Georgia's Most Wired Counties Cluster Around Atlanta Metro

If you're looking for Georgia's most internet-connected counties, head to the Atlanta metro area. According to new data from the US Census Bureau, nine of Georgia's 10 most wired counties are located within a 70 mile radius of the state's largest city and capital.

Nine of Georgia's most internet-connected counties are in the Atlanta Metro Area, a Census Bureau report shows.Photo byGraphic: DeanLand

The U.S. Census Bureau and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released on Sept. 9 the 2022 Local Estimates of Internet Adoption (LEIA), an experimental data product that measures Internet adoption at the county level.

According to the Census report, the agency used "small area estimation methods, restricted microdata from the American Community Survey, public data from the Federal Communications Commission and the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates" to produce single year estimates for all counties in the United States.

Forsyth and Cobb counties are the state's most wired areas, according to the report, with the highest proportion of residents having access to high speed internet access. The Census Bureau estimated that 88.8% of Forsyth County residents had high speed internet access, based on 2022 data. Cobb County was a close second place, with 87.1% of residents having high speed internet access.

Of Georgia's Top Ten most wired counties for internet access, only one -- coastal Liberty county south of Savannah -- was outside the Atlanta metro area. The county is home to Fort Stewart, where more than 15,000 military personnel are among the county's 60,000-plus residents.

According to the Census Bureau Data, Georgia's Top 10 most wired counties, with the percentage of residents having access to high-speed internet service, are:

Forsyth, 88.8%

Cobb, 87.1%

Fayette, 85.2%

Cherokee 84.9%

Fulton, 84%

Douglas, 83.5%

DeKalb, 83.3%

Paulding, 83.0%

Newton, 82.8%

Liberty, 82.1%