Bryan County
and Richmond Hill
About richmond hill and bryan county
Richmond Hill is the city most people are looking for when they search this area. It sits along the Ogeechee River with marsh views and waterfront neighborhoods. The Henry Ford history is woven into the fabric of the place — he bought thousands of acres here in the 1930s and built infrastructure that shaped what Richmond Hill became. Pembroke is the county seat, smaller and quieter, with a more rural character and Black Creek Golf Club anchoring its southern edge. Ellabell is early in its growth story, positioned right in the path of development pressure coming from the Hyundai corridor.
Bryan County sits about 20 miles south of Savannah along the I-95 corridor, and it's been one of the faster-growing counties in Georgia for several years running. The growth has real structural support behind it — Fort Stewart to the southwest, the Port of Savannah and Gulfstream to the north, and the Hyundai Metaplant just across the county line driving a new wave of demand that hasn't fully worked its way through the market yet.
If you want coastal Georgia living with more space and newer construction (without paying Savannah prices) Bryan County is where that conversation starts.
Bryan County is two counties in one
Bryan County splits down the middle, and the two halves ask a different question of you. The southeastern side is Richmond Hill, coastal and on the Ogeechee, growing along Highway 144 and US 17. The northwestern side is Pembroke, the county seat, and Ellabell, rural and unincorporated. What's worth knowing is what changes when you cross between them.
Richmond Hill is the name that travels furthest past its own boundary. A house advertised as Richmond Hill might be inside the city, or in unincorporated Bryan County with a Richmond Hill mailing address, or inside a named private community with its own gate and its own rules. Those are three different tax and permitting situations.
Ellabell is a locality rather than a city. There's no City of Ellabell and no city zoning, so Bryan County handles development out there. The name also does duty as shorthand for the whole area around the Hyundai plant, which is fair enough in conversation — the plant's address really is Ellabell — though it sits on the 280 corridor closer to Pembroke than to Richmond Hill, and the parcels around it don't all fall the same way on a map.
If you have your eye on Bryan County but you're not certain yet where you want to land, or what communities there are to choose from, reach out! I'm happy to put a list together for you.
What changes when you cross into Bryan County
The school system changes. Bryan County has its own district, separate from Savannah-Chatham, and assignment there is set by address the same way. There's more about how schools work around here on my Savannah schools page.
So do your tax layers. Bryan County and the Bryan County Board of Education apply throughout, and a City of Richmond Hill or City of Pembroke line comes on top where the parcel sits inside those limits. Ellabell has no city line of its own, being unincorporated.
Richmond Hill adopted its first local historic district along Ford Avenue in 2023, running from the Courthouse Annex down to the corner at Timber Trail. It's a short stretch, and Ford Avenue as a road runs a good deal longer than the district on it. If a house does fall inside, that shapes what you can do to the exterior, and it's part of why that stretch still looks the way it does.
Out toward Pembroke and Ellabell, water and septic arrangements vary road by road, so it's worth asking early which one a house is on. Flood is decided parcel by parcel inland exactly as it is on the coast.
EXPLORE RICHMOND HILL & BRYAN COUNTY
Homes for Sale in Richmond Hill and Bryan County
OPEN HOUSES IN RICHMOND HILL AND BRYAN COUNTY
Open house times come straight from the MLS and change through the week. Jump straight to Richmond Hill, Waterways, Bryan County, Pembroke or Ellabell. You can also browse every open house across Savannah.
New to Savannah? These cover the parts that are easy to miss: what it costs to live here, property taxes and weather, flooding and insurance.
Thinking about making bryan county home?
A simple conversation, with no expectations, is where we start. I’ll help you think through what comes next. It’s your timeline and your journey, and I’m here to give you the value and resources you need along the way.
Whether you’re buying, selling, or you just want to know what your home is worth, I’m happy to talk it through.
