Tybee is a barrier island at the mouth of the Savannah River, about eighteen miles out from Savannah along US 80, over the Bull River and Lazaretto Creek bridges. Georgia DOT names it the only road connection between the island and the mainland, which shapes everything from a weekday commute to a hurricane season.
At the north end, the Tybee Island Light Station stands with its museum, and the museum itself occupies Battery Garland, part of the coastal defense works of Fort Screven. Down at the south end, at Strand Avenue and Tybrisa Street, the pavilion sits at the foot of an ocean fishing pier, and the Marine Science Center keeps aquariums of what lives off the beach.
Cockspur Island, on the way out, carries several of the landmarks people file under Tybee. Fort Pulaski National Monument is there, along with the Coast Guard station and the Savannah Bar Pilots’ dock.
The island incorporated in 1887 and the Census now counts a mixed place. It recorded 3,114 residents in 2020 against 2,994 housing units, and 1,048 of those homes were held for seasonal, recreational or occasional use, thirty-five percent. The other 1,500 were occupied as somebody’s usual residence, and the estimate for July 2025 was 3,156, so about a third of the island is visitors and the rest is neighbors, all of it within twenty miles of a working port city.
That balance is what the economy runs on. Tourism drives it, with accommodation, food service and rental activity behind it, according to the Georgia Southern study the city hosts. Savannah-Chatham County Public School System serves the island, and Tybee Island Maritime Academy operates here as a district-authorized charter school.
Sourced: incorporation 1887, City of Tybee Island. Population and housing units, U.S. Census Bureau 2020 count and Vintage 2025 estimate. Sole road connection, Georgia DOT. Lighthouse, pier, science center and Fort Screven, City of Tybee Island and Chatham County. Fort Pulaski and the Cockspur Island facilities, National Park Service. Economy, Georgia Southern University 2023 study hosted by the city. Seasonal use, 2020 Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics file, table H5, vacancy status. Occupied housing, the same file, table H3, occupancy status. Charter school, Savannah-Chatham County Public School System.