Atlanta is growing, but at a slower rate

The latest: The Atlanta Regional Commission on Wednesday released its latest population estimates, which show the area added 53,690 residents from April 2025 to April 2026, bringing our total population to 5.3 million.

• Our growth rate was 1%, down a hair from 1.2% from 2024 to 2025 when we added 64,400 people.
• Ann Carpenter, chief researcher and innovation officer at the ARC, told Axios that Atlanta's numbers reflect a national trend of slowing population growth.

Zoom in: All counties in the region saw growth last year, but the strongest rates were in the outlying counties and in Fulton County.

• The state's largest county, with a population of 1.1 million, grew by 1.9% or 21,170 people.
• Forsyth County followed with 1.5% (4,150) and Henry at 1.3% (3,500).
• "New growth on the periphery tends to be driven by greenfield development, as these areas have more available, developable land," Carpenter said.

The big picture: The region's growth rate has been dropping over the last two decades. The average annual growth rate was 1.2% between 2020 and 2026, compared to 1.5% in the 2010s, 2% from 2000 to 2010 and 3.3% during the 1990s, the ARC notes.

The intrigue: Last year, residential building permits were also down 18% from 2024, reflecting a national slowdown.

• The current activity is also lower than permit levels issued before the Great Recession and the annual average of 33,150 between 1980 and 2025, according to the ARC.

State of play: The city of Atlanta is experiencing the opposite of slowed growth.

• Its growth rate has been faster than in previous decades, mostly because of high-density residential developments going up in places like Midtown and along the Beltline.
• Atlanta grew by 6,900 people — or 1.3% — and now has an estimated population of 549,615.

What we're watching: Whether the slowed growth trend will continue into 2027.