Local

Atlanta ranks among fastest-growing large cities, new study shows

Take a look around downtown Atlanta and it’ll be impossible to miss. Super Bowl LIII is less than two weeks away, and there are signs of the big game everywhere.

ATLANTA — There's a lot of chatter about Atlanta's rapid change — especially the city's population, which has continued to climb in recent years.

Now, a new study found that the city is among the quickest growing in the country — 8th fastest among large cities and 57th in growth overall, according to the report published by WalletHub.

According to the findings, Atlanta isn't the only Southern city to see speedy growth.

"Eight of the 15 cities with the largest population gains in 2018 were located in the South and six were in the West," the report reads.

In the large city category (defined as having a population of more than 300,000 people) Atlanta trails other Southern cities such as Austin, Texas; Miami; and Forth Worth, Texas, which were all in the top 10.

The study compared 515 cities, of varying sizes, based on the dimensions of "sociodemographics" and "jobs and economy."

Although this study focused exclusively on population within the city limits, the greater metro Atlanta area is also poised to continue to see fast growth.

According to information released earlier this month by the Atlanta Regional Commission, the metro area could reach a population of 8.6 million by 2050. (The metro population reached 4.6 million earlier this year, which was an uptick of more than 70,000 residents).

Additional findings from Georgia:

  • Roswell ranked 86th in growth for small cities (fewer than 100,000 people).
  • Columbus ranked among the midsize cities (100,000 to 300,000 people) with the lowest growth.
  • Albany ranked among the small cities with lowest growth.

This article was written by Courtney Kueppers with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.