Census: Metro Atlanta’s population expands to 5.7 million

Metro Atlanta's population rose to more than 5.7 million residents last year, and the number of people living in Fulton County crossed the 1 million milestone, according to newly released U.S. Census estimates.

2016 Atlanta population update:  Metro Atlanta No. 4 in the country for 2016 population increase

The Atlanta area remained the ninth-largest metropolitan statistical area in the country. The region grew by about 1.7 percent between 2014 and 2015.

Fulton is the state’s largest county, with more than 1,010,000 residents, according to the Census figures unveiled Thursday. Gwinnett reached nearly 896,000 people, Cobb increased to more than 741,000 and DeKalb’s population expanded to almost 735,000.

Forsyth was the 11th-fastest growing county nationwide, increasing its population by about 4 percent to more than 212,000 residents.

                                                               
CountyPop. 2014Pop. 2015
Fulton996,3191,010,562
Gwinnett877,922895,823
Cobb730,981741,334
DeKalb722,161734,871
Clayton267,542273,955
Cherokee230,985235,900
Henry213,869217,739
Forsyth204,302212,438
Paulding148,921152,238
Douglas138,776140,733
Fayette109,664110,714

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