Named after William Pitts Eastman, the City of Eastman is the home of the well-known Stuckey Candy Plant and it is considered the Candy Capital of Georgia. Stuckey's has been so successful that tourists can now avail themselves of pecans from any Stuckey's store, several homes and pecan orchards.
The 2000 Census shows that the city had a population of about 5,440 persons. The city had a population growth of 3.8% between 1990 and 2000, compared to the state growth during this period of 26.4%. The city has a total area of 5.
1 square miles (13.2 km?), of which, 5.1 square miles (13.2 km?) of it is land and 0.20% is water. For every square mile, there were 1,067.3 people, 60.28% of whom were White, 37.35% African American, 0.24% Native American 0.48% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 1.16% from other races, and 0.44% from the two or more races. Hispanics of any race made up 1.80% of the total population. For every 100 females, there were 92.9 males. Per 100 females 18 years of age and above, there were 77.4 males. The city had an average household size of 2.28 and an average family size of 2.96.
The city's median income per household was $23,604 while the median income for the family was $30,500. About $27,292 was the median income for males, against $20,497 for females.
The city has a per capita income of $14,332. About 20.2% of families and 23.5% of the total population were reported to be below the poverty line, including 33.1% under the age of 18 and 25.0% of those 65 or above.