Health Profile of Macon County, Georgia

Macon County Health Score

The Map AI Health Index is a score that reflects local life expectancy, disease rates, healthcare access, and physical environment to help you quickly compare the overall health and well-being of different areas.

  • D
    Macon County Well below average
    Less healthy than 95% of counties in Georgia

Source: Map AI Methodology

Macon County
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Health grade

General Health Overview

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Metric Macon County Georgia Avg US Average
Life Expectancy (years) 76.9 75.8 78.3
Uninsured Population (%) 24.7% 12.4% 8.4%
Self-Rated Poor Health 26.4% 20.0% 16.3%

Life expectancy in Macon County is 76.9 years, about 1.1 years longer than the Georgia average of 75.8 years. The uninsured rate is 24.7%, higher than the Georgia average of 12.4%. Self-rated poor health is reported by 26.4% of residents, higher than the Georgia average of 20.0%.

Population by Age

Older residents

4,337 residents in Macon County are age 50 or older.

  • 85+ 188 41 men · 147 women
  • 75–84 503 203 men · 300 women
  • 65–74 1,226 606 men · 619 women
  • 50–64 2,420 1,200 men · 1,220 women

Younger residents

2,223 residents in Macon County are age 17 or younger.

  • 12–17 708 366 boys · 342 girls
  • 7–12 675 316 boys · 359 girls
  • 3–7 494 221 boys · 272 girls
  • 0–3 346 163 boys · 184 girls
Beyond life expectancy

About 586 residents in Macon County (4.9% of the population) are older than the area's life expectancy of 76.9 years.

76.9 yrs
Age 0 Age 100

The highlighted slice of the age axis is the share of residents older than the life-expectancy mark.

Disease Prevalence

Disease / Condition Macon County Georgia Avg US Average
Diabetes 18.1% 13.6% 11.3%
Cancer 5.9% 6.2% 6.9%
Heart Diseases 8.7% 7.6% 7.1%
Adult Obesity 42.8% 38.0% 34.3%

The rate of diabetes in Macon County is about 32% higher than in Georgia. The rate of heart disease in Macon County is about 15% higher than in Georgia.

Health Behaviors

Behavior Macon County Georgia Avg US Average
Smokers 26.1% 22.0% 19.0%
Binge Drinking 12.5% 14.6% 16.5%
Sedentary Lifestyle 36.7% 30.5% 25.1%

The rate of sedentary lifestyle in Macon County is about 20% higher than in Georgia. The rate of smoking in Macon County is about 18% higher than in Georgia.

Assuming each smoker smokes 10 cigarettes a day, that's about 25,393 cigarettes a day, 761,781 a month, or 9.3 million a year! At 11 minutes* of life lost per cigarette, that's about 279,320 minutes a day and 102.0 million a year lost to smoking overall - and since life expectancy in Macon County is 76.9 years, that's roughly equivalent to 0.01 lifetimes a day, or 2.52 lifetimes a year.

* Source: Shaw M, Mitchell R, Dorling D. "Time for a smoke? One cigarette reduces your life by 11 minutes." BMJ. 2000;320:53.

Illustrative only. This is not an estimate of how many people actually die from smoking each day or year - it's a rough, order-of-magnitude comparison meant to help grasp the scale of smoking in this area. We take no responsibility for any decisions made based on this figure.

Air Quality

Metric Macon County Georgia Avg US Average
Air Pollution (μg/m³) 8.04 7.78 6.09

With an annual average of 8.0 µg/m³ of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), air quality in Macon County is good — generally safe air quality for the vast majority of residents.

Macon County, GA Health Compared With Nearby Counties

Macon County, GA is typical in size for this group, 11,864 residents against a local median of 10,983, so the measures below are close to a like for like comparison. Where Macon County, GA breaks from the counties next to it is uninsured, sitting 108% above the local median of 11.9% at 24.7%. That is the weaker end of the local range on this measure.

The counties themselves sit within 3.8% of each other on uninsured, a tighter band than the gap between any of them and Macon County, GA, which makes it a genuine outlier here rather than one end of a wide local spread. Macon County, GA has the 6th lowest uninsured of the 6 areas compared here.

Area Population Life expectancy Uninsured Obesity
Macon County, GA 11,864 76.9 yrs #3/6 24.7% #6/6 42.8% #6/6
Taylor County, GA 7,786 74.5 yrs 10.3% 40.1%
Schley County, GA 4,513 77.1 yrs 10.1% 37.9%
Peach County, GA 28,560 74.8 yrs 12.1% 39.0%
Dooly County, GA 10,983 79.9 yrs 11.9% 41.1%
Sumter County, GA 29,061 75.9 yrs 14.0% 39.7%

Conclusion

Considering all these factors, Macon County, Georgia has an overall health index grade of D, making it about on par with Georgia, and somewhat worse than the country as a whole.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about health in Macon County, Georgia.

How healthy is Macon County, Georgia?

Macon County, Georgia has a Map AI Health Index grade of D, based on life expectancy, disease rates, healthcare access, and the physical environment; a D grade means residents face somewhat worse health outcomes than the U.S. average.

Is Macon County, Georgia one of the healthiest counties in Georgia?

Macon County ranks 151st healthiest out of 159 counties in Georgia by the Map AI Health Index, which measures life expectancy, disease rates, healthcare access, and the physical environment.

How long do people live in Macon County, Georgia?

People in Macon County, Georgia can expect to live 76.9 years on average, 1.1 years longer than the Georgia average of 75.8.

What is the uninsured rate in Macon County, Georgia?

24.7% of residents in Macon County, Georgia have no health insurance, about 1 in 4 people, 12.3 points above the Georgia rate of 12.4%.

How common is obesity in Macon County, Georgia?

42.8% of adults in Macon County, Georgia are classified as obese, about 1 in 2, 4.8 points above the Georgia rate of 38.0%.

What is the biggest health concern in Macon County, Georgia?

Compared with Georgia as a whole, diabetes stands out most: the adult rate here is 18.1%, about 32% higher than the Georgia rate of 13.6%.

How many cigarettes do smokers in Macon County, Georgia go through, and how much life does that cost?

Assuming each smoker smokes 10 cigarettes a day, that's about 25,393 cigarettes a day, 761,781 a month, or 9.3 million a year! At 11 minutes* of life lost per cigarette, that's about 279,320 minutes a day and 102.0 million a year lost to smoking overall - and since life expectancy in Macon County is 76.9 years, that's roughly equivalent to 0.01 lifetimes a day, or 2.52 lifetimes a year.

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