New data from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals a significant shift in population out of the Atlanta’s core counties in 2021.
While the Atlanta metro area remains the most populous region in the state, and Fulton County continues as the location of the both the most populated county in the state and home to the largest number of jobs of any county in Georgia, in 2021 the area’s population is shifted away from core counties, such as Fulton and DeKalb, to counties outside this traditional core area.
Population shifts
Three suburban Atlanta counties, Forsyth, Gwinnett, and Cherokee,
showed the largest net increases in population from July 1, 2020, to July 1, 2021.
Forsyth County added 7,420 people, Gwinnett increased by 6,745, and Cherokee’s
population rose by 6,572. Combined, population in the three counties grew by 20,737.
Other counties making up the top 10 in adding population
included Paulding (4,120), Hall (3,780), Jackson (3,574), Henry (3,417), Coweta
(3,303), Columbia (2,866), and Walton (2,718). Columbia County, which is part
of the Augusta metro area, is the only county in this group whose population is
not tied directly to employment in the Atlanta metro area.
At the other end of the spectrum, DeKalb and Fulton counties
recorded the largest population declines of -6,113 and -3,689, respectively. A
significant portion of these declines occurred as people moved out of the two
counties that was partially offset by migration from outside the U.S. as well
as births outnumbering deaths in the two counties.
Georgia saw the net addition of 73,766 people over the year
as the state saw a net increase 50,632 new residents moving from other states
plus a net international migration of 6,997 people, while the number of births
outnumbered deaths by 15,993. With these changes, Georgia’s population stands
at 10,799,566, an increase of 0.69% over 2020.
Fulton County remains the most populous county in Georgia at
1,065,334, followed by Gwinnett (964,546) Cobb (766,802), and DeKalb (757,718).
Regarding employment, Fulton County continues to be home to the
state’s largest employment base as of June 2021 with 872,714 jobs in the
county, followed by Cobb (365,773), and Gwinnett (357,896), according to the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
As of July 1, 2021, Taliaferro County, Georgia, was home
to the smallest population of Georgia’s 159 counties, with a population of 1,558
having a net gain of one person over the year. A total of 50 counties in
the state lost population between 2020 and 2021.
County population factors
Changes in total population are due to a combination of
factors that include natural change (births minus deaths), net international migration,
and domestic migration.
Forsyth County recorded the largest net domestic migration
among Georgia counties, with a net increase of 6,755, while net international
migration totaled 232. Births outnumbered deaths in the county by 508.
Most of Gwinnett County’s growth was due to births
outnumbering deaths by 4,750, while net domestic migration added 681 residents
and international migration saw the population increase by 1,167.
For Cherokee County, domestic migration accounted for almost
all of the county’s population increase (6,065), while international migration
added a net of 93 more people and births outnumbered deaths by 456.
In contrast, DeKalb County saw net domestic migration reduce
its population by -11,455 that was partially offset by net international
migration of 1,506 and births outnumbering deaths by 3,915.
Fulton County recorded a net loss of -7,786 people due to
domestic migration out of the county, partially offset by net international
migration of 1,236 and births outnumbering deaths by 2,726.
Net domestic migration includes net migration between
counties in Georgia as well as migration between Georgia and other states in
the U.S.
Net international migration includes the international
migration of both native and foreign-born populations. Specifically, it includes: (a) the net
international migration of the foreign born, (b) the net migration between the
United States and Puerto Rico, (c) the net migration of natives to and from the
United States, and (d) the net movement of the Armed Forces population between
the United States and overseas.
