Georgia's Population Surges Past 11 Million, Fueled by Migration

Georgia's population grew beyond the 11 million mark in 2023, reaching 11,029,227 residents according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. With a robust population increase of 2.9% from 2020 to 2023, 315,456 new residents arrived in the state. Georgia was the 10th fastest-growing state in the US by percentage during the reporting period.

Georgia's population surged past 11 million in 2023, demonstrating the state's popularity with new domestic and international arrivals.Photo byDeanLand / OurTravelCafe.com

That's according to data published in 2024 by the US Census Bureau Population Division in its report, "Annual and Cumulative Estimates of the Components of Resident Population Change for Counties in Georgia: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023."

Georiga gained 315,456 net new residents over the three-year period, the Census data shows. The growth was fueled primarily by net domestic and international migration into the state, part of broader population shifts towards the South region. Georgia gained approximately 186,000 new residents from domestic migration, defined as those moving from other areas inside the US. Georgia also saw nearly 500,000 new arrivals from from international migration. The Census Bureau includes those migrating from outside the US, from Puerto Rico and US military shifting from international assignments in the international migration calculation. Those departing Georgia were calculated in outbound migration, resulting in the net population gain of 315,456, along with the balance of births and deaths in the state.

Georgia gained approximately 700,000 new residents from domestic and international migration. That was offset some by outbound migration.Photo byDeanLand / OurTravelCafe.com

The overall population expansion contributed significantly to the South region leading the nation's growth, accounting for 87% of the total increase in 2023.

Fastest Growing Counties

The counties fueling Georgia's population boom were concentrated in the Atlanta metro area and other suburban/exurban communities,, according to the Census Bureau report. The state's top 5 fastest growing counties by numeric population increase from 2020-2023 were:

Gwinnett County: +54,287

Fulton County: +51,693

Forsyth County: +35,421

Cobb County: +29,115

Cherokee County: +21,544

Booming Cities

At the municipal level, Georgia's largest cities also saw their populations swell over the three-year period. The Census Bureau report shows that Georgia's top 5 cities by numeric population growth were:

Atlanta: +38,295

Savannah: +9,872

Sandy Springs: +8,544

Roswell: +7,692

Johns Creek: +7,103

The new Census data continues Georgia's status as a growth hotspot, benefiting from multi-year national migration trends favoring the broader Sun Belt region.

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