Metro Atlanta Statistics

[Martinman 86]

We're up to 464,200, IC. That's up from 416,474 only seven years ago, which means we've been adding over 6,800 people a year!

That's pretty remarkable, in my opinion. Assuming that continues we'll be back to our 1960 level by the end of 2011.

That's the ARC estimate. The census estimate for the city in 2006 was over 480,000. In fact the ARC estimate for Fulton is 933,600. I guess the real population is probably somewhere in between.

As a side note, the 10-county ARC region topped 4 million last year.

Edited March 22, 2008 by Martinman

[Andrea 0]

Either way it's extremely impressive. The city just got totally hammered during the 1970s and 80s. Between 1970 and 1980 an average of nearly 140 people a week were fleeing the city -- and that went on every week of the year for an entire decade. That's like an entire subdivision or a couple of large apartment buildings emptying out every month.

To turn that around, and actually start growing again is pretty stinking amazing.

[Martinman 86]

It is a great success story. And when the housing and credit markets recover I think some long-neglected areas of town are set to explode, such as the Westside . Now if we can just get an efficient city hall, this city can really begin to reach its potential.

Edited March 22, 2008 by Martinman

[Martinman 86]

Here's Atlanta's metro data based on the census county estimates

	  2007 Estimate	   Change: 2000-2007	 % change


Atlanta MSA:  5,278,904		   996,463		  23.3%

Atlanta CSA:  5,626,400		 1,041,693		  22.7%

[Lady Celeste 68]

Metro Atlanta's numbers continue to baffle the mind. In spite of some minor setbacks in the Atlanta economy (Bellsouth, GA Pacific, etc.,) growth continues. While not at the once break neck speeds of yore, there are still alot of people moving here to Atlanta. I am also surprised to see how much Fulton County is growing. I'm sure it is well pass 1,000,000 by now. The amazing thing about Fulton County....as well as Gwinnett...is that there are thousands of acres still left untouched. If you go to the Rico area of south Fulton you feel as if you are in another place in time. There are still many dirt roads there. It's as if you are in the English countryside yet you are mere miles to a major American city. The same can be said with parts of the Milton community in north Fulton and extreme north and eastern Gwinnett.

Edited March 26, 2008 by Lady Celeste

[Andrea 0]

Atlanta 34th most densely populated U.S. city:

http://austinzoning.typepad.com/austincont...ted-densit.html

We're definitely growing up!

[Lady Celeste 68]

That ranking is using 2000 population numbers. Since then 1,000,000 people have moved to the Atlanta metro area. In this last year, Fulton and Gwinnett...two core counties....grew by more people numerically than the outer counties. If I'm not mistaken, the metro area has not added any more counties since 2000. Am I correct? I wonder, in light of these points, how does this affect our ranking?

[pksiv 0]

That ranking is using 2000 population numbers. Since then 1,000,000 people have moved to the Atlanta metro area. In this last year, Fulton and Gwinnett...two core counties....grew by more people numerically than the outer counties. If I'm not mistaken, the metro area has not added any more counties since 2000. Am I correct? I wonder, in light of these points, how does this affect our ranking?

I always enjoy reading articles regarding Atlanta's population as I've seen "Metro-Atlanta" defined as anywhere from 10 to 28 counties...

[Andrea 0]

I wonder, in light of these points, how does this affect our ranking?

A little, perhaps, although 90% or so of the new residents have located in the suburbs. The fastest growing areas are the outlying counties like Forsyth, Cherokee, Paulding, Henry, etc.

Even so, it speaks well of Atlanta. I think our low density is a major plus with many people.

[Martinman 86]

I saw this in the Business Chronicle and its probably one of the more overlooked factors in Atlanta's success.

Atlanta now ranks 7th in the nation in college enrollment with 176,171 full-time equivalent students.

Only New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington DC have more. San Diego is the only other metro with more than 100,000.

Other rankings

7th in academic degrees awarded - (35,802 Bachelor

Edited May 25, 2008 by Martinman

[ironchapman 2]

I saw this in the Business Chronicle and its probably one of the more overlooked factors in Atlanta's success.

Atlanta now ranks 7th in the nation in college enrollment with 176,171 full-time equivalent students.

Only New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington DC have more. San Diego is the only other metro with more than 100,000.

Other rankings

7th in academic degrees awarded - (35,802 Bachelor

[Martinman 86]

I thought about San Fransisco as well. I believe the new census definitions split San Fransico/Oakland and San Jose into two seperate metros thus lowering their numbers.

[Martinman 86]

We're number 10?

Tenth worst isn't really reason for celebration but thats actually a bit better than the traffic here is usually protrayed.

Kirkland, Wash.-based Inrix, which provides traffic information to various customers such as MapQuest and Microsoft Corp., ranked the nation's 100 most congested cities.

10 Most Congested

1. Los Angeles

2. New York

3. Chicago

4. Washington D.C.

5. Dallas-Fort Worth

6. San Francisco

7. Houston

8. Boston

9. Seattle

10. Atlanta

ABC article

Edited August 7, 2008 by Martinman

[Monti 0]

We're number 10?

Tenth worst isn't really reason for celebration but thats actually a bit better than the traffic here is usually protrayed.

Kirkland, Wash.-based Inrix, which provides traffic information to various customers such as MapQuest and Microsoft Corp., ranked the nation's 100 most congested cities.

10 Most Congested

1. Los Angeles

2. New York

3. Chicago

4. Washington D.C.

5. Dallas-Fort Worth

6. San Francisco

7. Houston

8. Boston

9. Seattle

10. Atlanta

ABC article

I agree that this info is no cause for celebration, especially since these other cities offer viable alternatives to the traditional car commute while ATL is lacking in this respect.

[Martinman 86]

Transit in Atlanta is viable enough to rank eighth in the country in terms of transit ridership, higher than three of the cities on that list.

Link

Edited August 8, 2008 by Martinman

[Monti 0]

Transit in Atlanta is viable enough to rank eighth in the country in terms of transit ridership, higher than three of the cities on that list.

Link

Dallas and Houston don't surprise me since I've heard that they have an even greater "car-hugging" culture than Atlanta. The stats on Seattle, however, do surprise me. It's true that Seattle has a smaller metro population and more people probably live in their downtown so they can bike/walk, but still...I wouldn't have guess that Atlanta would score higher.

One thing I do notice from the chart is that all of the cities proceeding Atlanta on the list are strong mass transit cities. Position #8 (Atlanta) seems to be the dividing line...interesting.

As always, thanks Martinman for the info

Edited August 8, 2008 by Monti

[perimeter285 0]

Yes but Dallas and Houston both have aggressive plans to expand their existing train systems. Dallas' system is already larger than Atlanta's with expansion underway.

[coyotetrickster 0]

Wow, that's pretty impressive. I suppose the number of large universities in the area--GA Tech, GA State, Kennesaw State, the AUC, and Emory, to name a few--certainly helps with those numbers. It's great to see that Atlanta ranks so high in higher education.

Still, I'm kind of surprised San Francisco doesn't have more than 100,000, especially with the number of famous universities in its metro, like UCal-Berkeley, Stanford, and San Francisco State. I'm a little surprised Miami isn't over 100,000 as well.

As a former Atlantan, I semi-lurk in the city pages to keep up with the city. The ranking data on student populations presented in the referenced study is misleading. On page two, the methodology declares it uses the MSA data to compile statistics. This is an excellent base, if you are comparing apples to apples, start from the same metrics definitions in order to compare accurately. However, beware the conclusions. There are three contiguous MSAs in the Bay Area. San Francisco-Oakland-Alameda/ San Jose-Santa Clara-Hayward and Santa Rosa-Napa. So, statistically speaking, the approximately 90,000 students at UCBerkely, SFSU, City College, UCSF, USF, Golden Gate University and University of the Pacific are less than 100,000. However, the 115,000 students attending San Jose State, Stanford, Santa Clara University, and Cal State Hayward (plus smaller schools like De Anza and San Mateo Community College) are not in the same as the Atlanta MSA's 176K. The 45,000 students attending Napa/Dominion University and Sononam State are also not counted as that is a separate MSA.

Finally, The students at Monterrey State/UCSanta Cruz (another 30,000, approx.) are also within the traffic/transit orbit of the Bay Area, but again, counted as a separate MSA. However, the 9 country Bay Area CSA (5th largest in the US), the student population is almost 300K. However, according to the Census Dept., a CSA is an orange not an apple.

[Martinman 86]

The ARC has released some interesting estimates for last year. They appear to show increased growth around job centers and close-in areas despite the overall slower rate of growth.

Below is the growth estimate for each jurisdiction and the change from the average growth per year this decade.

Metro 70,200 down 16% (10-county ARC region)

Atlanta 13,100 - up 72%

Fulton 17,900 - up 6%

Gwinnett 12,600 - down 40%

Cobb 9,500 - up 14%

Dekalb 9,200 - up 19%

Henry 5,000 - down 44%

Douglas 4,500 - down 55%

Edited August 18, 2008 by Martinman

[Martinman 86]

Heres a good map that illustrates the different regional boundaries we often discuss, which can be confusing at times.

The MSA and CSA are defined by Census data. Atlanta's CSA includes the Gainesville MSA and the micropolitan areas of Cedartown, Thomaston, LaGrange and Valley AL.

The 10-county Atlanta Regional Commission is a part of a system for regional development centers around the state.

Edited August 18, 2008 by Martinman

[Monti 0]

Does anyone know the current population (estimate) and square mileage of the 10-county designation?

Edited August 18, 2008 by Monti

[Martinman 86]

The info is available from the ARC. Its 2,986 sq miles and the latest population estimate is 4,029,400. Of course the ARC estimates are usually a little less than the Census estimates due to different methodology.

Edited August 18, 2008 by Martinman

[Martinman 86]

The ARC recently made some projections for the region, predicting slower, steady growth for Atlanta's future.

The ARC predicts that metro Atlanta will add almost 100,000 people on average from 2010-2020, roughly 92,000 each year between 2020-2030 and approximately 88,000 annually from 2030 and 2040. In comparison, the region has seen average annual growth of 121,000 people so far this decade.

[Lady Celeste 68]

The new 2013 Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and Consolidated Statistical Area (CSA) definition and stats are out. I'll be brief.

 

Atlanta's CSA = 6,092,295

 

1) The Atlanta CSA population change in absolute numbers since the 2010 census was 181,999. That represents a percent increase of 3.07%.

 

Atlanta's MSA  = 5,457,831

 

1) The Atlanta MSA population change in absolute numbers since the 2010 census was about 172,000. 

 

Atlanta's Home County Fulton = 977,773

 

1) Fulton County's population change in absolute numbers since the 2010 census was 57,190. That represents a percent increase of 6.2%.

 

Atlanta city proper = 432,427

 

1) Atlanta's population change in absolute numbers since the 2010 census was 12,422. That represents a percent increase of 3.0%.

 

Of interesting note: Forsyth, Fulton and Gwinnett counties were metro Atlanta's fasting growing counties since the 2010 census. Inspite of the past recession, Atlanta's population continues to rise. Now, perhaps, at a more manageable pace. It's also to be noted that the fastest growth is NOT in the hinterlands of the CSA but rather mostly in the core counties.      

Edited March 15, 2013 by Lady Celeste

[Lady Celeste 68]

2013 International Immigration to Atlanta increases.

 

 

As the Census has released population numbers for July 2012 - July 2013 for metropolitan areas, it appears that international immigration to the metro area is rising. This rise has placed Atlanta at number 12 of the top twenty cities for international immigration. I am amazed to see this because Georgia, along with Alabama and Arizona, have some of the country's most stringent immigration laws on the book. This news should add a little "flavor" to the metro Atlanta area.

 

 

 

Here are the top twenty cities, and the net immigration for those cities between July 2012 - July 2013:

 

 

 

 

 

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/census-2013-immigration-city-map-2014-3#ixzz2xSO5oNkY