Farmers were able to bring their crops, mostly cotton, to town for shipment to distant markets, and obtain the fertilizers and agricultural supplies they needed.

[7] Carrollton remained an agricultural and textile manufacturing center throughout the first half of the 20th century, but as the local production of cotton declined and the population became more urban, other industries began to take on a greater prominence.

[8] This diversification of industry has continued into the 21st century, aided in part by Carrollton's ready access to Interstate 20 and the Norfolk Southern Railway.

The city's major employers presently include companies in the airline, construction, power distribution, poultry, software, home entertainment, and healthcare industries, among others.

[9] Carrollton also remains an important market town, with a wide variety of national retail chains and restaurants, serving Carroll County and the surrounding region.

Other films shot in the Carrollton area include Conjurer with John Schneider, The Way Home with Dean Cain, and Between Love and a Hard Place with Bern Nadette Stanis.

The city attracted news media attention amidst allegations of censorship in September 2011 when the mayor overruled the board of the city-owned Carrollton Cultural Arts Center in order to ban as "very offensive" the live stage musical The Rocky Horror Show that had been scheduled for a run just before Halloween.

News reports attributed the mayor's decision to his being shown by the city manager a video of the rehearsal posted by a cast member to a personal Facebook page.

[10] In February 2012, three months later than originally planned, the show was produced and privately funded without city money at the Townsend Center for the Performing Arts at the University of West Georgia, also in Carrollton.

[11] The Virginia-based anti-censorship Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression gave one of its national 2012 "Muzzle" awards to the mayor "for appointing himself the arbiter of cultural taste for an entire town, and canceling a pre-approved production of The Rocky Horror Show at a city-owned theater.

In October 1995 Hurricane Opal slammed the Florida panhandle then moved north into Alabama and then east into Georgia.

The Carrollton area was hit with tropical storm force winds killing one person when a tree came down into a mobile home.

In September 2009, up to a foot of rain fell in some areas, flooding many homes, washing away roads and bridges, and claiming the lives of ten people in Georgia.

[22] John Tanner State Park, which is 6 miles (10 km) west of the city, has a lake with a beach and swimming area, walking or running track, and camp grounds.

In 2012 The AMP at Adamson Square debuted; this outdoor covered amphitheater can seat 800–1,000 people and shows a variety of free music and movie performances.

Many restaurants offer live music performances as well the Lowell Opry House where staged concerts are held.

[27] Exhibits have featured traditional and contemporary quilts by both solo artists and various regional guilds, and a partnership with the Center for Public History at the University of West Georgia has enabled the museum to exhibit highlights of the history of the local textile industry.. Carrollton has about 100 places of worship.