Chatham County ( ) is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of Georgia, on the state's Atlantic coast. The county seat and largest city is Savannah. One of the original counties of Georgia, Chatham County was created February 5, 1777, and is named after William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham.
The U.S. Census Bureau's 2025 estimated population for Chatham County was 311,855 residents. The official 2020 U.S. census population was 295,291 residents, an increase of 11.4% from the official 2010 population of 265,128. Chatham County is the fifth-most-populous county in Georgia, and the state's most populous outside the Atlanta metropolitan area. The county is the core of the Savannah metropolitan area.
Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which (32.6%) is covered by water.
Chatham County is the northernmost of Georgia's coastal counties on the Atlantic Ocean. It is bounded on the northeast by the Savannah River, and in the southwest bounded by the Ogeechee River.
The bulk of Chatham County, an area with a northern border in a line from Bloomingdale to Tybee Island, is located in the Ogeechee River Coastal subbasin of the Ogeechee River basin. The portion of the county north of that line is located in the lower Savannah River subbasin of the Savannah River basin, while the very southern fringes of the Chatham County are located in the lower Ogeechee River subbasin of the Ogeechee River basin.
Major highways
(Interstate 16) (Interstate 95) (Interstate 516)
(decommissioned)
(unsigned designation for I-16)
(unsigned designation for I-95) (unsigned designation for I-516) (Savannah River Parkway)
Adjacent counties Jasper County, South Carolina – north Beaufort County, South Carolina – northeast Bryan County – west/southwest Liberty County - southeast Effingham County – northwest
National protected areas Fort Pulaski National Monument Savannah National Wildlife Refuge (part) Wassaw National Wildlife Refuge
Communities Municipalities
Cities
Bloomingdale Garden City Pooler Port Wentworth Savannah (county seat) Tybee Island
Towns Thunderbolt Vernonburg
Census-designated places
Dutch Island Georgetown Henderson Isle of Hope Montgomery Skidaway Island Talahi Island Whitemarsh Island Wilmington Island
Other unincorporated communities Pin Point Sandfly
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition +Chatham County, Georgia – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)121,234129,145125,802133,492139,43359.95%59.53%54.21%50.35%47.22%Black or African American alone (NH)76,64882,17993,463105,274108,01137.90%37.88%40.28%39.71%36.58%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)2374375175876190.12%0.20%0.22%0.22%0.21%Asian alone (NH)1,4182,2763,9926,22910,6200.70%1.05%1.72%2.35%3.60%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)x included in the Asian category in the 1980 Censusx included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census128224408xx0.06%0.08%0.14%Other race alone (NH)4131163114761,4470.20%0.05%0.13%0.18%0.49%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census2,4324,47610,963xx1.05%1.69%3.71%Hispanic or Latino (any race)2,2762,7825,40314,37023,7901.13%1.28%2.33%5.42%8.06%Total202,226216,935232,048265,128295,291 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 295,291. Of the residents, 20.5% were under the age of 18 and 16.1% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 36.4 years. For every 100 females there were 91.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 88.5 males. 97.0% of residents lived in urban areas and 3.0% lived in rural areas.
The racial makeup of the county was 48.7% White, 37.0% Black or African American, 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 3.6% Asian, 0.2% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 3.9% from some other race, and 6.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race made up 8.1% of the population.
There were 118,480 households in the county, of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 34.6% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 30.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 134,146 housing units, of which 11.7% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 54.3% were owner-occupied and 45.7% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.3%.
Education
Public schools are operated by Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools. The entire county is in the district. - Text list
Savannah State University is partly in the Savannah city limits and partly in an unincorporated area.
Savannah College of Art and Design is in Savannah.
Libraries The Live Oak Public Libraries constitute a regional library system that provides services to three Georgia counties: Chatham, Effingham, and Liberty. The former name of the system, "Chatham Effingham Liberty Regional Library," described this collaboration. In 2002, the name was changed to Live Oak, which reflects the personality of the region, as well as the life and growth of its branches. At the beginning of the 20th century, city leaders in Savannah began to discuss the need for a public library. The history of libraries in Chatham County dates to 1903. According to Geraldine LeMay, former director of the Savannah Public Chatham-Effingham and Liberty Regional Library, the Georgia Historical Society and the city of Savannah worked out a plan that year to establish the Savannah Public Library. The idea was the brainchild of the Georgia Historical Society, which set up a planning committee to determine how the facilities of the society might best be useful to the city of Savannah. In a joint meeting of committee members from the society and the city of Savannah, a free public library was established that would prove to be of great value to the community. This library, however, did not serve citizens of color.
The parties agreed to allow free use of the society's books, provide physical space for the library, and annually contribute $500 in financial support for the library. In turn, the city would contribute $3,000 in annual support. The library opened in June 1903, but did not fully serve the public until November. By 1909, the Georgia Historical Society was no longer able to meet its financial commitment, leaving the city to provide full financial support. The library remained at Hodgson Hall, the space provided by the Georgia Historical Society, until 1915. From its early beginnings, the library offered special services to the community, including a department for children (although no one under the age of 14 was permitted to borrow books). The physical space at Hodgson Hall became too small to accommodate a large reference department, so the library established only a small collection of reference materials.. In 1916, the Savannah Public Library opened to doors to a new facility on Bull Street within the Savannah Victorian Historic District. The new facility was made possible by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation. As the library grew in popularity, it again found itself needing more space. The building was able to add additional space in 1936 thanks to a grant from the U.S. Works Progress Administration (WPA). With an ever-increasing population the library's board of directors decided to expand services beyond the Main Library. In 1916, two branch libraries were opened: the East Side Branch at Habersham and Congress Streets, and the Waters Avenue Branch. The services provided by these two branches were confined to children. To help further expand services, the Georgia Historical Society once again offered the library space at Hodgson Hall to be used as a branch library. This move was of mutual benefit to both the library and the Society. The library gained needed space for a downtown branch and the Society could organize and catalog materials. According to the history written by Lemay, some 5,027 volumes belonging to the Georgia Historical Society were cataloged by the library. This branch library continued operating until 1948, when it was sold to Armstrong Junior College (now Georgia Southern University-Armstrong Campus) to establish an academic library.
In 1924 a traveling book collection was instituted and placed in four public elementary schools; other schools were added when available materials and staff time allowed. In 1926, the Savannah Morning News donated space for a Downtown branch to primarily serve the business community. The Downtown branch experienced several changes in venues over the years until it was given a permanent home in the Gamble Building. The Gamble Building sits on Factors' Walk, on Bay Street next to Savannah's City Hall. With this move, the branch was renamed in honor of Ola Wyeth, the former president of the Georgia Library Association (1925).
In 1940 a bookmobile service was started to provide outreach to rural communities around Savannah. The Effingham County Library joined the Savannah Public Library in 1945 to form the Chatham–Effingham County Regional Library. In 1956, the library system was expanded to include Liberty County, resulting in the Chatham–Effingham–Liberty Regional Library (CEL).
When the United States Supreme Court declared de jure segregation illegal and unconstitutional, the library system experienced one of its greatest changes. As a result of this ruling, the "Library for the Colored Citizens of Savannah" was brought under the auspices of the Chatham-Effingham-Liberty Regional Library System (1963). This move made the library system a truly "free public library" serving all the citizens of Chatham, Effingham, and Liberty counties.
Government and infrastructure Board of Commissioners Chatham County is governed by a Board of Commissioners, composed of one chairperson elected countywide and eight members elected by district. Democrats currently have a 6–3 majority.
+Current composition of the Chatham County Board of Commissioners District Name Affiliation First elected Chair Chester Ellis Democratic 2020 1 Wayne Noha Republican 2024 2 Malinda Scott Hodge Democratic 2023 3 Bobby Lockett Democratic 2016 4 Brian Hussey Republican 2026 5 Tanya Milton Democratic 2020 6 Adot Whitely Democratic 2020 7 Dean Kicklighter Republican 2000 8 Marsha Buford Democratic 2024
Policing The Coastal State Prison, a Georgia Department of Corrections state prison, is located in Savannah, near Garden City."City of Savannah Neighborhoods 2008 ." City of Savannah. Retrieved on September 15, 2010."Coastal State Prison ." Georgia Department of Corrections. Retrieved on September 15, 2010.
Unincorporated Chatham County is primarily served by the Chatham County Police Department. (CCPD) and the Georgia State Patrol. The Chatham County Sheriff's Office is the enforcement arm of the county court system and operates the county jail. Except for the Town of Vernonburg, every incorporated town and city in Chatham County has its own police department.
Politics As of the 2020s, Chatham County is a Democratic Party stronghold, voting 58% for Kamala Harris in 2024. Chatham County was one of the earliest counties in Georgia to turn Republican and shake off its Solid South roots. From 1952 to 2000, the county voted for the Republican candidate for president all but four times. In 1968, Hubert Humphrey carried Chatham County by 95 votes over second-place Richard Nixon, and Chatham was one of only eight Georgia counties in which George Wallace came in as low as third place. Jimmy Carter won a majority in both of his runs for president, and in 1996, Bill Clinton became the first non-Georgian Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win a majority.