The Augusta metropolitan area, officially the Augusta-Richmond County metropolitan statistical area according to the U.S.

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The office's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, while it also examines agency pro ...

, Census Bureau and other agencies, is a metropolitan statistical area centered on the city of

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

. It straddles two U.S. states,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, and includes the Georgia counties of Richmond, Burke, Columbia, Lincoln, and McDuffie as well as the South Carolina counties of Aiken and Edgefield. The official 2023 U.S. census estimate for the area was 629,429 residents, up from 611,000 at the 2020 U.S. census.

Geography

The Augusta metropolitan area consists of seven counties: five in Georgia, and two in South Carolina. Among the counties making up the metropolitan region, Richmond, Aiken, and Columbia were its most populous. Making up more than 4,045 sq mi (10,480 square kilometers) in total area, the MSA would be larger than

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

if it were a U.S. state.

Georgia metropolitan counties

South Carolina metropolitan counties

Communities

Demographics

According to the 2000 United States census, there were 499,684 people, 184,801 households, and 132,165 families residing within the MSA. By the 2020 census, its population was 611,000, with a 2021 census-estimated metropolitan population of 624,083. In 2000, the racial and ethnic composition of the Augusta metropolitan area was 60.81% White American, 35.09% Black or African American, 0.32% Native American, 1.42%

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

, 0.08%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.85% from other races, and 1.43% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

and Latino Americans of any race were 2.40% of the population. According to the 2022

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

, its racial and ethnic makeup was 52% White, 34% African American, 2% Asian, 1% other, 4% multiracial, and 6% Hispanic or Latino of any race. In 2000, the median income for a household in the MSA was $36,933, and the median income for a family was $42,869. Males had a median income of $34,574 versus $22,791 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the MSA was $17,652. In 2022, the estimated median household income was $64,851 with a per capita income of $34,401. Of its population, 40% earned less than $50,000 annually; 29% earned from $50,000 to $100,000 annually; 23% $100,000 to $200,000; and 8% earned more than $200,000 annually. Among the metropolitan population, approximately 15% lived at or below the poverty line.

Religion

In terms of religious adherence and observance,

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

is the MSA's largest religion. Located within the Bible Belt,

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

became the largest religious group during

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and the establishment of the Province of Georgia. Before European exploration and colonization of the Americas,

Native American religions Native American religions, Native American faith or American Indian religions are the indigenous religion, indigenous spiritual practices of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Ceremonial ways can vary widely and are based on the differing ...

were predominant in the present-day metropolitan area. According to a 2020 study by the

Association of Religion Data Archives The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) is a free source of online information related to American and international religion. One of the primary goals of the archive is to democratize access to academic information on religion by making t ...

, the largest overall Christian groups were

Baptists Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

, non-denominational Protestants, and Catholics; and the largest Christian denominations were the

Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestant, and the second-largest Chr ...

, the Catholic Church,

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

, and the National Baptist Convention, USA and National Missionary Baptist Convention. Prominent non-mainstream Christian denominations were the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

. In the same 2020 Association of Religion Data Archives study,

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

is the Augusta metropolitan area's second-largest religion, followed by

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

, the Baha'i Faith,

Sikhism Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...

, and

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...

. Among its metropolitan Jewish community, the largest Jewish denominations or movements were

Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism, also known as Masorti Judaism, is a Jewish religious movements, Jewish religious movement that regards the authority of Jewish law and tradition as emanating primarily from the assent of the people through the generations ...

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Oral, as literally revelation, revealed by God in Ju ...

, and Chabad.

Economy

The largest metropolitan industries are medicine, biotechnology, cyber security, manufacturing, and education. Prominent employers and organizations throughout the region have been Augusta University, Augusta Technical College, Paine College, East Georgia State College and

Georgia Military College Georgia Military College (GMC) is a Public college, public military junior college in Milledgeville, Georgia. It is divided into the junior college, a military junior college program, high school, middle school, and elementary school. It was ori ...

, the Richmond County School System, Savannah River Site, Encompass Health Corporation,

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, Teleperformance, and

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

. Among the colleges and universities, Augusta University has made an economic impact of $2.24 billion and more than 21,000 jobs to the state's economy as of 2022.

Transportation

Airports

* Augusta Regional Airport * Daniel Field

Interstates and other highways

* * * * * * * (follows US 1 from Jefferson County line to Gordon Highway; leaves Georgia at James U. Jackson Memorial Bridge) * (various roads, including John C. Calhoun Expressway and Washington Road) * * in southern Richmond County * * * * * *

References

{{Colleges and universities in the Central Savannah River Area * https://web.archive.org/web/20131013222920/http://2010.census.gov/2010census/popmap/ Geography of Richmond County, Georgia Geography of Aiken County, South Carolina Geography of Columbia County, Georgia Geography of Edgefield County, South Carolina Geography of Burke County, Georgia Geography of McDuffie County, Georgia Metropolitan areas of Georgia (U.S. state) Regions of South Carolina

Geography

Georgia metropolitan counties

South Carolina metropolitan counties

Communities

Places with more than 100,000 inhabitants

Places with 10,000 to 40,000 inhabitants

Places with 5,000 to 10,000 inhabitants

Places with 1,000 to 5,000 inhabitants

Places with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants