Cobb population growth

ARC projects Cobb population to surpass 1 million by 2050

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Cobb population growth, ARC 2050 chart
ARC graphics; click here for larger view

A new census is being taken next year, and this week the Atlanta Regional Commission released figures that go out three decades down the road, projecting Cobb population growth of 40 percent that will push the county past the one-million mark by the the year 2050.

The county currently has a population of more than 766,000, and the ARC is projecting that will grow by 295,000 over the next 30 years

Those figures are part of a larger forecast by the ARC that has the 21-county metro Atlanta growing by 2.9 million people, to 8.6 million, by 2050.

In addition, the area will gain 1.2 million more jobs in that time.

You can read summaries of the ARC report here and here.

Only Fulton and Gwinnett counties, the only ones more populous than Cobb, will remain that way, according to ARC, which says both will push beyond 1.4 million people each by 2050. DeKalb County is projected to come close to 1 million.

The ARC report indicates that Cobb’s Hispanic population will grow 21 percent over the next 30 or so years, and so will Cobb’s elderly population. By 2050, people 75 and older will make up 13 percent of the county population, compared to four percent today.

ARC Cobb ethnicity pie chart 2015-2140

Greater diversity is anticipated through the 21 counties. Cobb currently has a white population of 54 percent, with blacks making up 25 percent, Hispanics 14 percent and others seven percent.

By 2040, ARC projects Cobb’s population will be minority-majority, with blacks, Hispanics and other groups making up 58 percent of the population, and whites 41 percent.

More detailed aging numbers show that Cobb now has an elderly population rate (age 65 and older) of 11.75 percent, but that will grow to 22.5 percent by 2040.

Cobb’s population has stagnated in the most recent population update put out by the ARC in August, with an increase of only 8,100 people since 2018. (East Cobb’s roughly estimated population is around 200,000, taking in ZIP codes 30062, 30066, 30067, 30068 and the Cobb portion of 30075).

Forsyth County population is expected to double by 2050, to more than 440,000, and Henry County is expected to have a growth rate of 70 percent.

The ARC projects that the largest job gains will be in the health care and social assistance; professional, scientific and technical; and construction sectors. The largest job losses, per the ARC, are forecast to occur in the manufacturing and utilities sectors.

 

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Cobb population growth rises slightly in 2018, to 766,400

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East Cobb ZIP Code map, Cobb population growth

The population of Cobb County keeps going up, but not as much as nearby counties and the city of Atlanta.

According to the Atlanta Regional Commission, Cobb added 8,100 new residents in 2018, bringing the overall county population to 766,400.

The ARC released its population estimates on Wednesday, and Cobb is the third-largest county in metro Atlanta. During the current decade, the county’s population has grown by 78,322, reflecting a slower growth rate than previous decades. The ARC said Cobb added more than 150,000 people each decade between 1980 and 2000.

Fulton and Gwinnett counties added the most residents, while the highest growth rates occurred in Cherokee and Henry counties and the City of Atlanta. The ARC figures the metro population now is 4.6 million people in the 10-county area (Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale, the city of Atlanta and 73 municipalities in those counties).

Cherokee County’s population grew more than Cobb’s for the first time, with 8,200 additional residents in 2018. Cherokee, which had a population of 91,000 in 1990, now is at 262,700, according to the ARC estimates.

For more information about ARC’s population estimates, check out ARC’s latest Regional Snapshot. The numbers are figured by using building permit data, school enrollment trends, occupancy rates and other data.

The ARC breakdown doesn’t include population trends within counties, except cities as noted above, so there isn’t a calculation for East Cobb.

When Cobb went over 750,000 in population in 2017, we estimated that the four main ZIP codes that make up East Cobb, plus the Cobb slice of Roswell 30075, eclipsed 200,000 people.

We looked at info on the very useful Georgia Demographics website, which has ZIP Code-specific data that isn’t as readily available from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Those figures have gone up by a few thousand, to around 208,000, according to the Georgia Demographics estimates. By ZIP Code, here’s how East Cobb stacks up now:

  • ZIP Code 30062: Population 67,248; Whites 68%, Blacks 12.4%, Asians 8.8%; Median household income $94,437; Average age 40.4 years old;
  • ZIP Code 30066: Population 54,126; Whites 70.3%, Blacks 10.2%, Hispanics 8.1%; Median household income $91,364; Average age 40.7 years old;
  • ZIP Code 30067: Population 46,888; Whites 53%, Blacks 28.2%, Hispanics 9.5%; Median household income $55,681; Average age 33.2 years old;
  • ZIP Code 30068: Population 32,006; Whites 77.3%, Asians 7.6%, Hispanics 6.6%, Blacks 6.1%; Median household income $108,105; Average age 44.5 years old.

The Roswell ZIP Code 30075 includes the extreme northeast portion of Cobb County, or about 8,100 residents of the 53,200 population of the ZIP Code. The Georgia Demographics data didn’t make any county splits, but 30075 overall breaks down as follows: Whites 77.7%, Blacks 9.5%, Hispanics 5.9%; Median income $109,786; Average age 42.9 years old.

The 30062 and 30066 populations were up slightly from two years ago, while 30067, 30068 and 30075 held steady or were down slightly.

For 2040, the ARC is projecting Cobb’s population to be at 885,062, an increase of 157,541 people since the 2015 Census update.

 

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