This month’s regional snapshot presents ARC’s annual major jurisdiction population estimates. The 10-county Atlanta region added 75,800 new residents between April 2017 and April 2018, according to those estimates. Overall, the Atlanta region’s population increased by 1.7% and now stands at 4,555,900 –  more than that of 25 states. Job growth fueled the region’s population boom. The 29-county Metropolitan Statistical Area added more than 41,000 jobs between April 2017 and April 2018, the ninth-most in the nation during that time.

Highlights from this snapshot:

  • The 10-county Atlanta region is now home to 4,555,900 in 2018, up from 4,480,100 in 2017. From April 1, 2017 to April 1, 2018 the region added 75,800 new residents. This represents the second largest single-year increase since 2007-2008, trailing only last year’s 2016-2017 increase of 78,300.
  • The slower growth, while still strong, reflects a slight slowdown in the number of units authorized by building permits and slower overall job growth in the past year.
  • From 2017 to 2018, Fulton added 17,570 new residents, the largest single-year growth in the region. Next were Gwinnett with 16,700 new residents, DeKalb with 10,630 new residents, and Cobb with 8,000 new residents.
  • The City of Atlanta, too, is experiencing continued impressive growth. Again fueled by strong, but slightly slowing levels of multi-family development, the city added 10,100 new residents between 2017 and 2018, the largest single-year estimated population increase since the Great Recession.
  • In 2017, there were almost 24,500 new residential building permits in the 10-county region, which while 2,500 down from 2016-2017, was still over 10% higher than the number permitted in 2015. Still, current building permit activity for the 10-county region is quite a bit lower than pre-recession permit levels.

Click through the slides below or download the PDF Regional Snapshot: Population Estimates for the Atlanta Region.

ARC’s population estimates cover the 10-county region and city of Atlanta. The agency does not develop estimates for any other city in the region.