Fort Stewart, Georgia
Seal of Georgia
Fort Stewart · Liberty County, Georgia
Population 9,976 (est. 2026: ~7,900)
Source: Census ACS 2023 · ACS 2023 + -6.93% annual growth projection

Fort Stewart, Georgia

Liberty County, Georgia · Population 8,821

Fort Stewart is one of the largest Army installations in the eastern United States, occupying a vast stretch of coastal plain in Liberty County between Hinesville and the Savannah metro. The CDP — Census Designated Place — is the residential and operational core of the installation, home almost exclusively to active-duty soldiers and their families. It is not a civilian town in any conventional sense: there is no mayor, no city hall, and no downtown. What it has is scale, youth, and the particular rhythm of military life — frequent moves, long deployments, and a community that turns over constantly. Liberty County's population of 65,256 exists in close orbit around the installation, and Hinesville, directly adjacent, functions as the off-post commercial hub for most daily needs.

People & Demographics

Fort Stewart's CDP population is 9,324. The median age is 21.6 — younger than almost any civilian community in the state, a direct reflection of the enlisted force stationed here. Families are large: average household size is 3.26, and 3,540 residents are children under 18. That figure represents more than a third of the total population.

The community is racially and ethnically diverse in ways that reflect the Army's national recruiting footprint. White residents number 4,829; Hispanic or Latino residents total 2,247; Black residents number 1,807; Asian residents number 185. Of 2,390 total households, 1,950 are family households — an unusually high share driven by the housing allocation system for married service members.

Economy & Employment

The installation is the economy. Nearly every employed resident works for or in direct support of the U.S. Army. The labor force stands at 4,851, with 239 unemployed. Median household income is $48,538 — modest by Georgia standards and reflective of junior enlisted pay grades, which make up the bulk of the population. Per capita income of $18,963 is low, partly because that figure averages in dependents and part-time workers. About 1,181 residents fall below the poverty line, again a number shaped by the low base pay of younger enlisted ranks rather than by civilian economic conditions.

Housing

Housing here is almost entirely government-controlled. Of 2,390 occupied units, just 4 are owner-occupied. The remaining 2,386 are renter-occupied — a ratio that is effectively unique in American census data and reflects the on-post family housing model where the Army owns and assigns quarters. Median rent is $1,437. There are 2,868 total housing units, with 478 vacant at the time of the survey — normal for an installation where units sit empty between assignments. No median home value is available, which makes sense: there is essentially no private residential real estate market within the CDP boundary.

Schools

Schools serving Fort Stewart and the surrounding Liberty County area include Freedom Park Elementary (grades K–8, 643 students), Hunt Elementary School (grades K–5, 640 students), New Mountain Hill Elementary School (grades K–4, 501 students), and Battlefield Elementary School (grades 3–5, 429 students). Fort Valley Middle School serves grades 6–8 with 481 students. The school data also lists Peach County High School (grades 9–12, 1,107 students) and Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School (grades 9–12, 1,023 students), though those are county schools associated with other parts of the state in the NCES dataset and may reflect data quirks rather than local attendance zones. Liberty County Schools operates the district serving post-connected families, with campuses both on and adjacent to the installation.

Getting Around

With 4,431 total workers, 3,261 drive alone and 540 carpool. No residents reported using public transit. Walking accounts for 392 commuters — an unusually high number explained by the on-post layout where barracks and workplaces are within walking distance for single soldiers. Another 152 worked from home. Aggregate travel time for all workers is 53,370 minutes, averaging roughly 12 minutes per commuter — short trips by any measure, consistent with a community where work is steps away. Off-post, a car is essential; Hinesville is the nearest full-service commercial area.

Healthcare

Winn Army Community Hospital (Winn ACH) is the primary medical facility on the installation, serving active-duty personnel and enrolled beneficiaries. Liberty Regional Medical Center serves the broader civilian population in Hinesville. For a searchable directory of individual healthcare providers registered in Fort Stewart, the NPI Registry lists licensed practitioners by city.

Library

The nearest public library is the Hinesville Library, approximately 4.1 miles from the installation. Phone: (912) 368-4003. On-post, the Marne Community Library operates through the Army's MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) system and is available to soldiers and their families.

Parks & Recreation

Two National Park Service units are accessible within a reasonable drive. Fort Frederica National Monument on St. Simons Island — the site of an 18th-century British colonial fort — lies roughly 43 miles away, with a visitor center on site. Fort Pulaski National Monument, a Civil War–era masonry fortification near Savannah, is about 42 miles out, with its visitor center at the same location. Both sites are significant coastal Georgia history landmarks within a day-trip range.

Natural Hazards

Liberty County sits squarely in Georgia's Atlantic hurricane corridor. The FEMA disaster declaration record is one of the longer ones in the state: Hurricane Helene triggered both a major disaster declaration and an emergency declaration in late September 2024; Tropical Storm/Hurricane Debby produced two separate declarations in August and September 2024. Before that, Hurricane Irma (2017) generated declarations at both the emergency and major disaster level, as did Hurricane Matthew (2016). Hurricane Michael (2018) and Hurricane Dorian (2019) each produced emergency declarations. The county also appears in the record for Hurricane Floyd (1999), Hurricane Katrina evacuation (2005), severe storms and flooding (1998), and the COVID-19 pandemic (2020). Residents and families should treat hurricane preparedness as routine, not optional.

Government & Municipal Code

Fort Stewart is a CDP — a statistical designation — not an incorporated municipality. Municipal authority rests with the installation command structure rather than an elected civilian government. A municipal code is published via Municode at library.municode.com/ga/fort-stewart-cdp-georgia. No separate building code is on file for this jurisdiction.

Weather

Current forecasts and conditions are available from the National Weather Service: NWS Forecast for Fort Stewart. Active weather alerts for the area can be checked at NWS Alerts. The nearest weather observation station is Walthourville 3.4 WNW, approximately 2.7 miles away.

References

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