Lumber City, Georgia
Seal of Georgia
Lumber City · Telfair County, Georgia
Population 1,113 (est. 2026: ~800)
Source: Census ACS 2023 · ACS 2023 + -9.79% annual growth projection

Lumber City, Georgia

Telfair County, Georgia · Population 967

Lumber City sits on the Ocmulgee River in the heart of Telfair County, about 50 miles southeast of Macon and 30 miles from McRae-Helena, the county seat. The town's name is not decorative — the timber industry built this place, and the river shaped everything from the economy to the flood risk. With just under a thousand residents, Lumber City is a small, majority-Black community where household sizes run large, poverty runs deep, and nearly everyone gets around by car. It is the kind of place where the distance to a hospital or a grocery store matters in ways that urban residents rarely have to think about.

People & Demographics

The ACS 2022 estimate puts Lumber City's population at 1,127, with a median age of 41.2. The racial makeup is 733 Black residents (roughly 65%) and 304 white residents (roughly 27%), with 99 Hispanic or Latino residents. There are no Asian residents counted in the data.

The 290 households average 3.67 people — well above what most small Georgia towns report, suggesting multigenerational living arrangements are common here. Of those households, 158 are family households. Children under 18 account for 292 residents, meaning more than one in four people in Lumber City is a minor.

Telfair County overall holds 12,477 residents, so Lumber City represents roughly 8% of the county's population despite being one of its incorporated municipalities.

Economy & Employment

Median household income in Lumber City is $31,429. Per capita income is $15,296. Georgia's statewide median household income runs well above $60,000, which puts Lumber City at roughly half the state figure — a gap that reflects both the limited local job market and the broader poverty concentrated in rural South Georgia.

Of 1,127 residents, 386 are in the labor force, and 28 are counted as unemployed. That leaves a large share of the population outside the labor force entirely — a pattern common in communities with high rates of disability, caregiving responsibilities, and limited job access. With 159 residents counted below the poverty line, the poverty rate runs high relative to state and national benchmarks.

Housing

Lumber City has 463 total housing units. Only 290 are occupied — leaving 173 vacant, a vacancy rate of 37%. That level of vacancy typically signals both outmigration and housing stock that is too deteriorated or too expensive to repair to attract renters or buyers.

Of the 290 occupied units, 149 are owner-occupied and 141 are renter-occupied — a near-even split. Median rent is $471 per month, which is low in absolute terms but steep relative to local incomes. The median home value data was not available in the source data.

Schools

Lumber City falls within the Telfair County School District. Students attend county-operated schools; the nearest high school serves students from across Telfair County, with the county seat of McRae-Helena hosting the central campus. Specific school-level enrollment figures were not available in the underlying data.

Getting Around

344 workers reported commute data. Of those, 336 drove alone — essentially everyone. Carpooling, public transit, walking, and working from home each registered zero in the ACS data. There is no local transit infrastructure.

The aggregate commute time across all workers is 7,675 minutes, which works out to roughly 22 minutes per worker each way. That number is consistent with workers traveling to employment in nearby towns — McRae-Helena, Eastman (Dodge County seat), or occasionally Macon for higher-wage positions.

Lumber City is a car-required community with no meaningful alternatives.

Healthcare

No hospitals operate within Lumber City. The nearest acute care facility is Optim Medical Center – Tattnall or Dodge County Hospital in Eastman, depending on the direction of travel — Eastman is roughly 25 miles northwest. For anything beyond primary care, residents typically travel to Macon or Vidalia.

For a current list of licensed healthcare providers with active NPI registrations in Lumber City, the CMS NPI Registry can be queried directly: NPI Registry – Lumber City, GA.

Library

Telfair County's public library system serves the area. The Telfair County Public Library is located in McRae-Helena, approximately 30 miles from Lumber City. No branch library operates within Lumber City itself.

Parks & Recreation

The Ocmulgee River is Lumber City's most significant natural feature, and river access for fishing and boating exists along the town's edge. The Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park is located north of Macon, about 50 miles away. Little Ocmulgee State Park, one of Georgia's better-equipped inland parks with a lodge, golf course, and lake, sits just outside McRae-Helena — approximately 30 miles from Lumber City — and is the most practical recreational destination for local residents.

Natural Hazards

Telfair County has a documented and serious history of federal disaster declarations. The record stretches back to 1994 and covers nearly every major hazard type:

Fifteen declarations in roughly 30 years. The Ocmulgee River corridor is particularly vulnerable to flooding during tropical systems. Anyone buying or renting in Lumber City should treat flood zone mapping as a non-negotiable first step, not an afterthought.

Government & Municipal Code

Lumber City's municipal code is published by Municode and is publicly accessible at library.municode.com/ga/lumber-city-city-georgia.

The city does not have an adopted local building code on file with Municode. Construction and renovation projects are governed by state minimum standards in the absence of a local code.

Weather

The National Weather Service office in Jacksonville, Florida covers much of South Georgia, including Telfair County. Current forecasts for the Lumber City area are available through the NWS Jacksonville office. The area experiences hot, humid summers, mild winters with occasional severe ice events (as the 2026 winter storm declaration confirms), and significant tropical weather exposure from June through November.

References

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