The Atlanta Regional Commission has done population estimates, for its (varying) member counties and the City of Atlanta, for 68 years now–since 1955. The estimates are done primarily as a base to assess member dues, but they also serve as a key guidepost/ landmark for regional growth trends.  The headline takeaway this year is that the 11-county region added population of about 65,000 persons  2021-2o22– that’s more than the 60,000 increase of last year (2020-2021). The period of pandemic onset and expansion did not hit regional development nearly as hard or for as long as did the Great Recession. Yet even with the improvements 2021-22,  the region’s population growth still lags levels of increase seen in the “heydays” of the early 2000s, late 2010s, and certainly, the 1990s.

Now behind that headline takeaway are these highlights. For much more detail, access this slide deck directly or scroll down (below the ‘bullet points’ that follow) to access that same slide deck via slideshare.

  • The 11-county Atlanta region is now home to 5,091,644 in 2022, up from 5,026,704 in 2021. From April 1, 2021 to April 1, 2022 the region added 64,940 new residents. This represents an uptick in growth than what the region experienced 2020-2021, but still trails the average annual increase of 68,245 in the 2010s.
  • The upward trend of growth this past year reflects strong permit activity and a complete “claw-back” of our job base to levels that now exceed the pre-pandemic levels. Housing demand is very high—and prices as a result very high—which does act as a brake on growth.
  • From 2021 to 2022, Gwinnett added 13,460 new residents, the largest single-year numeric increase in the region. Next were Fulton with 11,200 new residents, Cobb with 6,900 new residents, and Cherokee with 6,890 new residents.
  • The City of Atlanta “bounced back” from a down year of growth 2020-2021. With year-over-year increases in both single-family and multifamily activity, the city added 5,070 new residents between 2021 and 2022, up from 3,230 last year. The 2021-22 increase is still less than half of the record increase of 10,900 between 2018 and 2019.
  • Henry County leads the region in percentage increase, 2021-22, at 2.7 percent. Forsyth is a close second at 2.6, with Cherokee (2.5) and Douglas (2.1) following. The 2021-22 accelerations for Henry and Douglas are most notable.
  • In 2021, there were 27,164 new residential building permits in the 11-county region, which was an increase of over 4,500 permits (weighted towards an increase in the multifamily sector) from 2020 calendar year totals. Current building permit activity for the 11-county region as such remains lower than pre-Great Recession (and even pre-pandemic) permit levels, and still trails the 1980-2021 average annual level of 33,480.