Coweta’s population rises to an estimated 145,251
New population figures released by the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) for 2010-2017 show Fayette County growing by 1,700 residents during the past year and adding more than 1,000 residents per year during the period. It was the second lowest growth rate in the 10-county metro area.
Above, construction is underway on a batch of new homes in west Fayetteville’s Pinewood Forrest. Photo/Ben Nelms.
Fayette’s estimated population for April 2017 was 114,000, up from 112,300 in April 2016, for an addition of 1,700 new residents.
Fayette since 2010 has increased in population by an average of 1,062 people per year, according to ARC.
Neighboring Coweta County’s estimated 2017 population is 145,251, according to Electric Cities of Georgia website. That’s an increase of nearly 18,000 over the official 2010 Census count for Coweta.
For comparison, Fayette’ population has increased by about 7,400 during that same period.
In terms of an increase in population density from 2010-2017, the Tyrone and north Peachtree City areas saw the greatest increase by adding 75-225 per square mile. South Peachtree City had no density increase during the period. As for the remainder of Fayette County, population density increased by 0-75 people per square mile, ARC said.
Looking at the wider 10-county metro Atlanta area, the region’s population grew at a faster rate than at any time since the Great Recession, increasing by 1.8 percent, compared to 1.6 percent (69,800) a year earlier. The Atlanta region is now home to 4,480,100 people, more than that of 24 states, according to ARC.
ARC said each of the region’s 10 core counties experienced population growth during the past year. Fulton County led the way, adding 17,100 residents. Gwinnett County added 16,900 people, while Cobb County grew by 12,800. DeKalb County added 8,900 people, Cherokee County 7,300, Henry County 5,400, Clayton County 4,700, Douglas County 1,900, Fayette County 1,700, and Rockdale County 1,600. The city of Atlanta added 9,900 new residents in the past year, compared to 7,900 last year and 4,800 the year before, amid a boom in multi-family housing.
Long-term trends show that the outer suburbs have led the region’s growth. Cherokee County on the far north side saw its population grow by 15 percent between 2010 and 2017, tops in the region. Henry County, on the far southeast side, followed closely behind with a population increase of 12 percent, said ARC.
ARC said job growth fueled the region’s population boom. The 29-county Atlanta Metropolitan added more than 87,000 jobs between April 2016 and April 2017, the second-most in the nation during that time, behind Dallas-Ft. Worth. Metro Atlanta added jobs at the fastest rate – 3.3 percent – during this stretch.
“The Atlanta region was slow to emerge from the recession, but strong growth in the past few years shows that our recovery has taken hold,” said Mike Carnathan, manager of ARC’s Research and Analytics Group. “People are moving here because jobs are plentiful to a wide variety of job seekers.”
