Cobb County's Incorporated Cities Fuel Local Growth, Except for Acworth

While most of Cobb County's incorporated cities experienced growth over the last three years, one saw a population loss.

Cobb County cities like Marietta attracted 50% of the county's new population over the past three years, according to the US Census Bureau.Photo byDeanLand / OurTravelCafe.com

The cities of Austell, Kennesaw, Marietta, Powder Springs and Smyrna all experienced population growth from 2020 to 2024. But Acworth, or at least the specific area within the city's incorporated limits, saw a small population decrease.

Cobb County's cities accounted for 50% of the overall population growth recorded by the county from 2020 to 2023.

That's according to US Census Bureau statistics published in May 2024 in the bureau's Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places in Georgia. Cobb's newest city, Mableton, was not included in the report as it was incorporated after the study's baseline date of April 2020. The report includes only residents in the incorporated areas of each city, and not families in surrounding neighborhoods or unincorporated areas served by a post office bearing the city's name.

Powder Springs recorded both the highest percentage rate and population count growth in Cobb County, the report shows. Powder Springs gained an estimated 2,043 residents, which set its growth rate at 12% over the three-year period. That growth pace placed Powder Springs at No. 48 in the list of Georgia's fastest-growing incorporated cities.

Kennesaw recorded a growth rate of 4.4% for the three year period, gaining 1,450 new residents. Austell's growth rate was 3.7%, while gaining 289 residents.

Cobb County's largest city by population count, Marietta, grew 2.8%, with 1,696 new residents. Smyrna, the second-largest city in Cobb County, attracted 365 new residents, growing at less than one percent.

Acworth's population in the incorporated areas of the city declined by 85 people, making it the only incorporated city in the county to show a real population decline.

Overall, the Census Bureau report showed Cobb County's population increased by 10,631 individuals, with Cobb cities accounting for 5,578 of the increase.