Published Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Facts and figures about the people who live in our county

Editorial

While the floundering economy of the past 18 months has temporarily slowed population growth in our county, people continue to move into Coweta County. When the economy gets back on track, forecasts call for renewed growth, although not likely at the rate of the first eight years of this decade.

According to Federal Census data -- which you can find easily on the Web site of the Coweta County Development Authority -- Coweta had an estimated 122,924 people in July 2008. During this decade (from 2000-July 1, 2008) Coweta's population grew by 37.8 percent. That rate is more than double the state's 18.3 percent population growth for the same period.

While growth in Coweta is expected to slow down, there are projections of growth somewhere between 3.7 percent and 5.5 percent in coming years as the economy improves.

If that growth margin is accurate, Coweta could have up to 168,478 people by 2020 and up to 198,171 people by 2030, according to projections. That's a lot of people for this county, which currently ranks as the 17th largest Georgia county in population.

Who are the people living in Coweta?

Here are some numbers from Federal Census data. In 2007 Coweta's population was:

*50.3 percent women (Georgia was 50.8 percent women).

*9 percent 65 years or older (Georgia 9.9 percent over 65).

*28.3 percent 18 years or under (Georgia 26.5 percent 18 or under).

*7.9 percent were under 5 years old (Georgia 7.7 percent under 5).

*74.9 percent were white, not Hispanic/Latino (Georgia 58.5 percent white, not Hispanic).

*17.5 percent were African-American (Georgia 30 percent African-American).

*5.5 percent were Hispanic/Latino (Georgia 7.8 percent Hispanic).