Macon officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Macon lies near the state’s geographic center, about 85 miles southeast of Atlanta—hence the city’s nickname, “The Heart of Georgia”.

Located near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, Macon had a 2020 population of 157,346.It is the principal city of the Macon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of 233,802 in 2020.[3] Macon is also the largest city in the Macon–Warner Robins Combined Statistical Area (CSA), a larger trading area with an estimated 420,693 residents in 2017; the CSA abuts the Atlanta metropolitan area just to the north.

In a 2012 referendum, voters approved the consolidation of the governments of the City of Macon and Bibb County, and Macon became Georgia’s fourth-largest city (just after Augusta). The two governments officially merged on January 1, 2014.

Macon is served by three interstate highways: I-16 (connecting the city to Savannah and coastal Georgia), I-75 (connecting the city with Atlanta to the north and Valdosta to the south), and I-475 (a city bypass highway).

The city has several institutions of higher education, as well as numerous museums and tourism sites. The area is served by Middle Georgia Regional Airport and Herbert Smart Downtown Airport.