Bibb County, Georgia

Bibb County is a county in Georgia, United States, about 85 miles southeast of Atlanta. It had a
population of 157,346 at the 2020 census, an estimated 156,578 by 2024, and covers 255 square
miles (660 km2) centred near 32°48′N 83°42′W.

Macon is the county seat, and since January 1, 2014 Macon and Bibb County have run as a single
consolidated government, Macon–Bibb County; its postal code is 31201. Payne, a small enclave
city surrounded on all sides by Macon, held out until the Georgia General Assembly abolished it
on March 27, 2015, leaving Macon–Bibb as the county’s only municipal government. The
county runs on Eastern Time, and its FIPS code is 13021.

Towns & Villages in Bibb County

Bibb County has no other incorporated cities left to list — consolidation absorbed every
one of them into Macon–Bibb. The table below covers the county’s recognized
neighborhoods and named places instead: historic districts inside Macon, the former city of
Payne, and Lizella, an unincorporated crossroads that straddles the Bibb–Crawford county
line. CDP stands for census-designated place; Unincorp. covers a community with no formal
boundary of its own.

Payne’s population figure is its last count as an independent city, the 2010 census, taken
before its 2015 dissolution — it is not tracked separately today. Lizella sits partly in
Bibb County and partly in neighboring Crawford County, so its population is not counted as a
single Bibb County total.

ZIP Codes

• 31201 — downtown Macon
• 31204 — Vineville and the Payne area
• 31206 — south Macon
• 31210 — north Macon
• 31211 — northeast Macon
• 31216 — southwest Macon
• 31217 — east Macon
• 31220 — far north Macon, near the Monroe County line
• 31052 — Lizella

Bibb County also carries eleven PO-box-only or single-entity ZIPs (31202, 31203, 31205, 31207,
31208, 31209, 31213, 31221, 31294, 31295 and 31296) issued for USPS official mail, Mercer
University and GEICO’s regional office, none of which serve street delivery.

Geography

Bibb County lies on Georgia’s fall line, the geological boundary between the Piedmont
plateau and the coastal plain, which is why Macon shares that fall-line-city status with Augusta
and Columbus. Of its 255 square miles, about 250 are land and 5.6 are water — roughly 2.2
percent, most of it the Ocmulgee River, which runs through the county on its way to the Altamaha
River basin, and Lake Tobesofkee, a reservoir west of Macon used for boating, fishing and swimming
at two county parks.

Monroe County lies to the northwest, Jones County to the north, Twiggs County to the east,
Houston County to the south, Peach County touches Bibb’s southern edge, and Crawford County
lies to the west. Monroe
County, Jones County, Twiggs County, Peach County and Crawford County each have their
own Towns & Villages page; Houston County, home to Warner Robins and Robins Air Force Base,
does not currently have one on this site.

Demographics

Bibb County had a population of 157,346 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 156,578 residents. Macon–Bibb’s racial composition has shifted over four
decades: the non-Hispanic white share fell from 60.53 percent in 1980 to 36.09 percent in 2020,
while the Black or African American share rose from 38.35 percent to 54.17 percent over the same
period. Median household income runs $51,234 (2024, Data USA), well below Georgia’s
statewide figure of $74,632 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to roughly 629 people per
square mile of land, among the densest counties in central Georgia, reflecting the fact that the
whole county is one consolidated city rather than a mix of towns and farmland.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance is the county’s largest employment sector, with about
10,230 workers, followed by retail trade at 8,349 and educational services at 6,343. Atrium
Health Navicent and Piedmont Healthcare anchor that health care employment with major hospital
campuses in Macon. Mercer University, a private research university founded in 1833, and its Bear
athletics program are major institutional employers and a source of civic identity. GEICO runs a
regional headquarters and claims-processing operation in the county, YKK USA operates a
manufacturing plant, and Norfolk Southern Railway maintains freight operations through its rail
yards. The county’s biggest annual event is the International Cherry Blossom Festival each
March, celebrating Macon’s Yoshino cherry trees, of which the city claims more than
350,000.

History

Georgia’s General Assembly created Bibb County on December 9, 1822, naming it for Dr.
William Wyatt Bibb, a physician and congressman who went on to become Alabama’s first
governor. Macon grew up around Fort Benjamin Hawkins, built in 1809 near the Ocmulgee River, and
developed into a cotton-trading hub through the 19th century. During the Civil War the city served
as the Confederacy’s official arsenal; it escaped destruction when Union General William T.
Sherman bypassed it on his March to the Sea in 1865.

On the east bank of the Ocmulgee River, within the city, the Ocmulgee Mounds National
Historical Park preserves earthwork mounds the Mississippian culture built before 1000 CE,
including the Great Temple Mound, a ceremonial mound and a burial mound, on ground sacred to the
Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The National Park Service first protected the site as a national
monument in 1936; Congress redesignated it a national historical park in 2019 and expanded it by
about 2,100 acres. Bipartisan bills introduced in Congress in 2024 and 2025 would elevate it
further to a national park and preserve, though a 2023 federal study found the full corridor
proposal unfeasible and recommended a smaller partnership approach instead.

Voters approved merging the city of Macon and Bibb County government in July 2012 — 57.8
percent of city voters and 56.7 percent of county voters — after four earlier consolidation
attempts had failed, in 1933, 1960, 1972 and 1976. The merger took effect January 1, 2014, and
Payne City, a 218-resident enclave inside Macon, was folded in by state law on March 27, 2015.

Getting There

Interstate 75 and Interstate 16 meet in Bibb County, with Interstate 475 bypassing downtown
Macon to the west. US 23, US 41 and US 80 also run through the county.

• Atlanta — about 85 miles northwest
• Warner Robins — about 10 miles south
• Savannah — about 165 miles southeast

Middle Georgia Regional Airport, on Macon’s south side, and Macon Downtown Airport handle
general aviation; Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, roughly 85 miles
northwest, is the nearest major commercial airport. Bibb County has no Amtrak service; the
nearest station is in Atlanta.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Bibb County located?
It sits on Georgia’s fall line in the center of the state, about 85 miles southeast of
Atlanta, bordered by Monroe, Jones, Twiggs, Houston, Peach and Crawford counties.

What is the population of Bibb County?
157,346 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 156,578.

How big is Bibb County?
255 square miles (660 km2), of which about 250 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Bibb County?
Macon is the county seat, and since 2014 it has governed the entire county as the consolidated
Macon–Bibb County.

How many towns and cities are in Bibb County?
None, separately — Macon–Bibb County absorbed the last one, Payne City, in 2015.
Named neighborhoods and places include Vineville, Downtown Macon, East Macon, North Macon and the
unincorporated community of Lizella.

What ZIP codes does Bibb County use?
31201 through 31221 for Macon, plus a handful of PO-box-only and single-entity codes, and 31052
for Lizella.

What is Bibb County known for?
The Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, Mercer University, and the International Cherry
Blossom Festival held every March.

More counties in this state: Towns
and villages in Georgia.