Uvalda, Georgia
Seal of Georgia
Uvalda · Montgomery County, Georgia
Population 494 (est. 2026: ~700)
Source: Census ACS 2023 · ACS 2023 + 9.31% annual growth projection

Uvalda, Georgia

Montgomery County, Georgia · Population 439

Uvalda sits in the flatwoods of southeast Georgia, a small incorporated town in Montgomery County along the Altamaha River basin. It is 15 miles northwest of Vidalia — the onion capital of the world — and about 70 miles northwest of Savannah. Montgomery County as a whole holds roughly 8,610 people, making Uvalda one of several small communities scattered across a mostly rural, timber-and-agriculture landscape. The town is not a bedroom suburb or a tourist destination. It is a working community where affordability, quiet, and proximity to Vidalia's commercial and medical services define everyday life.

People & Demographics

The ACS 2022 estimates place Uvalda's population at 387 within the survey universe. The median age is 42.9, older than the Georgia statewide median, reflecting a pattern common to rural South Georgia towns where younger residents often leave for college or employment elsewhere. There are 190 households, 133 of them family households, with an average household size of 2.04 — compact by Georgia standards.

Racially and ethnically, the town is diverse for its size. Of the 387 counted residents, 218 identify as white, 141 as Black, and 16 as Asian. An additional 58 residents identify as Hispanic or Latino. That breakdown — a majority-white town with a significant Black population and a notable Hispanic share — mirrors much of rural South Georgia, where agricultural and food-processing industries have drawn Latino workers over the past two decades. Fifty-three children under 18 live in Uvalda, a small cohort that limits local school enrollment from within town lines.

Economy & Employment

The median household income in Uvalda is $65,192 and the per capita income is $58,211. Those numbers are striking for a rural Georgia town of this size and may reflect a relatively small, stable working population rather than broad prosperity. Of 196 residents in the labor force, 16 are unemployed. Eighty-five residents fall below the poverty line.

The local economy ties into the broader Montgomery County and Toombs County corridor — timber, agriculture, and light manufacturing in the Vidalia area provide most jobs. Vidalia Onion processing and distribution operations employ workers throughout the region. Residents without local employment typically commute toward Vidalia, Lyons, or Mount Vernon.

Housing

Uvalda has 258 total housing units, of which 190 are occupied and 68 are vacant — a vacancy rate of about 26 percent, high even by rural Georgia standards and an indicator of ongoing population contraction. Of occupied units, 144 are owner-occupied and 46 are renter-occupied, giving an ownership rate of roughly 76 percent.

The median home value is $99,100. Median rent is $666 per month. Both figures sit well below Georgia statewide medians, making Uvalda one of the more affordable places in the state to own or rent — though the trade-off is limited housing stock and a thin resale market.

Schools

Uvalda residents are served by two school systems depending on which district lines apply — Montgomery County Schools and the Vidalia City Schools system in adjacent Toombs County.

Montgomery County Schools: - Montgomery County Elementary School — Grades PreK–5, 453 students - Montgomery County Middle School — Grades 6–8, 222 students - Montgomery County High School — Grades 9–12, 276 students

Vidalia City Schools (Vidalia, ~15 miles east): - J.D. Dickerson Primary School — Grades PreK–1, 456 students - Sally Dailey Meadows Elementary School — Grades 2–5, 647 students - J.R. Trippe Middle School — Grades 6–8, 531 students - Vidalia Comprehensive High School — Grades 9–12, 732 students

Families in Uvalda proper are zoned to Montgomery County Schools. The Vidalia system serves a larger enrollment base and offers more extracurricular depth by virtue of its size.

Getting Around

Uvalda is car-dependent. Of 176 workers counted in the commute data, 149 drove alone and 10 carpooled. Zero used public transit and zero walked to work. Seventeen worked from home. The aggregate commute travel time across all workers is 5,755 minutes, putting the average one-way commute at roughly 33 minutes — consistent with driving to Vidalia, Lyons, or Soperton for work. No transit service operates in Montgomery County.

Healthcare

No hospitals are located in Uvalda itself. The nearest full-service hospital is Meadows Regional Medical Center in Vidalia, approximately 15 miles east. Montgomery County has no hospital of its own. Residents depend on the Vidalia corridor for emergency and specialty care. For a directory of individual providers who have listed Uvalda as their practice city, the CMS NPI Registry can be queried directly: NPI Registry — Uvalda, GA.

Library

The Montgomery County Library is located 0.9 miles from town. Phone: (912) 583-2780. It is part of the Ohoopee Regional Library System, which serves multiple rural counties in southeast Georgia and provides access to digital resources, interlibrary loans, and programming that a small town like Uvalda could not sustain independently.

Natural Hazards

Montgomery County has a documented history of federal disaster declarations that reflects the vulnerability of low-lying southeast Georgia to Atlantic storm systems. Since 2004, the county has been covered by fifteen separate FEMA declarations:

The pattern is unmistakable: this is hurricane and storm country. The Altamaha River basin floods. Named storms from the Gulf and Atlantic regularly reach inland strength by the time they cross this part of Georgia. Flood insurance and storm preparedness are not optional considerations for property owners here.

Government & Municipal Code

Uvalda operates as an incorporated city under Georgia law. The municipal code is published through Municode and is publicly accessible at library.municode.com/ga/uvalda-city-georgia. The city does not have a locally adopted building code on file with Municode. State minimum codes apply in the absence of a local adoption.

Weather

Current forecasts for Uvalda are available through the National Weather Service: NWS Forecast — Uvalda, GA. Active weather alerts for the area can be monitored at NWS Alerts. The nearest weather observation station is at Ailey, Georgia, 0.9 miles away.

Southeast Georgia's climate brings hot, humid summers, mild winters, and a long hurricane season. The disaster declaration history above is the best summary of what that weather record has actually meant for this county.

References

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