The Atlanta Regional Commission has done population estimates, for its (varying) member counties and the City of Atlanta, for almost seven decades now–since 1955. The estimates are done primarily as a base to assess member government dues for the next calendar year, but they also serve as a key benchmark indicator of positive (or not as positive) regional growth momentum. The headline this year is that the 11-county region added population of 66,730 persons 2022-2023– that’s a little more than the 65,000 increase of last year (2021-2022). The “post- height- of- the- pandemic” recovery did slow this past year in the single-family segment, but strong (in some areas, record) multifamily development keeps the 2022-23 increase higher than that of the previous year. The region’s population growth still lags levels of increase seen in the “heydays” of the early 2000s, late 2010s, and certainly, the 1990s.

Behind that headline are these highlights below. For much more detail than the highlights, 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 5,158,374 residents in 2023, up from 5,091,644 in 2022. From April 1, 2022 to April 1, 2023 the region added 66,730 new residents. This represents an increase in growth compared to the 64,940 increase the region experienced 2021-2022, but still trails (but only slightly) the average annual increase in the 2010s, of 68,245.
  • The upward trend of growth this past year reflects strong permit activity and continued growth of our job base to levels that now well exceed the pre-pandemic levels. Housing demand is very high—and prices as a result very high—which does act as a brake on population growth. Single-family permits remain constrained, balanced by historically high multifamily permitting levels.
  • From 2022 to 2023, Fulton added 18,500 new residents, the largest single-year numeric increase in the region. Next were Gwinnett with 13,510 new residents, Cherokee with 7,120 new residents, and Cobb with 6,100 new residents.
  • The City of Atlanta set the pace in the leading county of Fulton, continuing the momentum from 2021-2022. With a year-over-year increases in single-family permits and an all-time high of multifamily activity, the city added 14,300 new residents between 2022 and 2023, up close to threefold from 5,070 last year. The 2022-23 increase exceeds the previous record increase of 2018-2019 (10,900)
  • Cherokee County leads the region in percentage increase, 2022-23, at 2.5 percent. Forsyth and Henry follow at 2.1, with Rockdale (2.0) following. The 2022-23 acceleration for Rockdale is notable, compared to 2021-22’s 1.3% increase.
  • In 2022, there were 36,074 new residential building permits in the 11-county region, which was an increase of nearly 9,000 permits (far more multifamily but fewer single-family) from 2021 calendar year totals. Current building permit activity for the 11-county region remains lower than pre-Great Recession permit levels but did exceed the 1980-2022 average annual level of 33,540.