The community was named after Lord Byron, the British Romantic poet. A former variant name was "Jackson", but the name was changed in order to avoid repetition with the Jackson in Butts County. The Georgia General Assembly incorporated the place as the "Town of Byron" in 1874.
Geography
Byron is located in the northeast corner of Peach County at , near the geographic center of Georgia. Interstate 75 passes through the eastern side of the city, with access from Exits 146 and 149. Byron is south of Atlanta, south of Macon, and northeast of the Peach County seat of Fort Valley. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, of which, or 0.28%, are water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,887 people, 1,061 households, and 829 families residing in the city. The population density was 495.7 people per square mile. There were 1,177 housing units at an average density of 202.1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 76.69% White, 20.23% African American, 0.38% Native American, 0.52% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 0.55% from other races, and 1.52% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.83% of the population. There were 1,061 households, out of which 38.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.8% were married couplesliving together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.8% were non-families. 18.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.09. In the city, the population was spread out, with 28.6% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 9.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median agewas 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $45,691, and the median income for a family was $51,051. Males had a median income of $36,134 versus $26,250 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,811. About 8.5% of families and 11.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.0% of those under age 18 and 16.2% of those age 65 or over.
