Atlanta, as anyone caught in a traffic jam can tell you, has a lot of people. The latest numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate the metro area is more packed than ever.
According to new population estimates released last week, the five most populous counties in Georgia are all in metro Atlanta: Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb, DeKalb and Clayton. Chatham County was replaced by Clayton in the top five this year.
The metro area — which includes 29 counties — had the nation's fourth highest population growth from 2017 to 2018, the Census Bureau says. The region's growth from 2010 to 2018 was also the fourth highest in the nation. In that time, 663,201 people were added to metro Atlanta's population, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.
The population for the metro area grew by 1.29%, from 5,874,249 in 2017 to 5,949,951 in 2018.
Coming next year, the once-a-decade 2020 Census will count every person living in the U.S.
Census numbers are important to every community. The data guide federal, state and local funding for critical services such as schools, fire departments and health care facilities is distributed, according to census officials.
The AJC has analyzed the population growth in metro Atlanta, broken down by the four largest counties and the city of Atlanta. Click the links below to read about how the population in your community changed last year:
DEKALB COUNTY: DeKalb population continues rising as Decatur surpasses 25,000
COBB COUNTY: Southern Cobb cities see greatest growth
FULTON COUNTY: Census: Which cities in Fulton are growing the fastest?
GWINNETT COUNTY: Census finds Gwinnett’s growth the greatest in rural areas
CITY OF ATLANTA: U.S. Census: Atlanta’s population could reach a half-million by 2020
-- Newsroom Data Specialist Jennifer Peebles contributed to this report.