If it feels like south metro has gotten more crowded over the past year, it has.

A combined 12,100 moved to Henry, Clayton and Fayette counties between April 2017 and April 2018, according to new population estimates for metro Atlanta from the Atlanta Regional Commission.

The ARC said that the 10-county Atlanta region added 75,800 during the period for a total population of 4,555,900 people. The increase is the second-largest since the Great Recession ended in 2010.

On the southside, Henry led the way with 5,800 new residents, a 2.53 percent increase over the county's April 2017 population of 229,000. Henry, which had 234,800 residents in April of this year, had the second highest percentage growth in metro Atlanta behind Cherokee at 2.9 percent.

Clayton added 4,100 people or an increase of 1.5 percent for a total population of 279,400 in April 2018.

Fayette added 2,200 or an increase of 1.9 percent for a total April 2018 population of 116,200.

"With our strategic location and positioning near a major metropolitan city, the world's busiest airport, a major corridor to the port of Savannah, our diverse population and rising economic opportunities, Henry County continues to be one of the most desired places to live in the country," Henry County Commission Chairwoman June Wood said in a statement.

“We’re developing something for everyone - from millennials to seniors - Henry County is truly becoming a more wonderful community for all,” she said.

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