Atlanta Metro Area Now 6th Largest

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The Atlanta metropolitan area has leapfrogged both Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia to become the nation’s sixth-largest metropolitan region, according to newly released population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

AJC.COM reports the population in Atlanta’s 29-county region increased a little more than 1% to 6.3 million between 2022 and 2023, gaining nearly 69,000 residents. D.C. and Philly also grew, but not as fast as Atlanta.

While not the fastest-growing metro area in the country, the Atlanta metro — formally known as the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metropolitan statistical area — had the third-largest total population increase in the country between 2022 and 2023, the Census data shows. Only the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth metros added more total residents.

The new census figures continue a trend for Atlanta. Last year’s data noted that metro Atlanta in 2022 had outgrown the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan area in Florida. At that time, Georgia also surpassed 11 million residents statewide for the first time.

It wasn’t just major cities in Georgia that saw significant growth. The Census Bureau tracks growth in what it calls micropolitan statistical areas, which are typically smaller cities with populations of more than 10,000 residents in areas with less than 50,000 population.

The Jefferson micropolitan area, which encompasses all of Jackson County northeast of Atlanta, was the fastest-growing micropolitan area in the entire country, the Census said. The area, which in recent years has landed major economic development projects including the SK Battery Atlanta facility, added about 4,600 residents since 2022.