Brunswick, Georgia
Seal of Georgia
Brunswick · Glynn County, Georgia
Population 15,248 (est. 2026: ~15,400)
Source: Census ACS 2023 · ACS 2023 + 0.39% annual growth projection

Brunswick, Georgia

Glynn County, Georgia · Population 15,210

Brunswick sits at the southeastern edge of Georgia, pressed between the marshes of the Altamaha sound system and the Atlantic coast, about 70 miles north of Jacksonville, Florida. It serves as the commercial and civic center of Glynn County, while its offshore neighbors — St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island, and Sea Island — handle most of the tourist traffic. The causeways connecting Brunswick to the Golden Isles make the city a hub by necessity. It is a working port town with a historic downtown grid, a majority-Black population, and an economy that has long run leaner than most of coastal Georgia.

People & Demographics

Brunswick's population of 15,243 is notably younger than its reputation as a coastal retirement corridor might suggest — the median age is 37.2. The city is majority Black at 9,375 residents (roughly 61%), with 4,922 white residents and 1,119 Hispanic or Latino residents. The Asian population is small at 125.

Glynn County as a whole holds 84,499 people, meaning Brunswick proper accounts for about 18% of the county population — a dense urban core surrounded by lower-density unincorporated areas and the resort communities on the barrier islands.

There are 6,317 households, of which 3,520 are family households. The average household size is 2.32. Children under 18 number 3,487, representing a meaningful share of the population that shows up in school enrollment figures throughout the county.

Economy & Employment

The median household income in Brunswick is $29,781 — a figure that sits well below the Georgia state median and underscores the economic divide between the city and the wealthier island communities it serves. Per capita income is $25,365.

Poverty is a central economic reality here: 4,542 residents — roughly 30% of the population — fall below the federal poverty line.

The labor force counts 6,592 residents, with 601 unemployed, yielding an unemployment rate of approximately 9.1%. Major employment sectors in the regional economy include the Port of Brunswick (one of the busiest vehicle-import ports in the country), healthcare through Southeast Georgia Health System, hospitality and tourism serving the Golden Isles, and retail serving the broader county.

The College of Coastal Georgia (912-279-5700) is located in Brunswick and provides associate and bachelor's degree programs, playing a direct role in local workforce development.

Housing

Total housing units number 7,498. Of those, 6,317 are occupied and 1,181 are vacant — a vacancy rate of about 15.7%, which is elevated and reflects both economic strain and some seasonal or transitional housing stock.

Brunswick skews heavily toward renters: 3,762 renter-occupied units versus 2,555 owner-occupied, meaning roughly 60% of occupied households rent. The median home value is $116,800 — low by Georgia coastal standards, and a sharp contrast to the island communities across the causeway where values run multiples higher. Median gross rent is $838 per month.

For buyers and renters priced out of St. Simons or Jekyll Island, Brunswick is frequently the realistic option.

Schools

Brunswick falls within Glynn County Schools. The high school landscape includes three large institutions: Coastal Plains Charter High School (grades 9–12, 1,942 students), Brunswick High School (grades 9–12, 1,932 students), and Glynn Academy (grades 9–12, 1,823 students).

Middle schools serving the area include Glynn Middle (815 students), Jane Macon Middle (780 students), Needwood Middle School (748 students), and Risley Middle School (635 students).

Elementary schools in the county system include Satilla Marsh Elementary (758 students), Sterling Elementary (740 students), Greer Elementary (625 students), Glyndale Elementary (621 students), Golden Isles Elementary (598 students), Burroughs-Molette Elementary (593 students), Altama Elementary (583 students), and Goodyear Elementary (489 students).

The school system is county-wide, so children in Brunswick share schools with students from unincorporated Glynn County and the island communities.

Getting Around

Brunswick is a car-dependent city. Of 5,881 total workers, 4,649 drove alone — nearly 79%. Another 723 carpooled. Only 1 worker commuted by public transit, and 108 walked to work. Just 169 worked from home.

Aggregate commute time across all workers totals 113,030 minutes, averaging roughly 19 minutes per worker. The causeway routes to the islands add time for anyone working in the resort economy.

Healthcare

Southeast Georgia Health System – Brunswick Campus is the primary acute care facility serving the city and the broader Golden Isles region. St. Simons-by-the-Sea offers additional specialty services. Both operate in close proximity to the city center.

For a full list of licensed healthcare providers in Brunswick, the CMS NPI Registry can be searched directly: NPI Provider Search.

Library

The Brunswick-Glynn County Library serves the city and county, reachable at 912-279-3740. It functions as the primary public library for the entire Glynn County system.

Parks & Recreation

Two National Park Service units anchor outdoor recreation in the Brunswick area.

Fort Frederica National Monument, with its visitor center approximately 7.1 miles away on St. Simons Island, preserves the site of a British colonial fort and town from the 1730s — one of the more historically significant sites on the Georgia coast.

Cumberland Island National Seashore, accessible via ferry from St. Marys (about 30 miles south), protects Georgia's largest barrier island — undeveloped, with wild horses, extensive dune systems, and tidal marshes. Wilderness campsites on Cumberland Island include Brickhill Bluff (22.3 miles), Yankee Paradise (25.4 miles), and Hickory Hill (26.5 miles). A Sea Camp Ranger Station operates at the southern end of the island, roughly 31 miles out.

Natural Hazards

Glynn County has one of the longer FEMA disaster declaration histories on the Georgia coast. The record runs from 2004 through 2024 and includes direct hits, close calls, and declared emergencies from: Tropical Storm Frances (2004), Hurricane Katrina evacuation (2005), Severe Storms and Tornadoes (2008), Hurricane Matthew (2016), Hurricane Irma (2017), Hurricane Michael (2018), Hurricane Dorian (2019), the COVID-19 pandemic (2020), Hurricane Idalia (2023), and back-to-back 2024 events — Hurricane Debby and Hurricane Helene, the latter generating both an emergency and major disaster declaration.

That is 15 separate federal declarations across two decades. Anyone moving to Brunswick should approach hurricane preparedness as routine, not contingency planning.

Government & Municipal Code

Brunswick's municipal code is published through Municode and available at library.municode.com/ga/brunswick. The city does not have a separate local building code on file in this dataset — state and county standards govern construction.

Weather

Current forecasts for Brunswick are available through the National Weather Service: NWS Forecast. Active alerts can be checked at Weather Alerts. The nearest reporting weather station is Brunswick 7.9 NNW, approximately 0.9 miles from the city center.

References

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