Metro Atlanta cracks top 6 in population: It's getting crowded down South
Housing in front of the Atlanta skyline in Atlanta, Georgia, on Nov. 13, 2022. Photographer: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images
ATLANTA - If you've noticed that metro Atlanta seems a little more crowded than it did just a year ago, you're not wrong.
The Atlanta metropolitan area, formally known as the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell area, is now the nation's 6th largest metropolitan region, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The population for 2023 was 6,307,261, not including another 222,060 residents in Athens-Clarke County. The metro Atlanta area added 68,585 residents between 2022 and 2023.
This is how much money you need to 'live comfortably' in Atlanta, data shows
The metro Atlanta area had the third-largest total population increase between 2022 and 2023, with only Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth metros adding more people.
Dallas-Fort Worth added 153,000 people between 2022 and 2023, pushing it past 8 million for the first time. Houston added 139,789, for a total of 7.5 million.
The total population for the state of Georgia for 2023 was 11,029,227 people, which is 116,077 more than 2022. California came in at No. 1 with almost 39 million, followed by Texas with 30.5 million. Florida had 22.6 million, while there were 19.5 million people in New York and 12.9 million in Pennsylvania. Illinois was next on the list with 12.5 million, and about 700,000 more people called Ohio home than Georgia.
Atlanta home buyers need to earn almost $60K more in 2024 than 2020 to afford home
Two of the top 10 fastest-growing counties in the U.S. are in Georgia: Jackson County (5.5% growth) and Dawson County (5.1% growth).
Jackson County is just north of Athens, and Dawson County, which includes Dawsonville, is part of the metro Atlanta area.
Jackson County's population increased from 75,812 in 2020 to 88,615 in 2023.
Dawson County's population increased from 26,796 to 31,732.
Additionally, Jefferson had the highest percent growth of U.S. micro areas. Its population increased by 5.5%, or 4,606 residents.
Here's the minimum annual income required to be middle class in Georgia
Cornelia also was in the top 10 of fastest-growing micro areas. The small town in Habersham County grew by 2.7%, or 1,292 people, between 2022 and 2023.
According to the U.S. Census, many people began moving South during the COVID-19 pandemic. They estimate that metro Atlanta gained more than 200,000 residents since April 2020.