Cobb’s growth rate slows, but remains third largest county in metro Atlanta

Cobb’s population grew by more than 8,000 people in the last year, but the county’s growth rate lags behind its counterparts in metro Atlanta.

That’s according to the Atlanta Regional Commission, which released population estimates Wednesday for the 10-county region. Cobb County added 8,100 new residents from April 1, 2018, to April 1 of this year, bring its population to 766,400, the ARC said. Cobb is metro Atlanta’s third largest county.

However, not as many people are moving to Cobb as in previous years, the commission said. The county’s growth rate is slower than in previous decades when it added more than 150,000 people every 10 years from 1980 to 2000, the commission said.

The 10-county Atlanta region’s population added 72,500 new residents in the past year, bringing the area’s population to 4.6 million. Every county experienced growth in the past year, with Fulton and Gwinnett counties leading the pack. However, Henry and Cherokee counties and the city of Atlanta experienced the highest growth rates, the ARC said.

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Fulton County added 16,700 people, making it the metro region's largest county at 1 million people. Gwinnett, the  metro area's second largest county, had 15,100 new residents move into its boundaries. The city of Atlanta added 10,900 new residents, which the ARC said appears to be fueled by a spike in multi-family housing. Atlanta's population is now 470,000.

Cherokee County for the first time outpaced Cobb in the number of residents it added in the past year. The county added 8,200 new residents, bringing its population to 262,700. In the south metro county of Henry, 6,100 new residents were added in the past year, which the ARC said is its largest increase since 2010. Its population is now 240,900 people. The ARC said Cherokee and Henry counties’ populations have both doubled since 2000.