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Census: Atlanta drops two spots on biggest metros list (atlanta.urbanize.city)

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Census: Atlanta drops two spots on biggest metros list Josh Green Mon, 03/17/2025 - 12:50 Tough news for ATL zealots: We’re not No. 6 anymore.

The metro areas of both Miami and Washington D.C. have leapfrogged metro Atlanta in terms of overall population, bumping Georgia’s capital city back to No. 8 on the list of largest metros in the country, according to Vintage 2024 estimates of population totals and components of change recently published by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Last year, the 2022-2023 version of the same report showed metro Atlanta had surpassed both Miami and Washington D.C.—after having overtaken metro Philadelphia the year prior—to become the sixth largest U.S. metro, and the biggest in the Southeast. That marked an impressing jump for Atlanta from being the ninth largest metro at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic—but alas, it was short-lived, per the new Census tabulations.

Those estimates put Greater Miami as the sixth largest U.S. metro, after it notched more than 123,000 new residents over the year ending July 1. Washington D.C. brought in another 90,600 people, good for No. 7, per the Census findings.

Metro Atlanta’s 29-county region hardly stagnated, however, adding more than 75,000 people, or a 1.19 percent population bump.

Big picture, Census officials found that even metros where populations had dipped during the pandemic were on the rebound between July 2023 and a year later; all 387 metro areas in the country saw positive net international migration, accounting for nearly 2.7 million people.

“While births continue to contribute to overall growth, rising net international migration is offsetting the ongoing net domestic outmigration we see in many of these [metro] areas,” noted Kristie Wilder, a Census demographer, in the report released Thursday.

The top 10 largest U.S. metros right now, per Census estimates released last week. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2024 Population Estimates.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began five years ago, the population across the City of Atlanta and metro counties has climbed by nearly 5 percent, adding more than 290,000 people, per the Census data. (Contrast that against the metro with the highest rate of increase among top 10 cities, Dallas, which has added more than 676,000 residents; or the one that’s shrunk the most, Los Angeles, where the population had dipped by 119,200 people, as of July.)

There is a bright spot in the Census findings, as Peach State growth patterns are concerned.

Two of the top 10 fastest growing counties in the U.S. are in Georgia, in terms percentage growth rates, and both are located in the northern exurbs.

Situated northwest of Gwinnett County, Jackson County (No. 4) grew by 5.8 percent over the year in question.

Meanwhile, Dawson County—where Atlanta’s sprawl meets the North Georgia Mountains, due north of the capital city—grew by 6.4 percent, which was good for No. 1 in the country among counties with at least 20,000 residents. (And who says proximity to outlet malls isn’t a selling point?)

Top 10 counties across the country in terms of percentage growth over the year ending July 1, 2024. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2024 Population Estimates.

On the flipside, Clayton County’s reduction of 1,677 residents landed it on the dubious top 10 (No. 6) of counties that saw numeric decline. According to Census findings, 297,700 people now call Clayton home.

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