Unionville, Georgia
Seal of Georgia
Unionville · Tift County, Georgia
Population 1,670 (est. 2026: ~3,000)
Source: Census ACS 2023 · ACS 2023 + 19.76% annual growth projection

Unionville, Georgia

Tift County, Georgia · Population 1,688

Unionville is a census-designated place tucked into the southwestern Georgia flatlands just outside Tifton, the Tift County seat. It sits in a corridor of South Georgia where agriculture, regional healthcare, and a state college define the local economy. Unionville is effectively part of the Tifton urban fabric — sharing schools, hospital, library, and daily commerce with the city next door — but it carries its own demographic identity as a small, tight-knit Black community with a notably young population and modest, affordable housing stock.

People & Demographics

Unionville's ACS-estimated population of 2,215 is 100% Black, with no recorded white, Asian, or Hispanic residents in the 2022 five-year estimates. That profile stands in sharp contrast to Tift County overall, where the county population of 41,344 is considerably more mixed.

The community skews young. The median age is 29.1 years — well below the Georgia state median, which typically runs in the mid-to-upper 30s. Children under 18 account for 723 residents, nearly a third of the total population. Average household size is 3.49 persons, significantly above national norms, which reflects both the family-heavy household structure and the prevalence of multi-generational living. Of 635 total households, 330 are family households.

Economy & Employment

The median household income in Unionville is $49,149, which puts it in modest but not desperate territory relative to rural South Georgia benchmarks. Per capita income, however, is $19,694 — a figure pulled down by the large share of children and the concentration of lower-wage employment.

Of 802 residents in the labor force, 92 are unemployed, an unemployment rate of roughly 11.5%. The poverty count stands at 573 residents, which represents a substantial share of the population and signals real economic pressure in many households.

The Tifton regional economy leans on agriculture, food processing, healthcare, and the presence of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC), reachable by phone at (229) 391-5001. ABAC provides some local employment and educational access, though Unionville's own education attainment data shows the majority of adults over 25 hold a high school diploma as their highest credential — 532 out of 1,290 adults 25 and older. Bachelor's degree holders number just 6, while 38 residents hold master's degrees and 8 hold doctorates.

Housing

Unionville's housing market is defined by low prices and a notable vacancy rate. Of 857 total housing units, 635 are occupied and 222 sit vacant — a vacancy rate of nearly 26%, which is high by any standard and suggests both population churn and aging housing stock.

The median home value is $38,700. That number is not a typo — it reflects a very low-cost rural Southern housing market where properties are affordable in absolute terms but may also reflect deferred maintenance, older construction, and limited appreciation. Median rent is $740 per month. Of occupied units, 396 are owner-occupied and 239 are renter-occupied, giving an ownership rate of about 62%.

Schools

Unionville students attend Tift County Schools, with multiple campuses serving different grade levels.

Elementary (PreK–5): - Annie Belle Clark Elementary — 804 students - G. O. Bailey Elementary — 564 students - Len Lastinger Elementary — 466 students - Northside Elementary — 451 students - Matt Wilson Elementary — 414 students - Charles Spencer Elementary — 393 students - J. T. Reddick Elementary — 321 students

Middle (6–8): - Eighth Street Middle School — 958 students - Northeast Middle School — 703 students

High School (9–12): - Tift County High School — 2,273 students

Tift County High is a large consolidated school serving the entire county, a common structure in rural Georgia where student populations can't support multiple high schools.

Getting Around

Unionville is car-dependent. Of 710 workers with recorded commute data, 667 drove alone and 43 carpooled. Zero workers used public transit, walked, or worked from home. The aggregate commute time across all workers is 20,780 minutes, which works out to an average one-way commute of roughly 29 minutes — consistent with driving into Tifton or to employment in surrounding areas.

Anyone relocating to Unionville should plan on owning a vehicle. There is no meaningful transit infrastructure.

Healthcare

Tift Regional Medical Center is the primary hospital serving this area. The Tifton-based facility functions as the regional anchor for healthcare across multiple South Georgia counties. For a searchable directory of individual healthcare providers with Unionville or Tifton addresses, the CMS NPI Registry can be queried directly: NPI Registry — Unionville, GA.

Library

The Tifton-Tift County Public Library serves Unionville residents and sits 1.2 miles away. Contact: (229) 386-7148. It functions as the county's main public library branch and provides access to digital resources, programming, and physical collections for the surrounding community.

Natural Hazards

Tift County has a serious and well-documented history of weather-related disasters. FEMA has issued 15 declarations affecting this county since 2000:

Two separate FEMA declarations in 2024 alone — Debby and Helene — underscore that southwest Georgia sits in an active tropical weather corridor. Residents should maintain hurricane preparedness supplies and stay current with Tift County Emergency Management guidance.

Government & Municipal Code

Unionville's municipal code is published through Municode and available at https://library.municode.com/ga/unionville-cdp-georgia. No local building code is on file for this CDP, which means construction and renovation projects likely fall under Tift County or state-level standards rather than any locally adopted building ordinance.

Weather

Current forecasts and alerts for Unionville are available through the National Weather Service. The nearest weather observation station is Tifton, approximately 1.1 miles away.

South Georgia weather patterns include humid subtropical summers, occasional severe thunderstorm outbreaks, and — as the FEMA history makes clear — meaningful tropical storm and hurricane exposure from late summer through fall.

References

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