The U.S. Census Bureau surveys U.S. residents on their place of birth to compare with the place they currently live. This provides an idea of geographic mobility and migration. The native population includes everyone who was born in the U.S. or was born outside of the U.S. but had at least one parent who was a U.S. Citizen—all other residents are classified as foreign born. The native population born in the U.S. is further broken down to identify residents that were born in the same state they currently live and those that were born in another state in the U.S.
When looking at the whole state of Georgia by county, we can see that the counties in metro Atlanta and those along the coast or state borders have higher percentages of residents born in another state (37% in metro Atlanta). For Georgia as a whole, 34% of residents were born in another state, but when you exclude the metro counties, this share drops to 23%. Since Atlanta is a major employment destination, it makes sense that there are a higher number of “transplants” that have moved to Georgia from another state. Rural counties in central/south Georgia have some of the lowest shares of residents born in another state.
For the entire state, the top 5 counties with the highest percentages of residents who were born in another state are Dade (68%), Chattahoochee (64%), Catoosa (62%), Camden (61%), and Liberty (52%). The counties with the highest percentages of residents born in Georgia are Twiggs (93%), Glascock (89%), Baker (89%), Webster (88%), and Warren (88%).
In the 20-county metro Atlanta region, Fayette County has the highest percentage of residents born in another state (48%) and Spalding County has the highest percentage of residents born in Georgia (77%). When we break down the born-in-another-state population to the census tract level we can see clearer patterns. Starting in central Fulton County and extending north, there are higher concentrations of residents who were born in another state and moved to Georgia. This mirrors the pattern of major employment centers along the interstates through Cobb, Cherokee, and Forsyth counties. This week’s Monday Mapday showed an additional map of areas in the metro region with high percentages of Georgia-born residents.
Another interesting spatial pattern we can discern from this mobility and migration data is where there are high concentrations of foreign-born populations. In the metro Atlanta counties, Gwinnett County has the highest percentages of residents that are foreign-born (almost 1 in 4 residents). Nearby areas in Forsyth, North Fulton, and Hall counties also have pockets with high densities of foreign residents.
