This measure tracks the average time it takes for a person to receive a diagnostic evaluation by a qualified medical professional after arriving at a hospital emergency department. The data come from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and are based on a sampling of emergency department patients from U.S. hospitals. The Fulton County hospital included are Emory Midtown, Grady Memorial, Northside, Piedmont, Saint Joseph's, Atlanta Medical Center and North Fulton Hospital. The average wait times for Fulton County and its national benchmark counties presented here are actually averages of the median wait times of hospitals in each county.

The high school graduation rate, also known as the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate, is the number of students who graduate in four years with a regular high school diploma taken as the percentage of the number of students who form the adjusted cohort for the graduating class. For any given cohort, students who are entering grade 9 for the first time form a cohort that is subsequently adjusted by adding any students who transfer into the cohort later during the next three years and subtracting any students who transfer out, emigrates to another country, or dies during that same period.

This measure tracks the percentage of third graders attending public schools in Fulton County who scored at or above the level set for students on the track to college and career readiness, measured as the percentage of students in 6tg to 8th grade achieving a Lexile measure equal to or greater than 650 on the Georgia Milestones English Language Arts (ELA) end-of-grade (EOG) assessment. Students scoring at this level have demonstrated proficiency in the knowledge and skills as specified in Georgia’s content standards and are considered prepared for the next grade level or course and are on track for college and career readiness.

The employment rate is the percentage of the labor force that is employed. It is a lagging indicator; that is, following a recession, the employment rate tends not to grow to any significant extent until the remainder of the economy has recovered. This is because of the high risk and expense of creating jobs. The working age ranges from 15 to 64 years old.

This measure tracks the accessibility of public libraries in Fulton County. A library is considered accessible if it is within a 5-mile driving distance of a residence. The area within a 5-mile driving distance was determined through an analysis using geographic information systems (GIS) software.

This measure represents combined annual spending by the local jurisdictions (cities and county) within Fulton County on highways and streets. The expenditures included in this measure are those reported annually to the Georgia Department Community Affairs (DCA) as part of the Report on Local Government Financing.

This measure tracks the number of items checked out of the library including books, DVDs, audio-books, magazines etc. This figure also includes items checked out virtually, including e-books, e-audio, e-magazines and e-DVDs.

Electric power usage within County buildings in kWh