Georgia Population Trends 1990 to 2000

 

Growth Rate:

 

Georgia’s population grew from 6,478,149 to 8,186,453 in the ten-year period from 1990 to 2000.  This increase was 1,708,304 or 26.4 percent.  Only the states of California, Texas and Florida added more people.  On a percentage basis, Georgia was the fastest growing state east of the Rockies.  Only the states of Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho and Utah had a higher percentage increase.

 

The scope of the population gain can be illustrated in two ways.  The gain of 1.7 million was not only the largest in state history but also 700,000 more than the previous growth record of 1 million between 1980 and 1990.  Even with the larger population base, the percentage increase was higher than for any period in the 20th century.  It easily surpassed the previous high of 19.1 percent recorded between 1970 and 1980.

 

Growth in Georgia has been driven by a high level of migration, both from other states and other nations.  Less than one half of population growth in Georgia is the result of natural increase.  The remainder is due to foreign and domestic migration.  Although Census 2000 domestic migration data has not been released, the most recent estimates show that Georgia had a net gain through domestic migration of 665,000 between 1990 and 1999.  Florida was the only state with a higher level of domestic migration.  Foreign migration has also been substantial.  Census 2000 showed a foreign born population of 577,273 (7.1 percent) with 344,763 entering the United States between 1990 and 2000.

 

The highest levels of growth continued to be in the metropolitan Atlanta region.  The 20 county region had a growth rate of 39 percent, with Henry and Forsyth growing by over 100 percent.  Interestingly, the growth rate in several core counties rose from previous decades.  DeKalb’s increase of 22 percent was almost twice earlier estimates and the highest growth rate since the 1960s.  Fulton grew faster than at any time since the 1920s, with a population increase of 25.8 percent. 

 

Although growth rates in other parts of Georgia were lower than in Atlanta, there was still significant growth in other regions of the state.  The central and northeast Georgia mountain counties all experienced growth levels in excess of 20 percent.  Some of this was due to the movement of persons out from metropolitan Atlanta.  Another factor is the high level of migration by retired persons into the area.  Numerous counties along the Interstate 75 corridor south of Atlanta experienced strong growth rates.  In the Macon area Monroe, Crawford and Houston all had strong growth rates in excess of 20 percent. In south Georgia, Coffee, Pulaski, Wilcox, Echols, Lanier and Lowndes counties also grew strongly.  Other counties showing large increases were suburban counties around Albany (Calhoun, Lee), Augusta (Columbia), Columbus (Harris, Marion), and Savannah (Bryan, Effingham, Long).  University counties around Athens (Oconee, Jackson, Ogethorpe) and Statesboro (Bullock) experienced growth above the state average, as did areas benefiting from military induced growth in Southeast Georgia (Brantley and Camden).

 

The overwhelming majority of Georgia counties (110 of 159) saw population increases of at least 10 percent.  This means they suffered no net out migration during the decade.  Actual population declines were even more limited.  Only eight counties lost population during the decade (compared to 40 during the 1980s).  Six of these were in Southwest Georgia.  This part of the state had the slowest population growth of any region.

 

Racial Changes:

 

Migration patterns have significantly changed the racial composition of Georgia.  Throughout most of the state’s history, racial distinctions were limited to black and white.  The numbers from Census 2000 changed this.  The African American/Black percentage of Georgia’s population rose from 27 percent to 28.7 percent.  This is the highest level in fifty years.  Hispanics, who can be of any race, grew from only 108,000 in 1990 to 435,000 in 2000.  They now number over 5 percent of the state’s population and are found in significant numbers throughout the state.  In Hall and Whitfield counties, one person in five is Hispanic.  In Gwinnett County the number is close to one in nine.  The Asian population also doubled in the decade to 176,000.  Although only 2 percent of the state population, it is highly concentrated in the Atlanta region.  In Gwinnett over 7 percent of the population is now Asian.  In DeKalb and Fulton counties the percentage is more than twice the state average.

 

The increase in both the African American/Black population and the growth of other minority groups has greatly reduced the non-Hispanic white percentage of the state’s population.  In 1990 over 70 percent of Georgia’s population could be classified as non-Hispanic white.  Census 2000 found that this percentage had decreased to just over 62 percent.  The total minority percentage of the population is now higher than at any time since the 1920s.  This was the start of the large migration of blacks from the South to the industrial cities of the North that followed World War I.  Over the next fifty years the African American/Black percentage of Georgia’s population would decline from 42 percent to an historical low of 26 percent in 1970. 

 

Although the growth of Georgia’s new minorities, Hispanics and Asians, was the most reported result of Census 2000, the strong growth of the African American/Black population should not be understated.  Between 1990 and 2000 Georgia’s African American/Black population grew from 1,746,000 to 2,349,000.  This was an increase of almost 35 percent.  Much of this increase is the result of migration patterns.  Only New York and Texas now have larger African American/Black populations.  Georgia’s African American/Black population surpassed both California and Florida in the last decade.  The percentage increase was the largest of any state with a significant 1990 population of this minority group.  The numerical increase of 603,000 was the largest of any state in the nation.  At current growth rates, Georgia will pass both Texas and New York in the next few years to have the largest African American/Black population of any state.

 

The change in demographics has been especially profound in the Atlanta region.  The 10 county area of the Atlanta Regional Commission had a minority population of less than 23 percent in 1970.  By 1990 this number had increased to almost one-third of the region’s population.  Census 2000 found that non-Hispanic whites had declined to just over 55 percent of the total.  Even in the full twenty county Metropolitan Statistical Area the minority percentage now exceeds 40 percent.

 

Of the 14 largest counties in the state (populations of 100,000 or more), the non-Hispanic white percentage of the population is under 50 percent in Bibb, Clayton, DeKalb, Fulton, Muscogee and Richmond.  Total minority populations exceed 40 percent in Chatham County and 30 percent in Clarke, Cobb, Gwinnett, and Houston counties.  Hall County’s  minority population is now 29 percent.  Only in Cherokee and Henry is the minority percentage of the population less than 20 percent.

 

Changes in Age:

 

Comparing the population under 18 with those over 18 shows no significant change in the proportions between 1990 and 2000.   The under 18 category dropped from 27.7 percent in 1990 to 27.5 percent in 2000.  This stabilization contrasts with the sharp declines in the under 18 population between 1970 and 1990 when the percentage under 18 dropped from 35.8 to 27.7.

 

The population aged 65 and older decreased from 10.1 percent in 1990 to 9.6 percent in 2000.  This slight decrease followed a national trend that will continue until the baby boom generation reaches this age cohort, beginning in 2010.  Georgia has the third smallest percentage of its population over 65 of any state in the nation.  Only Alaska (5.7 percent) and Utah (8.5 percent), have a smaller portion of their population 65 years or older.

 

The median age of the state population continued to increase, along with that of the nation.  Census 2000 showed a median age of 33.4 years, almost two years higher than the 1990 number of 31.5 years.  (As recently as 1970 Georgia’s median age was 25.9 years).  Median age numbers will continue to rise with the aging of the large population cohort of the baby boom years (1946 to 1964).

 

Georgia continues to be a young state compared to the nation.  Although the median age continues to rise, it is lower than all but five states.  This is due to several factors.  Georgia has a higher minority population than the national average.  These groups have higher birth rates and a lower median age than the non-Hispanic white population.  Also, Georgia’s high level of migration from other states is concentrated in younger population age cohorts.  This is demonstrated by the fact that Georgia has a higher percentage of its population in the 25 to 44 age group than the national average (32.4 percent versus 30.2 percent).  Only two states, Alaska and Colorado, have a higher percentage of their population in this age group.