Atlanta climbs (back) to 6th largest metro in the United States

A game of post-pandemic, population leapfrog continues for some of the country’s largest metro areas, including Atlanta’s, according to new U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

After slipping in the year ending in July 2024, metro Atlanta has surged back two places to again become the sixth largest metro in the U.S., now logging 6.482 million residents, per the most recent Census data. 

In the year ending July 1, 2025, metro Atlanta packed on another 61,953 people—good for third place numerically in the country, behind Texas juggernauts Houston (126,720 gain) and Dallas (123,557), respectively. 

That means Atlanta and its OTP satellite cities have again surpassed Miami (No. 8, with a nearly 9,000-person loss last year) and Washington D.C. (No. 7, with a 50,206-person gain) to retake the No. 6 position. 

With latest estimates included, metro Atlanta has seen a gain of nearly 400,000 total residents since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic six years ago. (Which helps explain such widespread Saturday traffic, unfortunately, right?) 

Here’s what that current tally looks like, in chart form, as relayed by Atlanta Regional Commission officials: 

As the ARC notes, metro Atlanta’s 29-county area growth of .96 percent was slower than the prior year but still outpaced the nation, spurring the shake-up among biggest U.S. metros behind New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, and Houston, respectively. (Not everyone’s thrilled about ATL’s growth trajectory, especially the “We full” contingent and those feeling the pinch of traffic congestion and slipping housing affordability, as the AJC reports.)  

The population range between spots 6 to 9 is just 153,000 residents, as the ARC observes.

According to the Census estimates, some of the largest counties in the country have been hit hardest by population decline. Across the year ending June 30, 2025, the U.S. gained 1.78 million people—but the country added nearly twice as many residents over the preceding year.  

Below are a few key graphics based on the Census data released in late March.  

Top 10 U.S. metro areas for numeric growth, between July 2024 and July 2025: 

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A broader trend of metro population shifts over the past half-decade, with Atlanta at No. 3: 

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Three of the top 10 U.S. counties for percentage growth are in Georgia: 

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Meanwhile, leading counties for numeric decline, per the most recent Census estimates: 

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• Interactive map shows home-value disparity across ATL neighborhoods (Urbanize Atlanta)