Expect 3 million more people in metro Atlanta by the year 2040

What kind of growth will the metro Atlanta area experience in the next 30 years? The Atlanta Regional Commission has come out with a report that forecasts what the future may hold for the 30-county metro area, which would include Coweta County. The bottom line is that strong growth in population and jobs are expected. By the year 2040, it is projected 8.3 million will call the 20-county region home. That would be an increase of about 3 million during the next 30 years. If that population projection is on target, metro Atlanta would continue to be one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country. However, the growth rate would not be as fast as the past two decades.
What about jobs? The ARC says while jobs growth will not be as robust as in the 1990s, it will be strong. The projection is that in the next 30 years the region will add an additional 1.6 million jobs. That would bring the jobs total in 2040 to 4.5 million. Other significant factors pointed out in the report include the not so surprising fact the region's older population will surge. The ARC says roughly 8 percent of the 20-county regional population was 65 or older in 2005. By 2040 the 65 and older crowd will total 20 percent of the region's population. What will the population look like? Historically, metro Atlanta has been mostly a mixture of white and black with whites making up the majority of the population. That will change. The report estimates that around 2015, there will no longer be a majority racial or ethnic group. In other words, no group will make up 50 percent of the population. The projection is that by 2040 whites will make up about 36 percent of the population, blacks about 33 percent and the Hispanic population is expected to climb from 9 percent today to about 20 percent in 2040. Our region is going to get bigger, with more senior citizens and more diversity in the population in the next three decades.

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