Georgia Population Figures

[krazeeboi]

I can't believe Jackson, Barrow, and Hall counties are growing as fast as they are. Are jobs coming to those areas, or are they largely commuting to Gwinnett?

[aboutmetro]

Columbus numbers are definately affected by soldier deployments. Chattachoochee County (just south of Columbus and largely in Fort Benning military reservation), which was last year's 'fastest growing' county in the entire nation, is down 43% in 2007 (159th in GA with Columbus at 156th). Continued migration to the 'burbs around Columbus too is evident by the 2.9% growth of Harris County from last year and the 1.9% growth in Lee County, AL (9th in Alabama) from '06. I believe that the '07 to '08 numbers will look a little different due to the change in homebuying habits caused by high gas prices. Though all areas are still down compared to last year due to economic stress, we're seeing much less buying in the suburbs and not as much decline in areas closer to town. So this year the area's numbers are unrealistically down just like next year they will be unrealistically up...

[Martinman]

I can't believe Jackson, Barrow, and Hall counties are growing as fast as they are. Are jobs coming to those areas, or are they largely commuting to Gwinnett?

Jackson and Barrow are in the current ring of exurban sprawl growth. Both have rather small populations so percentage-wise the growth rate is going to be high. Jackson, as of the last census, was not in any MSA because of commuting being split between the three MSA's surrounding it, Athens, Gainseville, & Atlanta. Plus there is some job growth within the county as a result of the county straddling the I-85 corridor.

As for Hall, there is of course some commuting to Gwinnett and elsewhere but Gainesville/Hall county is its own MSA with its own job growth.

[ATLman1]

Columbus numbers are definately affected by soldier deployments. Chattachoochee County (just south of Columbus and largely in Fort Benning military reservation), which was last year's 'fastest growing' county in the entire nation, is down 43% in 2007 (159th in GA with Columbus at 156th). Continued migration to the 'burbs around Columbus too is evident by the 2.9% growth of Harris County from last year and the 1.9% growth in Lee County, AL (9th in Alabama) from '06. I believe that the '07 to '08 numbers will look a little different due to the change in homebuying habits caused by high gas prices. Though all areas are still down compared to last year due to economic stress, we're seeing much less buying in the suburbs and not as much decline in areas closer to town. So this year the area's numbers are unrealistically down just like next year they will be unrealistically up...

I agree, I can't wait until BRAC kicks in! That's an additional 30,000-45,000 people to the Columbus area!!

[cocateho]

well its good too see that savannah is pulling in solid and consistant gains. at this rate it should be about 350 k in the msa fo the 2010 census and about 415 - 430 k in the csa

anyone know the 07 estimates for the cities themselves?

[Topher1]

Those are released around July 1 every year (usually a few days early). We've still got a few months to wait...

[aboutmetro]

Of course, both Muscogee and Chattahoochee Counties had bumps in 2002 and '06 for the buildup to the war and the surge. Presumably these populations were just passing through and the populations left are the real populations. From 2000, Muscogee gained only 0.4%. Harris, Columbus' suburban county to the north gained 18.5%. Interestingly the top 23 fastest growing counties were all suburban or exurban counties. Lee County, AL, part of Columbus' CSA, was Alabama's 6th fastest growing county at 11.8% since 2000. Lee's population exploded - a 24% increase - after the North Bypass bridge between north Columbus and Phenix City opened in 1990. Muscogee (Columbus) provides the second most influx of population after Russell, AL to Lee's south.

[aboutmetro]

The AP picked up and noted Columbus, GA's loss of population. Read the Article Here. I don't have enough info to agree or disagree with the numbers, or to postulate the cause. Though I do wonder if soldier deployment has a role. Also, The city issued 5002 single-family permits between 2000 and 2007, so somebody's living in most of those houses. There were also several hundered if not thousands of multi-family units built in that time, but I don't happen to have a number.

[Lady Celeste]

Just a quick answer....Columbus's decrease was noted in the AJC as well but there was an aestrick next to the figure. The explanation is troop deployment. I'm surprised that the AP did not note that as well.

[Lady Celeste]

I would also like to say congrats to Atlanta for making it to the Top Ten fastest growing metros. I would also like to congratulate Gainesville for being in the Top Five fastest growing percentage wise. Although Gainesville is a part of the Atlanta CSA, it is it's own metro and rightfully so with it's vast economic might.

In sheer numbers, we all should recognize metros Atlanta (2)(+151,063), Savannah (76)(+7839), Gainesville (78)(+7784), and Augusta (93)(+5911) for being in the Top 100 fastest growing metros in the country. This clearly shows that Georgia is a great place to live, work and play.

[aboutmetro]

Just a quick answer....Columbus's decrease was noted in the AJC as well but there was an aestrick next to the figure. The explanation is troop deployment. I'm surprised that the AP did not note that as well.

Thanks Lady. The AJC has more intimate knowledge of the area, I guess. I wonder if that is a known fact, or an assumption. I wish I new. It certainly sounds reasonable. I also wonder what the net is. I mean if Columbus lost 5,000 in population from troop deployment, were 7,000 troops deployed and the town grew by 2,000, or were 5,000 troops deployed and the growth was stagnant. We know that all of Columbus' notable growth spurts have been linked to Fort Benning expansions over the last 70 years.

[912]

I always found it odd that Columbus was kept in the 706 area code, even though it is not contiguous with the rest of that area code. It would have made much more sense to have included Columbus as a part of the 229 area code.

[ATLman1]

Thanks Lady. The AJC has more intimate knowledge of the area, I guess. I wonder if that is a known fact, or an assumption. I wish I new. It certainly sounds reasonable. I also wonder what the net is. I mean if Columbus lost 5,000 in population from troop deployment, were 7,000 troops deployed and the town grew by 2,000, or were 5,000 troops deployed and the growth was stagnant. We know that all of Columbus' notable growth spurts have been linked to Fort Benning expansions over the last 70 years.

Columbus's growth is not only due to Fort Bennings growth but also corporate expansions as well. The 2010 census will show a notable increase in population once BRAC starts, more troops are back, Kia opens, Aflac's expansion is finished, etc.

[aboutmetro]

Columbus's growth is not only due to Fort Bennings growth but also corporate expansions as well. The 2010 census will show a notable increase in population once BRAC starts, more troops are back, Kia opens, Aflac's expansion is finished, etc.

But that's the thing Atlman, these figures reflect no growth. If there were growth outside of troops, it should have shown up over a 7 year period with the ups and downs of population from troop movement through the area. I think there should be some real introspection regarding our growth strategies. Should we rely solely on Fort Benning? Kia is outside of our metro area. There are no current plans for large housing developments in Harris to supply Kia related housing, and any such plans are propably inadvisable given the build-up of proposed housing that will be unleashed after Troup County lifts its moratorium. At last count, there were proposals for almost 5,000 new units in that county. Given recent job losses, AFLAC's jobs when they come will probably fill a net loss rather than add much. All data indicate worker population continue to migrate to Lee County. Again, without knowing the troop population numbers moving in and out, it's very difficult to understand the true population numbers of the metro area and especially Columbus.

[ATLman1]

But that's the thing Atlman, these figures reflect no growth. If there were growth outside of troops, it should have shown up over a 7 year period with the ups and downs of population from troop movement through the area. I think there should be some real introspection regarding our growth strategies. Should we rely solely on Fort Benning? Kia is outside of our metro area. There are no current plans for large housing developments in Harris to supply Kia related housing, and any such plans are propably inadvisable given the build-up of proposed housing that will be unleashed after Troup County lifts its moratorium. At last count, there were proposals for almost 5,000 new units in that county. Given recent job losses, AFLAC's jobs when they come will probably fill a net loss rather than add much. All data indicate worker population continue to migrate to Lee County. Again, without knowing the troop population numbers moving in and out, it's very difficult to understand the true population numbers of the metro area and especially Columbus.

A lot of Columbus's population growth is in Lee County and Harris County. Columbus is still doing well because there are a lot of apartment developments being constructed as well as new subdivision developments. Houses are still be built in a market where the housing industry is at all time low. Atlanta developers are gobling up land all over the city. The Grove development in Harris County is a massive development, but it will not cater to Kia workers. Kia will still have an effect on Columbus.

There are a lot of new jobs being created. Most are under the radar though. The Selig Center at UGA predicted that Columbus will add more jobs than any other city in GA (except Atlanta) in the next few years. Columbus is in a transition period right now that is poised for exceptional growth. It will be interesting to see if Lee County is finally added to Columbus's MSA. If that happens, that will add 130,000 people to the Columbus MSA. Too bad Auburn/Opelika is on the other side of Lee County!!

[Lady Celeste]

I guess what Aboutmetro is saying is:

If Columbus' population was down by X, then how many troops were deployed and how many new citzens moved to the metro. Did the number of troops deployed exceed the number of new citizens. That could be the case though. Georgia's second most numeric gainer added 7800+ people. If Columbus added the same amount or similar and there were 15000 troops deployed then it could skew the number. Did I make any sense? I guess I'm saying that Columbus could be growing at the same rate as other fast growing metros but the numbers will not reflect that because of the large troop deployment.

How can one obtain the number of troops deployed for July 2006 to July 2007?

[ATLman1]

I guess what Aboutmetro is saying is:

If Columbus' population was down by X, then how many troops were deployed and how many new citzens moved to the metro. Did the number of troops deployed exceed the number of new citizens. That could be the case though. Georgia's second most numeric gainer added 7800+ people. If Columbus added the same amount or similar and there were 15000 troops deployed then it could skew the number. Did I make any sense? I guess I'm saying that Columbus could be growing at the same rate as other fast growing metros but the numbers will not reflect that because of the large troop deployment.

How can one obtain the number of troops deployed for July 2006 to July 2007?

We have to remember that Ft. Benning is home to the 3rd ID and the Rangers, so obviously that is thousands upon thousands of people. It would be interesting to see how many total troops are deployed right now.

Is the city of Columbus down or is it Chattahoochee County that is down? If it is Chattahoochee County, that is 100% due to the troops because that is where Ft. Benning is located.

[ATLman1]

There is an article in the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer that confirms that the population loss is due to troop deployments because the troops are counted in the census while they are here. So that's really good news!

[Lady Celeste]

I think most of us already knew it was troop deployment. As I stated earlier, the AJC had already made that clear when the list first came out. What would help aboutmetro and others, I would think, would be to know the exact number of troops deployed in a years time? There has to be a definitive number because the census was able to say that metro Columbus fell by X number of people. If one can come up with that number then it would help greatly in the mathematical equation to gather what may have been population growth "if" troops X were not deployed. Of course it's a hypothetical considering they are in fact over in Iraq.

Here are some definitives we have:

Metro Columbus 2006 population stats

Metro Columbus 2007 population stats

Here is what we need:

Number of troops deployed from July 2006-July 2007

Number of new residents NOT associated directly with the military (this can include spouses and/or children of deployed members)

This would be helpful because someone from Metro Columbus could say: "Had it not been for the deployed troops, Metro Columbus would have grown by [X] amount of people."

Right now it's foggy and hard to compare Columbus' growth with other tier-two or lesser cities.

Quick question though to forumers in Augusta. Isn't there a military installation in the Augusta Metro? Is Fort Gordon near Augusta? Did they have any deployments from that base?

[Topher1]

^

I know Ft. Gordon deploys soldiers to Iraq, I just don't know if it's a significant portion of the workforce. I think the primary function of the base is the Signal Corps, which is involved in communications and communications training... So it's much less combat intensive than Ft. Benning. Also, it's a significantly smaller portion of the local economy than Benning... From wikipedia, Ft. Gordon employs up to 30,000 people, whereas Benning employs up to 100,000. So I suppose that it's not only a smaller base, but one with smaller troop fluctuations. Therefore the impact is far less...

However, I know nothing about the structure of the military, so anyone please chime in if I'm completely wrong about this. For Augustans, Ft. Gordon is really something that we know is there, but that doesn't really factor in to our daily lives very much (except when there's concerns of it closing)... I imagine Ft. Benning is a much more relevant component to Columbus residents...

[PJA]

Yes Fort Gordon is located In Richmond County. I know there were deployments but as Topher said Ft. Gordon employs less people to begin with. So the loss was probably a lot less than Ft. Benning. Also troops are constantly being stationed here so that probably balances the losses out.

[mitchella81]

Yes the Benning Deployments do strongly effect the population of Columbus after all Benning is the largest employer in Metro Columbus. Benning is very important to the Columbus economy while Gordon is a much smaller base as was mentioned it is not as important to the economy of Augusta. Ft. Benning, Ft. Stewart, and Robbins Air Force base do help to carry the communities they are near because of the troop numbers & civillian employment numbers. Good news is the 3rd ID is suppose to begin returning in the summer months. It's hard to exactly balance out would Columbus have experienced a population growth if there were not deployments from the base, but on another note Lee County, AL located across the river from Columbus was in the top 100 places in the U.S. of population growth last year. Also not a drastic increase, but other counties around the area away from Benning did also experience growth.

[aboutmetro]

We have to remember that Ft. Benning is home to the 3rd ID and the Rangers, so obviously that is thousands upon thousands of people. It would be interesting to see how many total troops are deployed right now.

Is the city of Columbus down or is it Chattahoochee County that is down? If it is Chattahoochee County, that is 100% due to the troops because that is where Ft. Benning is located.

I don't know Altman, something's still not adding up. According to the paper, 3,800 troops are deployed and the MSA lost 7,600. Something has to account for the other half of the loss. Not to mention, you would thing that if the MSA had any growth at all there would have been some loss from troops, but not two times the troop deployment. I don't know, something is still not adding up. If those numbers are right, Columbus has a real issue. Someone needs to be working on the issue. Will Johnson doesn't seem to be living in the real world if he doesn't thing Muscogee loses population to the 'burbs. That's an easy one to verify. The metro area built 1,300 homes last year and a quarter were in Muscogee. that said, the area did build houses and apartments and they're not all sitting empty (alot are, but not all), so there are people living here. Of course, alot of that could be natural population aging - growing up and moving out of mom and dads, which wouldn't mean an increase in population. Also, if anyone did any analysis, I'd bet the area still had a 'brain drain'. This is a link to the article.

And by the way, here are the numbers for counties in our area:

[aboutmetro]

Yes the Benning Deployments do strongly effect the population of Columbus after all Benning is the largest employer in Metro Columbus. Benning is very important to the Columbus economy while Gordon is a much smaller base as was mentioned it is not as important to the economy of Augusta. Ft. Benning, Ft. Stewart, and Robbins Air Force base do help to carry the communities they are near because of the troop numbers & civillian employment numbers. Good news is the 3rd ID is suppose to begin returning in the summer months. It's hard to exactly balance out would Columbus have experienced a population growth if there were not deployments from the base, but on another note Lee County, AL located across the river from Columbus was in the top 100 places in the U.S. of population growth last year. Also not a drastic increase, but other counties around the area away from Benning did also experience growth.

Since troops do figure into population, Columbus had a population spurt in the leadup to the Surge. Chattachoochee had increases in both the leadup to the war and the leadup to the surge. Otherwise, since 2000 Columbus had flat growth (0.4%) and Chattahoochee had negative growth (-57%).

[ATLman1]

Since troops do figure into population, Columbus had a population spurt in the leadup to the Surge. Chattachoochee had increases in both the leadup to the war and the leadup to the surge. Otherwise, since 2000 Columbus had flat growth (0.4%) and Chattahoochee had negative growth (-57%).

I still believe it is from the troop deployments. A lot of families move back home when their husbands and wives go off to war for a year or more. Also, a lot of people have moved across the river to Lee County. At this time, Lee County isn't part of Columbus' MSA. Also, there are many smaller units at Fort Benning that are deployed as well which could push that number up to 5000+. Columbus is doing well, it just looks bad because of the deployments and migration to Lee County because it is affordable. The 2010 census will probably knock everyone's socks off because the troops will be back and BRAC will be kicking in. Also, Lee County might become part of the MSA at that time.