Monticello, Georgia
Seal of Georgia
Monticello · Jasper County, Georgia
Population 2,668 (est. 2026: ~2,900)
Source: Census ACS 2023 · ACS 2023 + 2.96% annual growth projection

Monticello, Georgia

Jasper County, Georgia · Population 2,541

Monticello sits at the geographic center of Georgia, roughly equidistant between Macon and Atlanta along U.S. 129. It is the county seat of Jasper County — one of the smaller, more rural counties in the Piedmont belt — and has held that role long enough that the courthouse square still anchors daily life. This is not a suburb. The nearest metro core is Atlanta, roughly 60 miles northwest. Monticello functions as a self-contained small town: locals shop here, go to school here, and largely work nearby or commute toward the interstate corridors. The population of 2,541 represents a substantial share of Jasper County's 14,588 residents, meaning the town and county are closely intertwined in a way that rarely applies to larger places.

People & Demographics

Monticello's 2,593 residents (ACS 2022) are nearly evenly split by race — 1,193 identify as white and 1,140 as Black, a demographic balance uncommon in towns this size and reflective of the county's deep-rooted African American community. The Hispanic and Latino population stands at 171. The median age is 43.8 years, skewing older than the Georgia statewide median, consistent with rural communities where younger adults migrate toward metro areas for work. The town counts 1,041 households, 681 of which are family households, with an average household size of 2.44. There are 561 children under 18, representing about 22 percent of the population.

Economy & Employment

The labor force numbers 1,231 people, with 71 unemployed — an unemployment rate of roughly 5.8 percent within the labor force. Median household income is $41,779, meaningfully below the Georgia statewide median, which typically runs in the $60,000–$65,000 range. Per capita income is $32,681. Poverty touches 433 residents, approximately 17 percent of the population — a figure that underscores the economic challenge facing rural Jasper County. Monticello has no major industrial anchor visible in this data set; the county's economy leans on government, healthcare, agriculture, and the services that support a county-seat town. The presence of Jasper Memorial Hospital provides a baseline of healthcare employment in an otherwise thin local market.

Housing

There are 1,167 housing units in Monticello, with 1,041 occupied and 126 vacant — a vacancy rate of about 10.8 percent. Owner-occupied units number 578; renter-occupied units number 463, making the split roughly 56 percent owner and 44 percent renter. The median home value is $167,800, which is low by Georgia standards and represents genuine affordability for buyers who can access financing. Median rent runs $996 per month — not dramatically cheap, but still below metro levels. For a household earning the town's median income, rent at that level consumes a significant share of take-home pay, which helps explain the town's renter demographics.

Schools

Public education in Jasper County runs through a single countywide system with four schools, all serving Monticello and surrounding communities:

Total enrollment across the four campuses is 2,573 students. The pipeline from primary through high school is relatively balanced in enrollment, suggesting stable retention through secondary grades.

Getting Around

Monticello is a car-dependent town. Of 1,106 workers, 762 drive alone and 162 carpool. Zero workers reported using public transit and zero reported walking to work. Working from home accounts for 152 workers — about 14 percent — a notable share for a rural county and likely a post-pandemic shift that has held. Aggregate travel time across all workers is 28,175 minutes, implying an average one-way commute around 25 minutes. Many residents almost certainly commute to the Macon or Atlanta metro corridors, where employment density is far higher.

Healthcare

Jasper Memorial Hospital is the local healthcare facility, located in Monticello. Rating and emergency service details are not available in current CMS Hospital Compare data. For a comprehensive list of individual providers registered in Monticello, the NPI Registry returns current credentialed clinicians. For specialized or high-acuity care, residents typically look to Macon (roughly 40 miles south) or the Atlanta metro for major hospital systems.

Library

Jasper County Library serves Monticello and the surrounding county. Contact: (706) 468-6292. The library is part of the public library system supporting a county where the nearest large public library system would be in a considerably larger city.

Parks & Recreation

Two National Park Service units sit within a reasonable drive of Monticello:

Natural Hazards

Jasper County has a substantial FEMA disaster declaration record. The county has been touched by:

The pattern is clear: this part of Georgia sits in a zone vulnerable to Atlantic hurricane remnants tracking inland, periodic ice and winter storm events, and convective tornado outbreaks. Hurricane Helene's 2024 declarations — both an emergency declaration on September 26 and a major disaster declaration on September 30 — are the most recent major events.

Government & Municipal Code

Monticello's municipal code is published by Municode and is publicly accessible at library.municode.com/ga/monticello. The city does not have a local building code on file with this publisher. Construction and building matters may default to state minimum standards or county-level regulation.

Weather

Current National Weather Service forecasts for Monticello are available at forecast.weather.gov. Active weather alerts for the area are posted at alerts.weather.gov. The nearest official weather observation station is MONTICELLO 2 NW, located 1.3 miles from town.

References

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