Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia and the county seat of Richmond County. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina, at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third-most-populous city in Georgia (following Atlanta and Columbus), is situated in the Fall Line region of the state.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Augusta had a 2020 population of 202,071 and a 2025 estimated population of 201,999, not counting the independent cities of Blythe and Hephzibah located within the boundaries of Augusta-Richmond County. It is the 124th-most-populous city in the United States and the 92nd-largest metropolitan area. The process of consolidation between the city of Augusta and Richmond County began with a 1995 referendum in the two jurisdictions. The merger was completed on July 1, 1996, but it excluded the municipalities of Blythe and Hephzibah. Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta metropolitan area. In 2020, the metro area had a population of 611,000, making it the second-largest in the state (after Atlanta) and the ninth-most-populous urban center in the Deep South.
Augusta was established in 1736 and is named in honor of Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (1719–1772), the bride of Frederick, Prince of Wales and the mother of the British monarch George III. During the American Civil War, Augusta housed the principal Confederate Powderworks."Augusta", in The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1994), p. 56. Augusta's warm climate made it a major resort town of the Eastern United States in the early to mid-20th century. Internationally, Augusta is best known for hosting professional golfing's Masters Tournament each spring. The Masters brings over 200,000 visitors from around the world to the Augusta National Golf Club.
Augusta lies about 148 miles from downtown Atlanta (two hours by car) via I-20. The city is home to Fort Gordon, a major U.S. Army base formerly known as Fort Eisenhower. In 2016, the new National Cyber Security Headquarters was announced to be based in Augusta.
History
Establishment
In 1735, two years after James Oglethorpe founded Savannah, he sent a detachment of troops to explore the upper Savannah River. He gave them an order to build a fort at the head of the navigable part of the river. The expedition was led by Noble Jones, who the following year created a settlement as a first line of defense for coastal areas against potential Spanish or French invasion from the interior. Oglethorpe named the town in honor of Princess Augusta, the mother of King George III and the wife of Frederick, Prince of Wales.
Oglethorpe visited Augusta in September 1739 on his return to Savannah from a perilous visit to Coweta Town, near present-day Phenix City, Alabama. There, he had met with a convention of 7,000 Native American warriors and concluded a peace treaty with them in their territories in northern and western Georgia.Memorial History of Augusta, Georgia: from Its Settlement in 1735 to the Close of the Eighteenth Century by Charles Colcock Jones, Salem Dutcher (Augusta, GA: D. Mason, 1890) page 31 During the American Revolutionary War, the Siege of Augusta resulted in the retaking the city from the British by the Americans. Augusta was the second state capital of Georgia from 1785 until 1795. A historical marker in Augusta reads:
Development Augusta developed rapidly as a market town as the Black Belt in the Piedmont was developed for cotton cultivation. Invention of the cotton gin made processing of short-staple cotton profitable, and this type of cotton was well-suited to the upland areas. Cotton plantations were worked by slave labor, with hundreds of thousands of slaves shipped from the Upper South to the Deep South in the domestic slave trade. Many of the slaves were brought from the Lowcountry, where their Gullah culture had developed on the large Sea Island cotton and rice plantations.
During the American Civil War, Augusta was home to many war industries, including the main facilities of the vast Confederate Powderworks. After the war, Augusta had a booming textile industry, lead by the construction of many mills along the Augusta Canal to include Enterprise Mill, Sibley Mill, and King Mill.
The devastating Augusta fire of 1916 damaged 25 blocks of the city's downtown and wiped out many buildings of historical significance, some dating back to the 18th century.
Augusta was a major center of economic activity during Reconstruction and thereafter. In the mid-20th century, it was a site of civil-rights demonstrations. In 1970, Charles Oatman, a mentally disabled teenager, was killed by his cellmates in an Augusta jail. A protest against his death broke out into a riot involving some 500 people; during the unrest, six Black men were killed by police, each found to have been shot in the back."Baltimore is Everywhere," New York Magazine, May 18–31, 2015, p. 33. Noted singer and entertainer James Brown, a native of Augusta, was called in to help quell lingering tensions, at which he succeeded.
Hyde Park contamination
In 1993, an area known as Hyde Park in Augusta was investigated by the EPA for contamination. The investigation totaled $1.2million. Air, groundwater, and soil were all believed to be contaminated, and people living in the area were hoping for government assistance to move away from Hyde Park. Two of five neighborhoods in Hyde Park appeared to have arsenic, chromium, and dioxin, while all five were found to have PCBs and lead. However, residents were told it was not a risk to their health unless they somehow ingested it on a regular basis. At the time the article was written, the citizens still questioned why the EPA and the Agency for Toxic Disease Registry did not consider these chemicals as a threat to them. Hyde Park also has higher rates of certain illnesses (such as cancer, infections, and rashes) than the average in America, and the citizens question why that was not considered.
Geography
Augusta is located along the Georgia/South Carolina border, about east of Atlanta and west of Columbia, South Carolina.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the Augusta–Richmond County balance has a total area of , of which (1.42%) are covered by water.
Augusta is located about halfway up the Savannah River on the fall line, which creates a number of small falls on the river. The city marks the end of a navigable waterway for the river and the entry to the Georgia Piedmont area.
The Clarks Hill Dam is built on the fall line near Augusta, forming Clarks Hill Lake. Farther downstream, near the border of Columbia County, is the Stevens Creek Dam, which generates hydroelectric power. Even farther downstream is the Augusta Diversion Dam, which marks the beginning of the Augusta Canal and channels Savannah River waters into the canal."Officials consider relicensing Augusta Canal" , Augusta Chronicle, June 29, 2003
Climate As with the rest of the state, Augusta has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), with short, mild winters, very hot, humid summers, and a wide diurnal temperature variation throughout much of the year, despite its low elevation and humidity. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from in January to in July; 53 nights have the low reach the freezing mark, 82 days reach or exceed , and 5 days reach annually. Extreme temperatures range from on January 21, 1985, up to on August 10, 2007, and August 21, 1983. Snowfall is not nearly as common as in Atlanta, due largely to Augusta's elevation, with downtown Augusta being about lower than downtown Atlanta. The heaviest recorded snowfall was in February 1973, with Freezing rain is also a threat in wintertime.
Demographics
+Augusta Richmond consolidated government (balance), Georgia – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010White alone (NH)85,34073,27765,72143.72%37.42%32.52%Black or African American alone (NH)97,517105,921111,53549.96%54.08%55.19%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)4915574800.25%0.28%0.24%Asian alone (NH)2,9253,2593,8981.50%1.66%1.93%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)2223703860.11%0.19%0.19%Other race alone (NH)3593058800.18%0.16%0.44%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)2,8814,1027,9101.48%2.09%3.91%Hispanic or Latino (any race)5,4478,05311,2712.79%4.11%5.58%Total195,182195,844202,081100.00%100.00%100.00%
At the 2020 United States census, 202,081 people, 66,838 households, and 41,517 families were residing in the city. During the 2010 U.S. census, the city's population was 195,844, up from 195,182 at the 2000 United States census.
In 2000, the city's racial and ethnic composition was 43.72% non-Hispanic White, 49.96% African American, 0.25% Native American, 1.50% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 0.18% some other race, 1.48% multiracial, and 2.79% Hispanic or Latino of any race. By the 2020 census, its racial and ethnic makeup was 35.52% non-Hispanic White, 55.19% African American, 0.24% Asian, 1.93% Asian, 0.19% Pacific Islander, 0.44% some other race, 3.91% multiracial, and 5.58% Hispanic or Latino of any race. This reflected nationwide trends of greater diversification since the beginning of the 21st century.
Economy
Augusta is a regional center of medicine, biotechnology, and cyber security. Augusta University, the state's only public health sciences graduate university, employs over 7,000 people. Along with Piedmont Augusta, the Medical District of Augusta employs over 25,000 people and has an economic impact over $1.8 billion.
The city's three largest employers are Augusta University, the Savannah River Site (a Department of Energy nuclear facility), and the U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence at Fort Gordon, which oversees training for Cyber, Signal Corps, and Electronic Warfare.
With the establishment of the Georgia Cyber Center in downtown Augusta, the Augusta metro region has become a hub for cyber security-based companies looking to locate to the area, in part, as well to the establishment of the U.S. Army Cyber Command relocating to Fort Gordon from Fort Meade. Augusta plays host to TechNet annually, which brings in various military, government, and private-sector leaders to the area to showcase new cyber-related products, as well as discussions on cyber-based collaboration efforts between the public and private sectors.
As of February 2025, the metro area unemployment rate was 4.5%, slightly above the national average.
Companies that have facilities, headquarters, or distribution centers in the Augusta metro area include CareSouth, NutraSweet, T-Mobile, Covidien, Solo Cup Company, Automatic Data Processing, Clearwater Paper, Solvay S.A., Bridgestone, Teleperformance, Olin Corporation, Sitel, E-Z-GO, Taxslayer, Elanco, KSB Company (Georgia Iron Works), Club Car (Worldwide Headquarters), Halocarbon, MTU Friedrichshafen (subsidiary of Tognum), Kimberly Clark Corporation, Nutrien (formerly PotashCorp), John Deere, Kellogg's and Delta Air Lines' baggage call center.
Top employers According to the Augusta Economic Development Authority as of 2013,City of Augusta Largest Employers Retrieved November 14, 2013 the top manufacturing employers in the city were:
Rank Employer Number of employees 1Textron Specialized Vehicles1,350 2Graphic Packaging International963 3Ferrara USA900 4FPL Food660 5Thermal Ceramics400 6Cardinal Health390 7Nutrien390 8Augusta Coca-Cola300 9Solvay Advanced Partners300 10Starbucks260
The top public sector employers were: Rank Employer Number of employees 1Fort Gordon29,252 2Augusta University6,7753NSA Georgia6,000 4Augusta University Health System5,341 5Richmond County School System4,418 6Piedmont Augusta3,000 7Augusta–Richmond County2,840 8Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center2,082 9Doctors Hospital1,837 10East Central Regional Hospital1,400
Arts and culture Historic districts