Demographics of Atlanta

Atlanta is the largest city in the state of Georgia. 2010 census results varied dramatically with previous Census Bureau estimates, counting 420,003 residents^[1], versus the 2009 estimate of 540,921.^[2] Atlanta is the core city of the ninth most populous United States metropolitan area at 5,268,860 (est. 2010),^[3] with a combined statistical area of 5,626,400.^[4] The population grew steadily for its first 100 years, and peaked in 1970 at around 496,000. While the population within the city limits of Atlanta fell throughout the 1970s and '80s, the metro area continued to grow. In 1990 the city's population bottomed out at around 394,000, and it has been increasing steadily every year since then, growing 29% from 2000 to reach around 540,000 residents in 2009. The City of Atlanta ranks as the 40th-largest in the United States, and the sixth-largest city in the southeastern region.

Census

Historical populations
Census	City[5]	Region[6]
1850	2,572	N/A
1860	9,554	N/A
1870	21,789	N/A
1880	37,409	N/A
1890	65,533	N/A
1900	89,872	419,375
1910	154,839	522,442
1920	200,616	622,283
1930	270,366	715,391
1940	302,288	820,579
1950	331,314	997,666
1960	487,455	1,312,474
1970	496,973	1,763,626
1980	425,022	2,233,324
1990	394,017	2,959,950
2000	416,474	4,112,198
2010	420,003	5,729,304
*Estimates[7][8][4] Region: Combined Statistical Area (CSA)

Income

In 2009, the median income for a household in the city was $47,464 and the median income for a family was $59,711. About 21.8% of the population and 17.2% of families lived below the poverty line.^[9]

Race

Main articles: Hispanic and Latino Communities in Atlanta and History of African Americans in Atlanta

The 2010 racial composition of Atlanta was:

• Black or African American: 226,894 or 54.0%, vs. 61.4% in 2000
• White: 161,115 or 38.4%, vs. 33.2% in 2000
• Asian: 13,188 or 5.2%

• Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 21,815 or 3.1%

The city of Atlanta is seeing a unique and drastic demographic increase in its white population, and at a pace that outstrips the rest of the nation. The proportion of whites in the city's population, according to Brookings Institution, grew faster between 2000 and 2006 than that of any other U.S. city. By 2010, Atlanta's white population had increased by 22,763 people. The white percentage increased from 31% in 2000, to 35% in 2006, to 38% in 2010, more than double the increase between 1990 and 2000. During the same time, the city's black poulation decreased by 31,678 people, shrinking from 61.4% of the city's population in 2000 to 54.0% in 2010. The demographic changes are due to an influx of whites into gentrifying intown neighborhoods, such as East Atlanta and the Old Fourth Ward, coupled with a movement of blacks into adjacent suburbs, such as Clayton County.^{[10][11][11][12]}

Other

The city of Atlanta also has one of the highest LGBT populations per capita. It ranks 3rd of all major cities, behind San Francisco and slightly behind Seattle, with 12.8% of the city's total population recognizing themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual.^[13][14] According to the 2000 United States Census (revised in 2004), Atlanta has the twelfth highest proportion of single-person households nationwide among cities of 100,000 or more residents, which was at 38.5%.^[15]

According to a 2000 daytime population estimate by the Census Bureau,^[16] over 250,000 more people commuted to Atlanta on any given workday, boosting the city's estimated daytime population to 676,431. This is an increase of 62.4% over Atlanta's resident population, making it the largest gain in daytime population in the country among cities with fewer than 500,000 residents.

Timeline

1850 - 2,572

• City limits a circle with radius of 1 mile (3.14 square miles)

1860 - 9,554

• 1866 city limits enlarged to 1.5 miles (7 square miles) ^[17]

1870 - 21,789

1880 - 37,409

• 1889 saw annexation of Inman Park

1890 - 65,533

• 1895 city limits enlarged to 1.75 miles (9.6 square miles)
• 1896 saw annexation of West End (11 square miles)

1900 - 89,872, including 2500 persons of foreign birth and 35,900 of African descent.

• 1909 (January) Copenhill area annexed

1910 - 154,839 (metro 522,442)

1920 - 200,616 (metro 622,283)

1930 - 270,688 (metro 715,391)

1940 - 302,288 (metro 820,579)

1950 - 331,314 (metro 997,666)

• 1952 saw annexation of Buckhead, Adam's Park, Cascade & Lakewood adding 100,000 people (130 square miles)

1960 - 487,455 (metro 1,312,474)

1970 - 496,973 (metro 1,763,626)

1980 - 425,022 (metro 2,233,324)

1990 - 394,017 (metro 2,959,950)

2000 - 416,474 (metro 4,112,198)

2005 - 470,688 (metro 5,103,766)

2006 - 487,463 (metro 5,240,531) saw the first significant annexations to the city since 1952, in the southwest area around Cascade Road, adding about 5,000 residents. The Sandtown community (population 17,000) has petitioned for annexation as well.

2009 - 540,921 (metro 5,314,283)

2010 - 420,003 - estimates between the years 2000 and 2009 brought into question

References

1. ^ US Census Bureau
2. ^ "Table 4 - Colorado through Idaho". Fbi.gov. http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/08aprelim/table_4co-id.html. Retrieved 2010-04-05. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010, U.S. Census Bureau, 2010. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
4. ^ ^{a b} "Combined statistical area population and estimated components of change: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2007" (Comma-separated values). United States Census Bureau. July 10, 2008. http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/metro_general/2007/CSA-EST2007-alldata.csv. Retrieved 2008-07-10. 
5. ^ Gibson, Campbell (June 1998). "POPULATION OF THE 100 LARGEST CITIES AND OTHER URBAN PLACES IN THE UNITED STATES: 1790 TO 1990". Population Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census. http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0027.html. Retrieved 2009-01-01. 
6. ^ "CENSUS OF POPULATION AND HOUSING: DECENIAL CENSUS". U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2000. http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/decennial/index.htm. Retrieved 2009-01-01. 
7. ^ http://2010.census.gov/news/releases/operations/cb11-cn97.html
8. ^ "Annual Estimates of the Population for Incorporated Places Over 100,000, Ranked by July 1, 2008 Population" (Comma-separated values). United States Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2008-01.csv. Retrieved 2010-03-07. 
9. ^ http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=16000US1304000&-qr_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_DP3YR3&-ds_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-_sse=on
10. ^ http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2011/03/23/a-census-speeds-atlanta-toward-racially-neutral-ground/
11. ^ ^{a b} Wheatley, Thomas (March 21, 2011). "Thomas Wheatley, "Atlanta's census numbers reveal dip in black population – and lots of people who mysteriously vanished", Creative Loafing, March 21, 2011". Clatl.com. http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2011/03/21/atlantas-census-numbers-reveal-dip-in-black-population-and-lots-of-people-who-mysteriously-vanished. Retrieved June 27, 2011. 
12. ^ Gurwitt, Rob (July 1, 2008). "Governing Magazine: Atlanta and the Urban Future, July 2008". Governing.com. http://www.governing.com/articles/0807atlanta.htm. Retrieved April 5, 2010. 
13. ^ "12.9% in Seattle are gay or bisexual, second only to S.F., study says". The Seattle Times. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/zoom/html/2003432941.html. 
14. ^ Gary J. Gates Same-sex Couples and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Population: New Estimates from the American Community SurveyPDF (2.07 MiB). The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy, UCLA School of Law October, 2006
15. ^ [1]
16. ^ "Estimated Daytime Population". U.S. Census Bureau. December 6, 2005. http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/daytime/daytimepop.html. Retrieved 2006-04-02. 
17. ^ Garrett, Franklin, Atlanta and Its Environs, 1954, Vol.I, p.703

External links

• History of Atlanta 1782-1900's
• Atlanta region population
• Demographia.com