2024 UN Civil Society Conference in Support of the Summit of the Future.
A First Look at Atlanta's 2020 Census Results: Counties and "Up"
1. Comparative Populations: 2020 Census Totals-A Snapshot
Total
Population
Non-
Hispanic
White,
Non-
Hispanic
Black,
Non-
Hispanic
Asian,
Non-
Hispanic
Non-
Hispanic
Other*
Hispanic/
Latino
State of GA 10,711,908 9,588,451 5,362,156 3,278,119 475,680 472,496 1,123,457
Atlanta MSA 1/ 6,089,815 5,359,345 2,661,835 2,019,208 397,009 281,293 730,470
21 County Area 2/ 6,100,283 5,318,248 2,633,090 2,004,034 400,274 280,850 782,035
11 County ARC 3/ 4,967,514 4,314,666 1,912,447 1,791,664 381,987 228,568 652,848
Core 5 Counties 4/ 3,851,898 3,309,879 1,326,355 1,495,738 313,258 174,528 542,019
State less 11 County 5,744,394 5,273,785 3,449,709 1,486,455 93,693 243,928 470,609
ARC Counties:
Cherokee County 266,620 234,509 197,867 17,326 5,429 13,887 32,111
Clayton County 297,595 255,049 25,902 205,301 13,491 10,355 42,546
Cobb County 766,149 654,909 369,182 200,072 42,533 43,122 111,240
DeKalb County 764,382 682,911 215,895 384,438 50,076 32,502 81,471
Douglas County 144,237 128,202 49,877 68,763 2,313 7,249 16,035
Fayette County 119,194 109,714 68,144 29,166 6,362 6,042 9,480
Forsyth County 251,283 226,057 159,407 10,455 45,117 11,078 25,226
Fulton County 1,066,710 980,408 404,793 448,803 80,632 46,180 86,302
Gwinnett County 957,062 736,602 310,583 257,124 126,526 42,369 220,460
Henry County 240,712 222,275 86,297 116,431 7,976 11,571 18,437
Rockdale County 93,570 84,030 24,500 53,785 1,532 4,213 9,540
City of Atlanta 498,715 468,727 192,148 233,018 22,442 21,119 29,988
1/ 29-County Area
2/ARC Forecast Area, including 11 ARC Counties plus Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Coweta,
3/ As listed below
4/ Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb. Fulton, Gwinnett
Source: US Census 2020, Processed by ARC Research & Analytics/ Neighborhood Nexus
2. Comparative Populations: Numerical Change 2010-2020 Census
Total
Population
Non-
Hispanic
White,
Non-
Hispanic
Black,
Non-
Hispanic
Asian,
Non-
Hispanic
Non-
Hispanic
Other*
Hispanic/
Latino
State of GA 1,024,255 754,487 -64,977 356,883 158,995 303,586 269,768
Atlanta MSA 1/ 803,087 620,511 -31,655 327,066 140,394 184,706 182,576
21 County Area 2/ 817,517 626,440 -31,132 331,608 141,301 184,663 191,077
11 County ARC 3/ 684,253 528,484 -47,194 290,308 135,965 149,405 155,769
Core 5 Counties 4/ 486,601 366,784 -37,556 196,882 95,529 111,929 119,817
State less 11 County 340,002 226,003 -17,783 66,575 23,030 154,181 113,999
ARC Counties:
Cherokee County 52,274 40,729 23,182 5,541 1,878 10,128 11,545
Clayton County 38,171 31,072 -10,900 35,833 566 5,573 7,099
Cobb County 78,071 51,161 -20,371 30,635 11,511 29,386 26,910
DeKalb County 72,489 58,842 11,715 12,098 14,314 20,715 13,647
Douglas County 11,834 6,924 -15,228 17,177 403 4,572 4,910
Fayette County 12,627 9,907 -4,216 7,944 2,142 4,037 2,720
Forsyth County 75,772 67,096 18,172 6,115 34,077 8,732 8,676
Fulton County 146,129 132,393 27,138 46,793 28,565 29,897 13,736
Gwinnett County 151,741 93,316 -45,138 71,523 40,573 26,358 58,425
Henry County 36,790 30,166 -21,106 42,052 1,927 7,293 6,624
Rockdale County 8,355 6,878 -10,442 14,597 9 2,714 1,477
City of Atlanta 78,712 70,564 39,687 8,736 9,422 12,719 8,148
1/ 29-County Area
2/ARC Forecast Area, including 11 ARC Counties plus Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Coweta,
3/ As listed below
4/ Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb. Fulton, Gwinnett
Source: US Census 2020, Processed by ARC Research & Analytics/ Neighborhood Nexus
3. Historic Change: 1970-2020 Census
Part I of II
Total Population--Census Trends
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
Atlanta Region 1,517,751 1,924,140 2,601,883 3,527,779 4,283,261 4,967,514
Cherokee 31,059 51,699 91,000 141,903 214,346 266,620
Clayton 98,126 150,357 184,100 236,517 259,424 297,595
Cobb 196,793 297,718 453,400 607,751 688,078 766,149
DeKalb 415,387 483,024 553,800 665,865 691,893 764,382
Douglas 28,659 54,573 71,700 92,174 132,403 144,237
Fayette 11,364 29,043 62,800 91,263 106,567 119,194
Forsyth 16,928 27,958 44,083 98,400 175,511 251,283
Fulton 605,210 589,904 670,800 816,006 920,581 1,066,710
Gwinnett 72,349 166,808 356,500 588,448 805,321 957,062
Henry 23,724 36,309 59,200 119,341 203,922 240,712
Rockdale 18,152 36,747 54,500 70,111 85,215 93,570
City of Atlanta 495,039 424,922 415,200 416,474 420,003 498,175
1970 to 1980 to 1990 to 2000 to 2010 to
1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
Atlanta Region 40,639 67,774 92,590 75,548 68,425
Cherokee 2,064 3,930 5,090 7,244 5,227
Clayton 5,223 3,374 5,242 2,291 3,817
Cobb 10,093 15,568 15,435 8,033 7,807
DeKalb 6,764 7,078 11,207 2,603 7,249
Douglas 2,591 1,713 2,047 4,023 1,183
Fayette 1,768 3,376 2,846 1,530 1,263
Forsyth 1,103 1,613 5,432 7,711 7,577
Fulton -1,531 8,090 14,521 10,458 14,613
Gwinnett 9,446 18,969 23,195 21,687 15,174
Henry 1,259 2,289 6,014 8,458 3,679
Rockdale 1,860 1,775 1,561 1,510 836
City of Atlanta -7,012 -972 127 353 7,817
Average Annual Change
For the 11 counties, average annual increase
(numeric) in the 2010s has been strong, BUT
it is less than experienced during the 2000s or
1990s—the fastest growing decade that the
region has seen, and is likely to ever see.
4. Average Annual Percentage Increase
1970 to 1980 to 1990 to 2000 to 2010 to
1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
Atlanta Region 2.4 3.1 3.1 2.0 1.5
Cherokee 5.2 5.8 4.5 4.2 2.2
Clayton 4.4 2.0 2.5 0.9 1.4
Cobb 4.2 4.3 3.0 1.2 1.1
DeKalb 1.5 1.4 1.9 0.4 1.0
Douglas 6.7 2.8 2.5 3.7 0.9
Fayette 9.8 8.0 3.8 1.6 1.1
Forsyth 5.1 4.7 8.4 6.0 3.7
Fulton -0.3 1.3 2.0 1.2 1.5
Gwinnett 8.7 7.9 5.1 3.2 1.7
Henry 4.3 5.0 7.3 5.5 1.7
Rockdale 7.3 4.0 2.6 2.0 0.9
City of Atlanta -1.5 -0.2 0.0 0.1 1.7
Historic Change: 1970-2020 Census
Part I of II
On a average annual percentage basis, growth has dropped in the last decade to the lowest rate seen over the
last five decades…but it is still 1.5 percent per year! Forsyth continues to lead on this indicator as it has in the
last three 10-year periods. Prior to that, it was Fayette from 1970-80 and 1980-90.
5. Overall Population Change (in Percent): 2010-2020 Census
8.9%
9.8%
10.5%
11.3%
11.8%
14.7%
15.9%
16.0%
18.0%
18.7%
18.8%
24.4%
43.2%
0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0% 50.0%
Douglas County
Rockdale County
DeKalb County
Cobb County
Fayette County
Clayton County
Fulton County
11co
Henry County
City of Atlanta
Gwinnett County
Cherokee County
Forsyth County
Forsyth has been one of the fastest growing counties in the
nation since the 1990s, and from 2010-2020, it led the region
with a growth rate nearly 20 percentage points above that of
Cherokee in second place. Douglas and Rockdale Counties were
the only jurisdictions to grow by less than 10% in the decade.
6. Race/ Ethnicity Shares: 2020 Census
8.7%
26.2%
28.2%
32.5%
34.6%
35.9%
37.9%
38.5%
38.5%
43.7%
48.2%
50.1%
57.2%
63.4%
74.2%
69.0%
57.5%
50.3%
26.9%
47.7%
48.4%
42.1%
36.1%
46.7%
33.2%
26.1%
30.6%
24.5%
4.2%
6.5%
4.5%
1.6%
6.6%
13.2%
1.6%
3.3%
7.6%
7.7%
4.5%
6.5%
5.6%
4.4%
5.3%
18.0%
2.0%
14.3%
10.2%
10.7%
23.0%
11.1%
7.7%
8.1%
13.1%
6.0%
12.0%
14.5%
10.5%
8.0%
10.0%
12.0%
3.5%
4.5%
4.3%
4.4%
5.0%
4.8%
4.3%
4.6%
4.3%
4.6%
5.6%
4.4%
5.1%
4.4%
5.2%
0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 80.0% 90.0% 100.0%
Clayton County
Rockdale County
DeKalb County
Gwinnett County
Douglas County
Henry County
Fulton County
11 county
City of Atlanta
Atlanta MSA
Cobb County
State
Fayette County
Forsyth County
Cherokee County
White, Non-Hispanic Black, Non-Hispanic Asian,Non-Hispanic Hispanic Non-Hispanic, All Other
• The 2020 Census reports that only three of the eleven counties (Cherokee, Forsyth, and Fayette) are majority-White non-Hispanic , and
these shares are declining quickly compared to previous Census periods. For example, Forsyth was 92% white, non-Hispanic in 1990, but
has dropped to 63% as of the 2020 Census. Clayton, DeKalb, and Rockdale are over 50% Black, with Henry and Douglas just under that
threshold. Nine of eleven counties are 10% Hispanic of higher, while the region’s population was at 13% as of the 2020 Census
• Among the most prominent racial groups, the Asian population has grown the fastest by far in the last decade, to reach nearly 8 percent
of the region’s population, and soaring to 18% of Forsyth and 13% of Gwinnett
7. Percentage Point Change in Race/ Ethnicity Shares: 2010-2020
-7.3
-5.5
-8.4
-1.3
-14.6
-10.7
-17.0
-3.1
-11.7
-16.8
-14.8
2.2
-7.2
-6.0
-20.0
-15.0
-10.0
-5.0
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
Cherokee Clayton Cobb DeKalb Douglas Fayette Forsyth Fulton Gwinnett Henry Rockdale
City of
Atlanta MSA State
White, Non-Hispanic Black, Non-Hispanic Asian, Non-Hispanic All Other, Non-Hispanic Hispanic
• White, non-Hispanic population gained share, from 2010-2020, only in the City of Atlanta—it fell everywhere else. Five regional counties (with Forsyth the
greatest at 17 percentage points drop) had declining white, non-Hispanic shares over the last decade
• The share of “All Other, Non-Hispanic” grew in all areas 2010-2020—driven by gains in the number and share of people classifying as multiracial
• The Black share of the population increased everywhere but DeKalb County and the City of Atlanta, though those two areas remain at or just under 50%
Black. The largest share gains were in Henry and Rockdale, followed by Douglas County
• Hispanic population increased modestly, gaining less than 5 percentage points in all areas.
8. Percentage Change 2010-20:Population of Largest Race Groups
13.3%
-29.6%
-5.2%
5.7%
-23.4%
-5.8%
12.9%
7.2%
-12.7%
-19.7%
-29.9%
-2.4%
47.0%
21.1%
18.1%
3.2%
33.3%
37.4%
140.9%
11.6%
38.5%
56.5%
37.2%
19.3%
52.9%
4.4%
37.1%
40.0%
21.1%
50.8%
54.9%
47.2%
31.9%
0.6%
55.3%
56.1%
20.0%
31.9%
20.1%
44.1%
40.2%
52.4%
18.9%
36.1%
56.1%
18.3%
31.3%
-50.0%
0.0%
50.0%
100.0%
150.0%
Cherokee
County
Clayton
County
Cobb
County
DeKalb
County
Douglas
County
Fayette
County
Forsyth
County
Fulton
County
Gwinnett
County
Henry
County
Rockdale
County
11 County
White, Non-Hispanic Black, Non-Hispanic
Asian, Non-Hispanic Hispanic
300%
• Asian population increased by over 50 percent in the 11-county area from 2010-2020. Forsyth County saw a 300% increase in its Asian population, followed by Fulton
at 54%, Cherokee at 53%, and Fayette at 51%. White population had an absolute decline in all counties except DeKalb and Fulton (driven by increases in the City of
Atlanta). White population losses in Clayton and Rockdale approached 30%. Hispanic population grew by a third across the 11 counties, increasing by more than 50%
in Henry (at 66%), Cherokee at 56%, and Forsyth at 52%.Black population more than doubled in Forsyth, and increased by more than 50 percent in Henry. And we can’t
even put Non-Hispanic, Other on the same chart, so…
9. 135.9%
188.5%
200.2%
203.4%
207.8%
208.2%
215.8%
217.9%
237.6%
243.7%
326.8%
446.2%
0.0% 50.0% 100.0% 150.0% 200.0% 250.0% 300.0% 350.0% 400.0% 450.0% 500.0%
Clayton County
Gwinnett County
Henry County
DeKalb County
Douglas County
Fulton County
Rockdale County
11 county
Fayette County
Cobb County
Cherokee County
Forsyth County
Percentage Increase 2010-2020: Non-Hispanic, Some Other Race, Two or More Races
• The number of persons classifying as some other race
or “two or more races”, with about 90% of this group
stating that they were multiracial) more than
quadrupled 2010-2020 in all but Gwinnett and Clayton
County—and Gwinnett had the highest share of such
persons in 2020 (and in 2010)
• As you see, the scale just would not work compared to
the increases in other racial/ ethnic groups, as rapid as
most of those increases were during the 2010s!
Notas do Editor
Almost 80% of the state’s net population growth 2010-2020 has been in the Atlanta MSA, and two-thirds in the 11-county area. While the state as a whole grew at 11%, the 11-county region grew at 16% (with the state outside the 11 counties growing at 6%
Six of eleven region counties saw a decline in whit non-Hispanic population 2010-2020. Population in all other groups in all other counties increased over the period.
Forsyth has been one of the fastest growing counties in the nation since the 1990s, and from 2010-2020, it led the region with a growth rate nearly 20 percentage points above that of Cherokee in second place. Douglas and Rockdale Counties were the only jurisdictions to grow by less than 10% in the decade.
Forsyth has been one of the fastest growing counties in the nation since the 1990s, and from 2010-2020, it led the region with a growth rate nearly 20 percentage points above that of Cherokee in second place. Douglas and Rockdale Counties were the only jurisdictions to grow by less than 10% in the decade.
Forsyth has been one of the fastest growing counties in the nation since the 1990s, and from 2010-2020, it led the region with a growth rate nearly 20 percentage points above that of Cherokee in second place. Douglas and Rockdale Counties were the only jurisdictions to grow by less than 10% in the decade.
The 2020 Census reports that only three of the eleven counties (Cherokee, Forsyth, and Fayette) are majority-White non-Hispanic , and these shares are declining quickly compared to previous Census periods. For example, Forsyth was 92% white, non-Hispanic in 1990, but has dropped to 63% as of the 2020 Census.
Clayton, DeKalb, and Rockdale are over 50% Black, with Henry and Douglas just under that threshold
Nine of eleven counties are 10% Hispanic of higher, while the region’s population was at 13% as of the 2020 Census
Among the most prominent racial groups, the Asian population has grown the fastest by far in the last decade, to reach nearly 8 percent of the region’s population, and soaring to 18% of Forsyth and 13% of Gwinnett
White, non-Hispanic population gained share, from 2010-2020, only in the City of Atlanta—it fell everywhere else. Five regional counties (with Forsyth the greatest at 17 percentage points drop) had declining white, non-Hispanic shares over the last decade
The share of “All Other, Non-Hispanic” grew in all areas 2010-2020—driven by gains in the number and share of people classifying as multiracial
The Black share of the population increased everywhere but DeKalb County and the City of Atlanta, though those two areas remain at or just under 50% Black. The largest share gains were in Henry and Rockdale, followed by Douglas County
Hispanic population increased modestly, gaining less than 5 percentage points in all areas.
Asian population increased by over 50 percent in the 11-county area from 2010-2020. Forsyth County saw a 300% increase in its Asian population, followed by Fulton at 54%, Cherokee at 53%, and Fayette at 51%.
White population had an absolute decline in all counties except DeKalb and Fulton (driven by increases in the City of Atlanta). White population losses in Clayton and Rockdale approached 30%.
Hispanic population grew by a third across the 11 counties, increasing by more than 50% in Henry (at 66%), Cherokee at 56%, and Forsyth at 52%
Black population more than doubled in Forsyth, and increased by more than 50 percent in Henry
And we can’t even put Non-Hispanic, Other on the same chart, so…
The number of persons classifying as some other race or “two or more races”, with about 90% of this group stating that they wee multiracial) more than quadrupled 2010-2020 in all but Gwinnett and Clayton County—and Gwinnett had the highest share of such persons in 2020 (and in 2010)
As you see, the scale just would not work compared to the increases in other racial/ etnic groups, as rapid as most of those were