Metro Atlanta leads population growth

Metropolitan Atlanta added nearly as many residents last year as live in the entire city of Chattanooga, according to government population figures released today.

The U.S. Bureau of Census said the rate of growth in the 28-county Atlanta area was nearly three times faster than the pace of growth in the six-county Chattanooga area during 2007. Since the 2000 census, Atlanta has been the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the nation, adding more than 1 million residents in just seven years. Last year, the population of metro Atlanta jumped by 151,063, behind only metro Dallas in the number of new residents added during 2007.

“When our population is increasing more than much bigger cities like New York, Los Angeles and Miami, it’s pretty amazing,” said Charles Krautler, director of the Atlanta Regional Commission. “Atlanta has been and continues to be the growth engine in the Southeast.”

Among America’s 100 fastest-growing counties, 12 were suburban counties ringing the city of Atlanta, including three counties within 50 miles of metro Chattanooga — Cherokee, Bartow and Pickens. Neighboring Gainesville, Ga., had the fourth fastest growth rate among all U.S. metro areas last year, growing more than four times faster than the rest of the country during 2007.

Mr. Krautler said the counties north of Atlanta are expected to continue to grow the fastest in the Atlanta area. But he said the city of Atlanta has added more than 40,000 residents since the 2000 census, reversing its earlier decline in population as residents moved to the suburbs.

“Are we someday going to see metro Atlanta and metro Chattanooga come together? Possibly, but certainly not by the next census (in 2010),” he said.

Metro Chattanooga added 5,929 people last year, growing at the same pace as the national average. The neighboring metro areas of Cleveland, Tenn., and Dalton, Ga., grew slightly faster in 2007, as did most of Tennessee’s other metro areas. Only Memphis grew at a slower pace among Tennessee’s metropolitan areas during 2007, census figures show.

Metro Clarksville, Tenn., was the fastest-growing Tennessee metro area with a 3.7 percent growth rate last year, according to the Bureau of Census.

But the pace of population growth could slow this year along with the economy, according to University of Tennessee economist Bill Fox.

“People tend to move where the jobs are, and in a more sluggish economy fewer people are likely to move,” he said.