14.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.10% under the age of 18, 9.00% from 18 to 24, 36.50% from 25 to 44, 21.50% from 45 to 64, and 6.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 98.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.90 males.

As of 2003, the median income for a household in the county was $60,565, and the median income for a family was $72,398. Males had a median income of $50,460 versus $38,555 for females. The for the county was $30,620. About 6.3% of families and 8.5% of the population were below the, including 7.10% of those under age 18 and 6.80% of those age 65 or over.

Government and elections
Under Georgia's provision, county governments have free rein to legislate on all matters within the county, provided that such  does not conflict with state or federal s or s.  When this home rule was enacted for Cobb by the  in the early,  became the first  of the new.

Cobb County is currently governed by a five-member Board of Commissioners, which has both and   within the county. The chairman of the Board is elected county-wide. The other four commissioners are elected from single-member s; though during, the commission has discussed adding at least one member, to keep up with the county's growing population. The Board hires a county who oversees day-to-day operations of the county's executive.

County residents also elect a sheriff, district attorney, probate court judge, clerk of superior court, state court solicitor, chief magistrate judge (who then appoints other magistrate court judges), superior court judges, state court judges, tax commissioner, surveyor, and a seven-member board of education. The following is a table of those currently holding office as of September 2007:

In addition to the county sheriff, the constitutional chief officer of the county, Cobb County has a separate  department under the authority of the Board of Commissioners. The sheriff oversees the, to which everyone arrested under state law is taken, regardless of the city or other area of the county where it happens, or what police department makes the arrest.

Taxes
In addition to the 4% statewide, Cobb County levies an additional 2% for special projects, each 1% subject to separate every few years by countywide  (including within its cities). This funds mainly ation and s. Cobb levies a 1% tax to lower es, but only for the public school budget, and not the additional 1%   for general funds. It has also voted not to pay the extra 1% to join, which has made operating and expanding that system difficult even in the two counties where it does operate.

At the beginning of it became the last county in the state to raise the tax to 6%, which also doubled the tax on  to 2%. The barely passed by a 114  margin, or less than one-quarter of a percent, in a. The will go to a new county  and expanded jail, and toward various  projects

Cities and communities
Part of northeastern Cobb is considered unincorporated and unincorporated ; and part of southeastern Cobb (mainly Vinings) is considered unincorporated. All three cities are in neighboring Fulton County. Portions of far northeastern Cobb are considered to be unincorporated, which is actually in Cherokee County. Those areas carry a Woodstock zip code.

Major businesses

 * , ed in Cumberland
 * , headquartered in Vinings
 * , next to Dobbins in unincorporated Cobb.
 * , in Marietta
 * , headquartered in unincorporated Cobb
 * , USA headquarters located in Smyrna
 * , headquartered in Marietta

ation

 * at
 * (where the usually arrives when visiting Atlanta)
 * at Austell
 * through Acworth, Smyrna, Marietta, and Kennesaw
 * (CCT)
 * (where the usually arrives when visiting Atlanta)
 * at Austell
 * through Acworth, Smyrna, Marietta, and Kennesaw
 * (CCT)


 * (Marietta)
 * (Marietta)
 * (Austell)
 * (near Powder Springs)
 * (near Acworth)
 * /(Acworth)
 * (Kennesaw to Marietta)
 * (Marietta)
 * (Marietta)
 * (Marietta)
 * (Kennesaw)
 * (Mableton)
 * (westward from Smyrna)
 * (westward from Smyrna)

Public schools

 * (serves all county locations except the City of Marietta)
 * (serves City of Marietta locations)

Private schools

 * , Austel (K-12)
 * , Kennesaw (PreK-12)
 * , Marietta
 * , Kennesaw (K-12)
 * , Marietta (PreK-12)
 * Whitefield Academy, Smyrna (K-12)

Public libraries
See also: (CCPLS)