Bolthole Index

Bolthole Index county-legal census · checked 2026-10-10

Georgia Counties With No Zoning

26 of Georgia's 159 counties — 16% — have no county-wide zoning. That is the 15th-largest count of any state. The strongest of them on the Bolthole Index is Glascock County (84/100). Every entry below cites the county’s own official source.

Rules change, and cities inside these counties set their own — treat this as a verified starting point, not legal advice. All 1042 counties nationwide → Georgia: no building codes → Georgia: no codes, no zoning → Georgia: owner-builder → Georgia: rv living → Georgia: tiny homes → Georgia: no minimum home size → Full Georgia profile →

From the Georgia guide

Which Georgia counties have no zoning?

Georgia has 26 counties without county-wide zoning and 129 with zoning; 4 counties' zoning answers are unconfirmed.4822 The highest-scoring counties without county-wide zoning are Glascock County, Wheeler County, Bacon County, Telfair County, Echols County, Jenkins County, Treutlen County and Wilkinson County.4 Only 3 counties combine no building-permit requirement with no county-wide zoning: Wheeler, Bacon and Wilcox.9 Compare the no-zoning list and the no-permit, no-zoning list.

Georgia law lets counties zone unincorporated land but does not require them to.5 No state source sets a statewide minimum lot size, home size or setback; those come from the local zoning ordinance where one exists.23

Splitting a parcel is separate: properly adopted county subdivision ordinances apply to anyone creating a subdivision, and a plat may need planning-commission approval.2425 Farming practices are shielded from county regulation, but zoning is not.26

Read the full Georgia guide →

Sources

  1. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 159 Georgia counties, as of October 15, 2026: Georgia counties with no county-wide zoning
  2. Georgia: Georgia Zoning Statutes Compilation, quoted and re-checked
  3. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 159 Georgia counties, as of October 15, 2026: Georgia counties with county zoning
  4. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 159 Georgia counties, as of October 15, 2026: Georgia counties with neither a residential building permit nor county-wide zoning
  5. Bolthole Index county rulebook, 159 Georgia counties, as of October 15, 2026: Georgia counties whose building-permit or zoning answer we could not confirm
  6. Georgia: Governing Statutes, Regulations, and Guidance, quoted and re-checked
  7. Georgia: law.georgia.gov, quoted and re-checked
  8. Georgia: 2005-5, Office of the Attorney General, quoted and re-checked
  9. Georgia: Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Title 2 Agriculture, quoted and re-checked

From the Georgia guide, written from the cited official sources and re-checked by an independent reviewer. This is research, not legal advice: confirm with the office before you buy or build.

26 of 159 Georgia counties · sorted by Index score

Keep exploring

Every county here has a full profile — water, land prices, hazard safety, seclusion, and the rest of its building rules. See the Georgia state page for all 159 counties ranked, or go back to the national list.

Off-grid gear

Building on land in one of these Georgia counties? The kit we'd start with:

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General guidance, not legal advice. Off-grid, building, and land-use rules are often set at the county level and change often. Verify with your county and state before acting. Data reviewed 2026-06-26.