Cities outnumbered by unincorporated DeKalb

Though three cities have been created in DeKalb County since 2008, U.S. Census figures show that about two-thirds of county residents still live outside municipal borders.

Roughly 250,000 people live in DeKalb's 12 cities. In all, the county's population almost reached 735,000 last year, according to Census estimates.

Most cities grew slower than DeKalb as a whole.

The county's population increased 6.2 percent from 2010 to 2015, adding more than 42,000 residents. Only Decatur and the portion of Atlanta located in the county added residents more quickly, respectively gaining 12.1 percent and 10.4 percent in population.

Citizens seeking greater local control of their governments have formed the cities of Brookhaven, Dunwoody and Tucker in recent years. The proposed city of Stonecrest will be on the ballot in November, and voters rejected incorporating a city of LaVista Hills last fall.

Brookhaven and Dunwoody are DeKalb’s largest cities with about 50,000 residents each. Their populations both increased by 5.3 percent over the last five years.

The incoming city of Tucker, which held its first elections in March, will have a population of about 33,000 people.

DeKalb cities by 2015 estimated population

1. Brookhaven, 51,298

2. Dunwoody, 48,143

3. Tucker, 33,301

4. Atlanta (DeKalb portion), 30,634

5. Chamblee, 27,870

6. Decatur, 20,709

7. Clarkston, 12,086

8. Doraville, 10,761

9. Stone Mountain, 6,042