Springfield, Georgia
Seal of Georgia
Springfield · Effingham County, Georgia
Population 2,874 (est. 2026: ~3,200)
Source: Census ACS 2023 · ACS 2023 + 3.48% annual growth projection

Springfield, Georgia

Effingham County, Georgia · Population 2,703

Springfield is the county seat of Effingham County, sitting roughly 25 miles northwest of Savannah along the lowland corridor where coastal Georgia begins giving way to the piedmont fringe. It is a small government and service hub for a county that has grown steadily as Savannah's metro footprint expands outward. The town itself stays compact — under 3,000 people — while the county around it approaches 65,000. That gap defines the daily experience here: Springfield has the courthouse, a school, a hospital system, and a library, but residents reach outward to Savannah for major retail, specialized healthcare, and cultural amenities.

People & Demographics

Springfield's population of 2,753 skews younger than most Georgia small towns. The median age is 32.8, pulled down by the 556 children under 18 living in the community's 1,127 occupied households. Average household size sits at 2.16 — relatively small, suggesting a notable share of single-person and two-person households alongside the 672 family households.

Racially, the town is majority white (1,989 residents), with a substantial Black population of 626. Hispanic and Latino residents number 42. No Asian population was recorded in the ACS estimates.

Economy & Employment

The labor force stands at 1,441, with only 14 people counted as unemployed — a remarkably low number for a town this size. Of the 1,127 households, 154 residents fall below the poverty line, representing a meaningful but not overwhelming share of the population.

Median household income is $46,936. That figure sits below Georgia's statewide median, which reflects Springfield's role as a working-class county seat rather than a bedroom community of higher-earning professionals. The per capita income figure of $60,066 is notably higher, which likely reflects the math of smaller household sizes — fewer earners spread across fewer people per unit.

Housing

Springfield has 1,196 total housing units, with 1,127 occupied and 69 vacant — a vacancy rate of roughly 5.8%, suggesting a reasonably tight market. Ownership is the dominant tenure: 772 units are owner-occupied versus 355 renter-occupied, meaning about 68% of occupied housing is owned rather than rented.

Median home value is $159,500, which is affordable by Georgia coastal standards — Savannah's market runs considerably higher. Median rent is $1,023 per month, which is moderate but not trivial relative to the local income levels. Renters here are likely stretching somewhat to meet that figure.

Schools

Students in Springfield attend Springfield Elementary School, which serves grades pre-K through 5 with an enrollment of 735. For secondary education, the county operates Effingham County High School, serving grades 9–12 with 2,108 students — one of the larger high schools in the region by enrollment. Both schools operate under Effingham County Schools. The high school's size relative to the county's population indicates it draws students from well beyond Springfield proper, consolidating the county's secondary education in one campus.

Getting Around

Springfield is a driving town. Of 1,407 workers counted in the commute data, 1,256 drove alone — nearly 90%. Carpooling accounts for 67. Only 6 workers use public transit, and 15 walk to work. Just 28 workers reported working from home, a low remote-work share even by small-town standards.

Aggregate commute time across all workers totals 39,090 minutes, which works out to roughly 28 minutes per worker on average. That's consistent with a commute to Savannah or to industrial and logistics employment along the I-16 and I-95 corridors nearby.

Healthcare

Effingham Health System serves Springfield and the surrounding county, with a presence in town. For specialized care, the Savannah metro — about 25 miles southeast — provides access to the region's major hospital systems. A searchable directory of individual licensed healthcare providers in Springfield is available through the CMS NPI Registry.

Library

The Springfield Library serves as the local branch for Effingham County. It can be reached at (912) 754-3003.

Parks & Recreation

Two National Park Service units are accessible within the broader region:

Natural Hazards

Effingham County's FEMA disaster declaration history is extensive and instructive. Since 1994, the county has received 15 federal emergency or disaster declarations. The list reads as a map of coastal Georgia's weather vulnerability:

The pattern is clear: Atlantic and Gulf hurricane tracks repeatedly affect this inland-but-coastal county. Residents should maintain readiness for named storms, particularly from August through October.

Government & Municipal Code

Springfield's municipal code is published and maintained through Municode and is publicly accessible at library.municode.com/ga/springfield. No local building code is on file with Municode for Springfield — construction and building standards in this jurisdiction likely default to state or county provisions.

Weather

Current forecasts and conditions for Springfield are available through the National Weather Service: NWS Forecast for Springfield, GA. Active weather alerts can be checked at NWS Alerts. The nearest weather observation station is the Springfield station, located 2.4 miles from the town center.

References

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