Atlanta

blue

Get smarter, faster on what matters in Atlanta with Kristal Dixon and Thomas Wheatley.

Axios Atlanta

Standard

A daily look at the most significant and interesting stories affecting Atlanta. Written by Kristal Dixon and Thomas Wheatley.

Axios Atlanta Thought Bubble

Thought Bubble

Atlanta Alerts

Alert

Axios Atlanta Partners

Atlanta Members

Membership

Despite the claim by some that we are full, more people continue to move to metro Atlanta.

Driving the news: The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) yesterday released its 11-county population estimates for 2023, showing the region added 66,730 new residents from April 1, 2022 to April 1 of this year.

Our population is now 5.16 million, up from 5 million last year.

Why it matters: This latest growth spurt presents additional challenges to a fiefdom-driven region already experiencing low affordable housing inventory that's keeping prices high and limited connectivity that makes it difficult to get around the city.

The big picture: Job creation spurred the growth, the ARC says. Metro Atlanta saw the fifth-largest percentage increase in new jobs in the U.S. since early 2020, trailing Austin, Dallas, Las Vegas and Orlando.

What they're saying: Mike Carnathan, managing director of research & analytics at the ARC, told Axios the region's growth also ties in with the boom in residential building permits,

Last year, 36,074 permits were issued across the 11-county region, 9,000 more than the previous year.

Atlanta issued close to 12,000 residential permits last year alone, with Gwinnett coming in a distant second with around 5,400.

"That residential building boom in the city of Atlanta translates into the biggest single year population growth that we've seen in the city of Atlanta at least for the past two decades," Carnathan told Axios.

Of note: Carnathan said it's "fascinating" to see the number of multi-family housing permits being issued in the outer metro counties.

"That's a relatively big sea change compared to say 20 years ago, where you didn't see hardly any multi-family construction out in the suburban or exurban counties," he said.

Zoom in: The city of Atlanta added 14,300 additional people between 2022 and this year, which was nearly three times the 5,070 who moved here from 2021 to 2022.

The previous record — 10,900 — was set in 2018 and 2019.

Atlanta's estimated population is now 521,000, ARC data shows.

What we're watching: The two major challenges facing the metro region are maintaining its "competitive edge" in terms of housing affordability and investing in its infrastructure so it can handle the influx of people, Carnathan said.

"That's the conversations that we have here at ARC every single day with local governments," Carnathan said.

Metro Atlanta grows by nearly 67,000 people

The metro region's population is now 5.15 million, up from 5 million last year.

Illustration of many "hello my name is" stickers, and one has an upward trending arrow on it. 

Despite the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="claim by some" data-vars-click-url="https://www.ajc.com/blog/buzz/full-enjoy-atlanta-then-beat-says-creator-catchy-shirts/hHrjinD46iJU0EFslAjATI/" data-vars-content-id="c15b89c0-72f1-4723-8f92-e25601d42d0d" data-vars-headline="Metro Atlanta grows by nearly 67,000 people" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.ajc.com/blog/buzz/full-enjoy-atlanta-then-beat-says-creator-catchy-shirts/hHrjinD46iJU0EFslAjATI/" target="_blank">claim by some</a> that we are full, more people continue to move to metro Atlanta.Driving the news: The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) yesterday released its <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="11-county population estimates for 2023" data-vars-click-url="https://cdn.atlantaregional.org/wp-content/uploads/mc-popestimates-2023-1.pdf" data-vars-content-id="c15b89c0-72f1-4723-8f92-e25601d42d0d" data-vars-headline="Metro Atlanta grows by nearly 67,000 people" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://cdn.atlantaregional.org/wp-content/uploads/mc-popestimates-2023-1.pdf" target="_blank">11-county population estimates for 2023</a>, showing the region added 66,730 new residents from April 1, 2022 to April 1 of this year.

News

Axios Salt Lake City

How Helper went from a boom-bust mining town to a hidden Utah gem

Salt Lake City

New census data shows Oregon getting older

Portland

Median age of U.S. residents, 2005–2022

Data: U.S. Census; Note: The Census Bureau will not release estimates for 2020 because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on data collection;Chart: Alice Feng/Axios

topics

politics-policy

epstein-files

donald-trump

2026-midterm-elections

immigration

behind-the-curtain

race-and-equity

technology

privacy-tech-regulation

automation-and-ai

tiktok-news

big-tech

social-media

cybersecurity

economy

social-security

inflation

tariffs

federal-reserve

transportation

business

c-suite

retail-news

media

elon-musk

dealmaking

health

rfk-jr

drug-prices

axios-explains-abortion

public-health

world

israel

axios-explains-ukraine

iran

russia

china

energy-climate

nuclear-energy

climate-energy-policy

climate-change

extreme-weather

alternative-energy

electric-vehicles

science

emerging-tech

biomedicine

newsletters

charlotte

salt-lake-city

denver

fort-lauderdale

cincinnati

scottsdale

boulder

kansas-city

austin

chicago

dallas

detroit

atlanta

indianapolis

nashville

nw-arkansas

columbus

hollywood

washington-dc

north-of-cincy

mesa

richmond

san-francisco

boston

des-moines

houston

phoenix

miami

philadelphia

seattle

new-orleans

colorado-springs

huntsville

raleigh

san-antonio

twin-cities

pittsburgh

san-diego

tampa-bay

portland

cleveland

arapahoe

douglas

axios-local

axios-pro

axios-live

the-axios-show

Alex Perry

Featured stories

How Helper went from a boom-bust mining town to a hidden Utah gem

New census data shows Oregon getting older

Metro Atlanta grows by nearly 67,000 people