Cecil, Georgia
Seal of Georgia
Cecil · Cook County, Georgia
Population 435 (est. 2026: ~600)
Source: Census ACS 2023 · ACS 2023 + 11.72% annual growth projection

Cecil, Georgia

Cook County, Georgia · Population 284

Cecil sits in the flatlands of South Georgia, tucked into Cook County about midway between Valdosta and Tifton along the I-75 corridor. It is a small, tight-knit community — 284 people, a few hundred housing units, and a median age that suggests working families more than retirees. The nearest significant city is Adel, the Cook County seat, roughly a mile and a half away. Residents here share schools, county services, and the same exposure to the severe weather patterns that repeatedly test this part of Georgia.

People & Demographics

Cecil's ACS 2022 count puts the population at 349. The median age is 39.8. The racial breakdown is 196 Black residents, 112 white residents, and 41 Hispanic or Latino residents. There are no recorded Asian residents in the dataset.

The town has 116 households, of which 94 are family households. Average household size is 3.01 — meaningfully larger than many small Georgia towns, reflecting the 71 children under 18 living here. Cecil is a young-family community embedded in a county of 17,229 people.

Economy & Employment

The median household income in Cecil is $39,000. Per capita income sits at $18,419. Georgia's statewide median household income runs considerably higher, which means Cecil residents are operating with significantly less purchasing power than the average Georgian.

131 residents — a substantial share of the population — fall below the poverty line. Of the 133 people in the labor force, the ACS data records zero unemployed, which likely reflects undercount at this small a sample size rather than true full employment. The workforce is small and the economic base is limited. Cook County's economy leans heavily on agriculture, food processing, and services centered in Adel.

Housing

Cecil has 145 total housing units. 116 are occupied; 29 are vacant — a vacancy rate of roughly 20%, which is high and reflects the challenges common to small South Georgia towns experiencing slow population change.

Of occupied units, 77 are owner-occupied and 39 are renter-occupied. That owner-to-renter ratio skews toward ownership, which is typical for rural communities.

Median home value is $71,000 — well below Georgia's statewide median and reflective of the broader rural South Georgia market. Median rent, however, is $1,000 per month, which is notable given the income levels here. A household earning the median $39,000 annually spending $1,000 per month on rent is allocating roughly 31% of gross income to housing costs.

Cecil has no building code on record through Municode. The municipal code is published and accessible at library.municode.com/ga/cecil-city-georgia.

Schools

Cecil students attend Cook County Schools, a county-wide district serving all four grade bands:

These schools are located in Adel. The enrollment figures reflect the full Cook County system, not Cecil alone — the district consolidates resources across a rural county where individual towns are too small to sustain their own campuses.

Getting Around

Cecil is car-dependent. Of 133 workers, 121 drove alone to work. Seven carpooled. Five worked from home. Public transit ridership is zero. Walking to work is zero.

The aggregate travel time for all workers is 2,955 minutes. With 133 workers, that averages roughly 22 minutes per commute each way — a short drive by most measures, consistent with residents commuting to Adel or nearby agricultural and commercial employers. There is no public transportation infrastructure serving Cecil.

Healthcare

The nearest hospital is Southwell Medical, a Campus of TRMC, located in the Adel area. Detailed ratings and emergency service designations were not available in current CMS data. For a complete list of licensed healthcare providers registered in Cecil, the CMS NPI Registry can be searched directly: NPI Registry – Cecil, GA.

Library

The Cook County Library serves Cecil residents and is located 1.4 miles away. Contact: (229) 896-3652. The library is the primary public library resource for this part of Cook County, offering services to a community without its own standalone branch.

Natural Hazards

Cook County has an extensive FEMA disaster declaration history. Since 2004, the county has been included in 15 federal disaster or emergency declarations — a frequency that reflects South Georgia's position in the path of Gulf Coast and Atlantic weather systems.

Major events on record:

The pattern is consistent: this county faces real hurricane and tropical storm exposure, tornado and severe storm risk, and flooding from prolonged rain events. Residents should maintain awareness of active weather alerts at alerts.weather.gov.

Government & Municipal Code

Cecil operates under a city government with its code published through Municode: library.municode.com/ga/cecil-city-georgia. The municipal code does not include a building code, which is relevant for anyone planning construction or renovation — county-level or state standards would govern in the absence of a local code.

Weather

Current forecasts for Cecil are available through the National Weather Service: NWS Forecast – Cecil, GA. The nearest weather observation station is in Adel, 1.4 miles away. Given the active FEMA history, monitoring NWS alerts during storm season is practical, not precautionary.

References

The law belongs to the people. Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 590 U.S. (2020)