According to a new population forecast, Atlanta has plenty of room to grow. The 21-county region’s population is expected to reach 7.9 million by 2050, according to a forecast released by the Atlanta Regional Commission.
It marks a 1.8 million increase over the 2020 U.S Census baseline, with the fastest growth in outer counties like Forsyth, which will see a 79 percent increase, Barrow and Paulding.
The 21 counties span a broad chunk of Georgia: Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, Newton, Paulding, Rockdale, Spaulding and Walton.
ARC reported that the majority of the growth will come from “minority and ethnic groups,” with Latino residents expected to make up 21 percent of the population by 2050 compared to 12 percent today.
About half of the growth — 812,000 people — will happen in the “core” of the region, though, in Fulton County, Cobb County, DeKalb County and Clayton County.
Anna Roach, the executive director and CEO of ARC, said the forecasts show that a “great quality of life and vibrant economy will drive strong growth in the decades ahead.”
The commission also predicts an additional 856,000 jobs by 2050, with 68 percent coming from the arts, entertainment and recreation center, 38 percent in the professional and business sector, 36 percent in accommodation and food service and 35 percent in manufacturing.
“Metro Atlanta’s prosperity is not a given,” Roach said. “We must keep investing in our infrastructure in our people to build a successful future.”
ARC uses the plan issued every four years to inform the Metropolitan Transportation Plan. At a Feb. 14 meeting, the board approved the plan and allocated $168 billion in federal, state and local funding through 2050 to transportation projects.
The transportation plan is “designed to accommodate significant growth” in the coming years.
In 2023, real estate data company Clever ranked Atlanta the third-worst commuter city in America.
Using varied data sources, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, the company found Atlanta commuters lose about 74 hours a year to traffic — about 32 minutes driving each way.
Clever also found that 81 percent of Atlanta workers commute by car. Only 2 percent of people in the region use public transit to get to their jobs.
Most of the funding, $105.5 billion, is going towards maintaining existing infrastructure: resurfacing roads, repairing bridges, and updating buses and rail cars.
The rest of the funds are split between road, highway and public transit projects, with $5 billion earmarked for programs that “encourage alternative ways of getting around the region” by incentivizing carpooling and telecommuting with prizes and rewards programs.
Almost $22 billion is set aside for highway and road construction, with the addition and reconstruction of certain I-285 and I-85 interchanges and road widening in highly congested areas.
Of the $168 billion total, the plan set aside $10 billion for transit expansion. Some projects scheduled for the next decade include Campbellton Road bus rapid transit, Clayton Southlake bus rapid transit, extending the Atlanta Streetcar to Ponce City Market and Buford Highway and Candler Road MARTA rapid transit projects.
The rest of the funds, $3.9 billion, go towards bike and pedestrian projects throughout the region, like BeltLine expansion, trail extensions, and the addition of bike and pedestrian lanes in the Downtown Connector.
Atlanta Mayor and ARC board chair Andrew Dickens called the plan a “bold blueprint that will keep our region moving forward in the decades to come.”
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