Metro Atlanta population growth slows

Population growth has slowed in metro Atlanta as the housing slump takes its toll, new figures by the Atlanta Regional Commission show.

The 10-county Atlanta region posted its lowest annual population gain — 70,200 — since 2003, according to the latest ARC estimates.

That gain is 16 percent lower than the annual average increase of this decade. The ARC measured population growth from April 1, 2007 to April 1, 2008. It estimated the population based on the number of housing units built in each county.

Gwinnett County’s population grew at a slower rate than usual. The county added only 12,600 people last year, compared to its usual addition of 20,544 new residents per year, the ARC estimates show.

Cherokee, Clayton, Douglas, Fayette, Henry and Rockdale counties also grew at slower rates than usual, although Cherokee still posted the largest increase, 3.2 percent, for the year. Fulton County’s growth rate was flat, while DeKalb and Cobb counties grew at slightly faster rates.

The city of Atlanta continued a recent trend of adding, with 13,200 new residents last year for a growth rate of 2.8 percent.

Since 2000, the city has added about 60,000 people.

“That’s explosive growth for the city,” said ARC research chief Mike Alexander. Atlanta had not grown for decades, but increased its population 15 percent in just eight years, he said. In the past year, for the first time, Atlanta added more new residents than Gwinnett County.

The U.S. Census Bureay recently pegged the city of Atlanta’s population at over 500,000, while the ARC puts it at 477,300. Differing methodologies account for the difference, the ARC said.

Here is the list of metro counties and their growth rates

Source: ARC estimates

Note: Figures differ from the US Census Bureau because of different methods used.