Georgia climate

Georgia Plant Hardiness Zones

Georgia’s towns run from zone 7a to zone 9b: the average coldest winter night is 25.7°F at Tybee Island and 4.8°F at Blairsville.

Hardiness zones in Georgia

In USDA’s colors, neighboring states washed out. Zones follow elevation, coasts and cities down to half a mile. Drawn by WeatherOverTime from the USDA-ARS and Oregon State University PRISM Climate Group 2023 GIS data; this is not the official USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.

Map of the 2023 plant hardiness zones across Georgia, from zone 7a to zone 9b, with the state’s border drawn.
  • 7a
  • 7b
  • 8a
  • 8b
  • 9a
  • 9b

Open the live map with plant hardiness zones

Towns by zone

Each town’s 1991-2020 average annual extreme minimum at its center, read from the map’s 800 m grid. Warmest zone first.

9b Zone 9b, 25 to 30°F 2 towns

9a Zone 9a, 20 to 25°F 118 towns

8b Zone 8b, 15 to 20°F 177 towns

8a Zone 8a, 10 to 15°F 168 towns

7b Zone 7b, 5 to 10°F 11 towns

7a Zone 7a, 0 to 5°F 1 towns

Counties

At the county’s center; a county with hills or a coast spans several zones.

CountyZone at the centerAverage coldest night
Appling County9a20°F
Atkinson County9a20.5°F
Bacon County9a20.9°F
Baker County8b19.3°F
Baldwin County8b16.5°F
Banks County8a13.8°F
Barrow County8b15.8°F
Bartow County8a12.3°F
Ben Hill County9a20.4°F
Berrien County9a20.9°F
Bibb County8b17°F
Bleckley County8b18.1°F
Brantley County9a20.3°F
Brooks County9a21.1°F
Bryan County9a21.4°F
Bulloch County9a20.1°F
Burke County8b17.4°F
Butts County8b15.1°F
Calhoun County8b19°F
Camden County9a21.2°F
Candler County8b19.9°F
Carroll County8a13.4°F
Catoosa County8a11.1°F
Charlton County9a21.7°F
Chatham County9a22.2°F
Chattahoochee County8b17.2°F
Chattooga County8a10.4°F
Cherokee County8a12.7°F
Clarke County8a14.8°F
Clay County8b19.1°F
Clayton County8a14.7°F
Clinch County9a21°F
Cobb County8a13.4°F
Coffee County9a20.6°F
Colquitt County9a22.3°F
Columbia County8b15.9°F
Cook County9a22.2°F
Coweta County8a13.9°F
Crawford County8b17.1°F
Crisp County8b19.7°F
Dade County8a10.6°F
Dawson County8a12.1°F
Decatur County9a22.5°F
DeKalb County8a14.4°F
Dodge County8b19.3°F
Dooly County8b19.1°F
Dougherty County9a20.1°F
Douglas County8a13.8°F
Early County9a20.4°F
Echols County9a21.6°F
Effingham County9a20.8°F
Elbert County8a13.7°F
Emanuel County8b19.3°F
Evans County9a20.6°F
Fannin County7b7°F
Fayette County8a13.5°F
Floyd County8a12.2°F
Forsyth County8a12.3°F
Franklin County8b15.4°F
Fulton County8a14.8°F
Gilmer County7b9.7°F
Glascock County8b16.9°F
Glynn County9a22.4°F
Gordon County8a11.2°F
Grady County9a21.5°F
Greene County8b15.8°F
Gwinnett County8a14.3°F
Habersham County8a10.7°F
Hall County8a14.1°F
Hancock County8b16.4°F
Haralson County8a12.2°F
Harris County8b16°F
Hart County8a14.9°F
Heard County8a12.9°F
Henry County8a14.9°F
Houston County8b18.4°F
Irwin County9a21.1°F
Jackson County8b15.1°F
Jasper County8b15.2°F
Jeff Davis County9a20.2°F
Jefferson County8b17.5°F
Jenkins County8b19.6°F
Johnson County8b17.3°F
Jones County8b15.9°F
Lamar County8b15.5°F
Lanier County9a22.1°F
Laurens County8b18°F
Lee County8b19.7°F
Liberty County9a20.8°F
Lincoln County8b15.8°F
Long County9a21.3°F
Lowndes County9a22.1°F
Lumpkin County8a11.5°F
Macon County8b18.4°F
Madison County8a14.2°F
Marion County8b17.7°F
McDuffie County8b16.2°F
McIntosh County9a22.1°F
Meriwether County8a14.5°F
Miller County9a21.1°F
Mitchell County9a20.5°F
Monroe County8b15.7°F
Montgomery County9a20.4°F
Morgan County8a14.7°F
Murray County8a11.7°F
Muscogee County8b17.5°F
Newton County8b15°F
Oconee County8b15°F
Oglethorpe County8b15.3°F
Paulding County8a12.9°F
Peach County8b17.5°F
Pickens County8a11.3°F
Pierce County9a20°F
Pike County8b15.2°F
Polk County8a12.5°F
Pulaski County8b18.9°F
Putnam County8b15.1°F
Quitman County8b17.9°F
Rabun County7b8.9°F
Randolph County8b18.7°F
Richmond County8b16.9°F
Rockdale County8b15.2°F
Schley County8b17.8°F
Screven County8b19.2°F
Seminole County9a21.9°F
Spalding County8b15°F
Stephens County8b15.5°F
Stewart County8b17.5°F
Sumter County8b18.2°F
Talbot County8b15.5°F
Taliaferro County8b15.8°F
Tattnall County9a20.8°F
Taylor County8b17°F
Telfair County8b19.9°F
Terrell County8b18.9°F
Thomas County9a22.7°F
Tift County9a21.4°F
Toombs County9a20.5°F
Towns County7b5.6°F
Treutlen County8b19.3°F
Troup County8a14.1°F
Turner County9a20.8°F
Twiggs County8b17.3°F
Union County7b5.1°F
Upson County8b16.5°F
Walker County8a10.4°F
Walton County8b15.1°F
Ware County9a20.9°F
Warren County8b16.5°F
Washington County8b17.3°F
Wayne County9a20.7°F
Webster County8b18.6°F
Wheeler County8b18.3°F
White County7b9.7°F
Whitfield County8a11.7°F
Wilcox County8b19.9°F
Wilkes County8b15.3°F
Wilkinson County8b16.8°F
Worth County9a21.6°F

The zones

A plant hardiness zone is set by the average of each winter’s single coldest temperature, 1991 to 2020: zones are 10°F apart and each half zone, a and b, 5°F. It says how cold a winter night usually gets, not the coldest it has ever been, and nothing about summer heat, rain or soil. Plant labels give the coldest zone a perennial survives in.

ZoneAverage coldest nightIn Celsius
7a0 to 5°F-17.8 to -15.0°C
7b5 to 10°F-15.0 to -12.2°C
8a10 to 15°F-12.2 to -9.4°C
8b15 to 20°F-9.4 to -6.7°C
9a20 to 25°F-6.7 to -3.9°C
9b25 to 30°F-3.9 to -1.1°C

Sources

Hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, 2023, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, from the GIS data of the PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, which may be freely reproduced and redistributed. Drawn by WeatherOverTime from the USDA-ARS and Oregon State University PRISM Climate Group 2023 GIS data; this is not the official USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.