Macon ( MAY-kən), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia, United States. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is 85 miles (137 km) southeast of Atlanta and near the state's geographic center—hence its nickname "The Heart of Georgia". Macon's population was 157,346 in the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Macon metropolitan statistical area, which had 234,802 people in 2020. It also is the largest city in the Macon–Warner Robins Combined Statistical Area (CSA), which had approximately 420,693 residents in 2017 and abuts the Atlanta metropolitan area to the northwest. Voters approved the consolidation of the City of Macon and Bibb County governments in a 2012 referendum. Macon became the state's fourth-largest city (after Augusta) when the merger became official on January 1, 2014. Macon is served by three interstate highways: I-16 (connecting to Savannah and coastal Georgia), I-75 (connecting to Atlanta to the north and Valdosta to the south), and I-475 (a city bypass highway). The area has two small general aviation airports, Middle Georgia Regional Airport and Herbert Smart Downtown Airport. Residents traveling to and from the area mainly use the large commercial airport in Atlanta, approximately 80 miles to the northwest. The city has several institutions of higher education and numerous museums and tourism sites.