Tennille, Georgia
Seal of Georgia
Tennille · Washington County, Georgia
Population 1,605 (est. 2026: ~1,800)
Source: Census ACS 2023 · ACS 2023 + 2.8% annual growth projection

Tennille, Georgia

Washington County, Georgia · Population 1,469

Tennille sits at the geographic heart of Washington County in middle Georgia, roughly equidistant between Augusta and Macon along U.S. Highway 80. It serves as the county seat of Washington County and functions as a small hub for the surrounding agricultural flatlands — a town shaped by deep-rooted ties to tobacco and kaolin farming country, where the pace is deliberate and the community is tight-knit. With fewer than 1,500 residents, Tennille is not a suburb or a bedroom community. It is a standalone small town where most daily needs either happen locally or require a drive.

People & Demographics

The 2022 ACS counts 1,522 residents in Tennille, organized into 625 households with an average household size of 2.39. The median age is 38.6. The racial composition is predominantly Black — 1,176 residents — alongside 306 white residents and 7 Asian residents. No Hispanic or Latino population was recorded in the ACS data.

Of those households, 399 are family households. Children under 18 account for 226 residents. Washington County overall holds 19,988 people, meaning Tennille accounts for roughly 7.5% of the county's population despite being its seat.

Economy & Employment

The median household income in Tennille is $27,426 — a figure that sits significantly below the Georgia state median, which hovers around $65,000. Per capita income comes in at $20,220. Of the 1,522 residents counted, 406 fall below the federal poverty line, representing a poverty rate of roughly 27%.

The labor force numbers 687. Of those, 34 are unemployed, translating to an unemployment rate near 5%. The local economy reflects the broader Washington County pattern: government employment, healthcare through Washington County Regional Medical Center, and agriculture-adjacent industries form the backbone of local work. Oconee Fall Line Technical College, reachable by phone at 478-553-2050, provides workforce training and credential pathways for residents seeking to enter or advance in skilled trades and technical fields.

Housing

Tennille has 822 total housing units. Of those, 625 are occupied and 197 sit vacant — a vacancy rate of about 24%, which signals the kind of population contraction common to small Georgia county seats over the past few decades.

Of occupied units, 331 are owner-occupied and 294 are renter-occupied — an unusually close split that reflects a town with a substantial renter population relative to its size. The median home value is $86,900, which makes Tennille among the more affordable places to own property in Georgia. Median gross rent is $758 per month. For buyers or renters priced out of Augusta or Macon, the numbers are hard to argue with, though the tradeoff is limited local amenity infrastructure.

Schools

Tennille's students are served by Washington County Schools, a single countywide district. All four schools draw from across the county, not Tennille alone.

Total enrollment across all four schools exceeds 2,800, reflecting that the school system serves the entire county population, not just Tennille.

Getting Around

Tennille is car-dependent without qualification. Of 618 total workers, 445 drove alone to work and 147 carpooled. Zero workers reported using public transit or walking. Only 17 worked from home. The aggregate travel time for all workers combined was 12,870 minutes, putting the average one-way commute at roughly 21 minutes — consistent with workers commuting to Sandersville, Dublin, or other nearby county-seat employment centers.

There is no local public transit.

Healthcare

Washington County Regional Medical Center serves as the primary hospital for Tennille and the surrounding county. The facility is located within the county and handles inpatient, outpatient, and emergency care for an area with limited healthcare alternatives. For specialized care, residents typically travel to Augusta or Macon.

Local provider listings are searchable through the CMS NPI Registry: Search Tennille, GA providers.

Library

The Rosa M. Tarbutton Memorial Library serves Tennille and Washington County residents, located 1.4 miles from Tennille's center. Reach the library at 478-552-7466. The library is part of the public library system anchoring community access to resources in a county with limited digital infrastructure alternatives.

Parks & Recreation

Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, a unit of the National Park System, lies approximately 47.6 miles southwest of Tennille near Macon. The park preserves one of the most significant archaeological sites in the American Southeast, featuring massive earthen mounds built by Indigenous peoples over more than ten millennia. The visitor center is on-site at the park. For residents of Tennille, it represents the closest major NPS destination.

Natural Hazards

Washington County has a documented and substantial FEMA disaster history. Atlantic hurricanes are the dominant threat — Hurricane Irma (2017), Hurricane Michael (2018), and Hurricane Helene (2024) all generated federal disaster or emergency declarations for the county. Helene triggered both an emergency declaration on September 26, 2024, and a major disaster declaration on September 30, 2024, indicating serious impact.

Severe winter storms also recur with meaningful frequency: declarations in 1993, 2014, and January 2026 all reflect ice and snow events capable of crippling rural middle Georgia's road network. The COVID-19 pandemic generated dual declarations in March 2020. Tropical Storm Frances hit in 2004, and the county even appears in records from a 1977 drought and a 1993 "Storm of the Century" snowfall event.

Residents and property owners should account for both hurricane wind/flooding risk and winter storm vulnerability when planning.

Government & Municipal Code

Tennille's municipal code is published through Municode and accessible at library.municode.com/ga/tennille-city-georgia. The municipality does not have a local building code on file in the available records.

Weather

Current forecasts for Tennille are available through the National Weather Service: NWS Forecast for Tennille, GA. Active weather alerts can be checked at NWS Alerts. The nearest weather observation station is located in Sandersville, approximately 1.0 mile away.

References

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