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Metropolitan Atlanta
Metropolitan Statistical Area
Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area
Midtown Atlanta
Map of Atlanta–Athens-Clarke County– Sandy Springs, GA–ALCSA   City of Atlanta Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell, GAMSA   Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell, GA   Marietta, GAMetropolitan Division Other Statistical Areas in the Atlanta CSA   Athens-Clarke County, GAMSA   Gainesville, GA MSA   LaGrange, GA–ALµSA   Rome, GA MSA   Jefferson, GA µSA   Calhoun, GA µSA   Cornelia, GA µSA   Cedartown, GA µSA   Thomaston, GA µSA
Country	United States
State	Georgia Alabama
Area
• Metro	8,376 sq mi (21,694 km2)
• CSA	10,494.03 sq mi (27,179.4 km2)
Elevation	606–3,288 ft (185–1,002 m)
Population  (2023 estimates)[1]
• Density	624/sq mi (243/km2)
• Urban  (2020)[2]	5,100,112 (9th)
• Metro [3]	6,307,261 (6th)
• CSA [3]	7,221,137 (10th)
GDP [4]
• Metro	$570.663 billion (2023)
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP codes	300xx to 303xx
Area codes	404/678/470/943 inside the perimeter770/678/470/943 outside the perimeter

Metro Atlanta, designated by theUnited States Office of Management and Budget as theAtlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area, is the most populousmetropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state ofGeorgia and the sixth-largest in the United States, based on the July 1, 2023 metropolitan area population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Its economic, cultural, and demographic center isAtlanta, and its total population was 6,307,261 in the 2023 estimate from theU.S. Census Bureau.

The core 5 counties of metropolitan Atlanta areFulton,Gwinnett,Cobb,DeKalb, andClayton, with over 60% of the metro area’s population residing in these counties. The metro area forms the core of a broader trading area, theAtlanta–Athens-Clarke County–Sandy Springs combined statistical area. Thecombined statistical area spans up to 39 counties inNorth Georgia. The CSA recorded in the2020 U.S. census a population of 6,930,423.^[5] Atlanta is the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. Census Bureau'sSoutheast region. It surpassed theGreater Miami area in total population in 2021, and both theWashington metropolitan area, and thePhiladelphia metropolitan area in 2023 (the latter of which is in theNortheast region).^[6] About one in ten (10.6%) of residents served by theAtlanta Regional Commission (including the core 5 counties of the metropolitan area) live within Atlanta city limits.

ByU.S. Census Bureau standards, the population of the Atlanta region spreads across a metropolitan area of 8,376 square miles (21,694 km²),^[7] comparable to the size ofIsrael. Because Georgia contains more counties than any other state exceptTexas (explained in part by the now-defunctcounty-unit system of weighing votes inprimary elections),^[8] area residents live under a heavily decentralized collection of governments. As of the 2000 census, fewer than one in ten residents of the metropolitan area lived inside Atlantacity limits.^[9]

A 2006 survey by theMetro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce counted 140 cities and towns in the 28‑county Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in mid-2005.^[7] Eleven cities –Johns Creek (2006),Milton (2006),Chattahoochee Hills (2007),Dunwoody (2008),Peachtree Corners (2012),Brookhaven (2012),Tucker (2016),Stonecrest (2016),South Fulton (2017),Mableton (2022) andMulberry (2024) – have incorporated since then, following the lead ofSandy Springs in 2005.^[10][11][12]

The Atlanta metropolitan area was first defined in 1950 asFulton,DeKalb,Gwinnett,Cobb andClayton counties.Walton,Newton,Douglas,Fayette,Forsyth,Henry,Cherokee,Rockdale, andButts counties were added after the 1970 census, with Barrow and Coweta counties joining in 1980 and Bartow, Carroll, Paulding, Pickens and Spalding counties in 1990.

Atlanta's largercombined statistical area (CSA) adds theGainesville andAthens metropolitan areas plusLaGrange,Thomaston,Jefferson,Calhoun, andCedartown micropolitan areas, for a total 2012 population of 6,162,195. The CSA also abuts theMacon andColumbus MSAs. The region is one of the metropolises of the Southeastern United States, and is part of the emergingmegalopolis known asPiedmont Atlantic Megaregion along theI-85 Corridor.

The counties listed below are included in the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area.^[13] In 2023, theOffice of Management and Budget split the MSA into twoconurbated metropolitan divisions.

The Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metropolitan division consists of the following 24 counties:

The Marietta metropolitan division consists of the following five counties.

Some entities define a much smaller metropolitan area by including only the counties which have the densest suburban development. Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb, and Clayton were the five original counties when the Atlanta metropolitan area was first defined in 1950, and continue to be the core of the metro area. These five counties along with six more (Cherokee, Douglas, Fayette, Henry, Rockdale, and Forsyth) are members of theAtlanta Regional Commission, a weakmetropolitan government organization which also is aregional planning agency. The eleven ARC counties,bolded, and four more (Bartow, Coweta, Hall, Paulding), with an asterisk (*), form part of theMetropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, created in 2001.

The 10 counties listed above with under 60,000 residents are usually not included in any other metropolitan definition except the OMB/Census Bureau's MSA and CSA.

Hall County forms theGainesville MSA, but with astronomical growth to over 200,000 residents, is now also part of the Atlanta CSA.

The official tourism website of the State of Georgia features an"Atlanta Metro" tourism region that includes only eight counties: Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb, Clayton, Douglas, Fayette, and Henry.

Theskylines ofDowntown,Midtown,Buckhead (all within the city of Atlanta), andPerimeter Center viewed from the southwest nearHartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport

• Cumberland
• Perimeter Center
• Hartsfield-Jackson area
• Gwinnett Place/Sugarloaf area

More than one half of metro Atlanta's population is in unincorporated areas or areas considered acensus-designated-place (CDP) by the census bureau. One notable example isEast Cobb, an unincorporated area (though not a CDP) adjacent toMarietta andRoswell in Cobb County. With an estimated population of approximately 164,055 as of 2020, it would be the second largest city in the metro besides Atlanta if incorporated.^[14]

Metro Atlanta includes the following incorporated and unincorporated suburbs (both inside and outside Atlanta), exurbs, and surrounding cities, sorted by population according to 2020 census data (or later data if the city was incorporated after 2020 and census data is unavailable):^[15]

Principal Cities

• Atlanta pop. 498,044
• Athens (included in CSA) pop. 127,315

Places with 100,000 to 399,999 inhabitants

• East Cobb (unincorporated) pop. 164,055
• Sandy Springs pop. 108,080
• South Fulton pop. 107,436

Places with 75,000 to 99,999 inhabitants

• Roswell pop. 92,833
• Big Creek (unincorporated) pop. 83,277
• Johns Creek pop. 82,453
• Mableton (incorporated 2022) pop. 78,000

Places with 50,000 to 74,999 inhabitants

• Lost Mountain (unincorporated) pop. 73,312
• Alpharetta pop. 65,818
• Marietta pop. 60,972
• Stonecrest pop. 59,194
• Smyrna pop. 55,663
• Brookhaven pop. 55,161
• Dunwoody pop. 51,683

Places with 25,000 to 49,999 inhabitants

Places with 24,999 or fewer inhabitants

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The topography and geography of Atlanta

Northern Suburbs: Sandy Springs, Roswell, Johns Creek, Alpharetta, Dunwoody, Peachtree Corners, Milton, Woodstock, Canton, Duluth, Sugar Hill, Suwanee, Norcross, Buford, Mulberry, Holly Springs, Mountain Park, Cumming, Ball Ground, Berkeley Lake, Nelson, Waleska

Eastern Suburbs: Stonecrest, Brookhaven, Tucker, Redan, Lawrenceville, Chamblee, Decatur, Candler-McAfee, Snellville, North Druid Hills, Conyers, North Decatur, Belvedere Park, Clarkston, Lilburn, Scottdale, Doraville, Panthersville, Gresham Park, Druid Hills, Dacula, Stone Mountain, Grayson, Avondale Estates, Lithonia, Lakeview Estates, Pine Lake

Southern Suburbs: East Point, Peachtree City, McDonough, Stockbridge, Union City, Forest Park, Fayetteville, Fairburn, Riverdale, College Park, Lovejoy, Locust Grove, Hampton, Irondale, Tyrone, Morrow, Conley, Hapeville, Palmetto, Jonesboro, Bonanza, Heron Bay, Chattahoochee Hills, Lake City, Brooks, Woolsey

Western Suburbs: Marietta, Smyrna, Mableton, Douglasville, Kennesaw, Acworth, Lithia Springs, Powder Springs, Vinings, Fair Oaks, Austell, Fairplay

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The area sprawls across the lowfoothills of theAppalachian Mountains to the north and thePiedmont to the south. The northern and some western suburbs tend to be higher and significantly morehilly than the southern and eastern suburbs. The average elevation is around 1,000 feet (300 m).

The highest point in the immediate area isKennesaw Mountain at 1,808 ft (551 m), followed byStone Mountain at 1,686 ft (514 m),Sweat Mountain at 1,640 ft (500 m), andLittle Kennesaw Mountain at 1,600 ft (488 m). Others includeBlackjack Mountain,Lost Mountain,Brushy Mountain,Pine Mountain, andMount Wilkinson (Vinings Mountain). Many of these play prominently in the variousbattles of theAtlanta Campaign during theAmerican Civil War. If the further-north counties are included,Bear Mountain is highest, followed byPine Log Mountain,Sawnee Mountain, andHanging Mountain, followed by the others listed above. Stone, Sweat, Bear, and Sawnee are all home to some ofthe area's broadcast stations.

The area'ssubsoil is a dense clay soil, coloredrusty by theiron oxide present in it. It becomes verymuddy and sticky when wet, and hard when dry, andstains light-coloredcarpets andclothing easily. It also tends to have a lowpH, further aggravating gardeners. The fineness of it also means it is easily deposited into streams during heavy rains, creatingsilt problems where it is exposed due to construction. This transported red soil can be seen downstream on theriverbanks of south Georgia (where the native clay is white), and down to theFlorida panhandle (where the nativesand is also white).Topsoil is present only in natural forest areas, created by thedecomposition ofleaf litter.

An extinctfault line called the Brevard Fault runs roughly parallel to theChattahoochee River, but as its last movements were apparentlyprehistoric, it is considered extinct and not a threat to the region. Still, minorearthquakes do rattle the area (and all of Georgia) occasionally.One notable one was in April 2003 (magnitude 4.6) coming from the northwest, itsepicenter just across the state line in northeastern Alabama. While many people slept through the 5A.M. quake, it caused a minor panic in others completely unaware of what was happening. Similar earthquakes occur in this region called theEastern Tennessee seismic zone, often felt much more widely across the strongercrust of eastern North America as compared to the west.

Thus, the1886 Charleston, South Carolina earthquake was also felt in Atlanta and throughout the Southeast. It caused damage as far as central Alabama and West Virginia. Two small earthquakes were also felt on the southeast side nearEatonton in early April 2009. TheNew Madrid seismic zone (near the Missouri-Tennessee borders) and theseismic zone producing the 1886 magnitude 7.3 earthquake are still capable of producing moderate or major earthquakes, which the entire Atlanta area will feel moderately or even strongly.

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The Atlanta metro area has ahumid subtropical climate with fourseasons. Summer is the longest. January daily lows average from 32–35 °F (0–2 °C) north to south, and highs range from 48–54 °F (9–12 °C), but often reach well above or below this average. There is an average annual snowfall of about 2.5 inches (6.4 cm), falling mostly from December through March, though there was snow north of the city on April 3, 1987. Snow flurries are actually common during the winter months when there is an especially deep trough in the jet stream. These events usually do not amount to more than a slight dusting and therefore go unrecognized in most weather summaries.

Summers are long and consistently hot and humid. July mornings average 71 °F (22 °C) and afternoons average 89 °F (32 °C), with slight breezes, and typically a 20–40% chance of afternoonthunderstorms. During the summer afternoon thunderstorms, temperatures may suddenly drop to 70–77 degrees with locally heavy rainfall. Average annual rainfall is about 50.2 inches (1,280 mm). Late winter and early spring, as well as July, are the wettest. Fall, especially October, is the driest.

From 1878 to 2011, the highest recorded temperatures at Atlanta were 105 °F (40.6 °C) on three days in the extraordinarily hot July 1980, followed by 104 °F (40 °C) that month and in August 2007, the hottest month ever for the area. This was broken on the last day of June 2012, when the temperature reached 106 °F (41.1 °C), during a massiveheat wave that hit most of the country, with another 105 the next day tying the July record. The lowest recorded temperatures were −6 °F (−21 °C) and −8 °F (−22 °C) on January 20 and 21 of 1985, and −9 °F (−23 °C) on February 13, 1899, during severe cold snaps that went so far south they devastated the entirecitrus industry incentral Florida.

Hurricane Opal brought sustainedtropical storm conditions to the area one night in early October 1995, uprooting hundreds oftrees and causing widespreadpower outages, after soaking the area with rain for two days prior. Since 1950, some metro counties have been hit more than 20 times by tornadoes. Cobb (26) and Fulton (22) are two of the highest in the state. TheDunwoody tornado in early April 1998 was the worsttornado to have struck the area. Atornado struck downtown Atlanta in March 2008, causing a half-billion dollars in damage.

The area experiences awinter storm with significantsnowfall about once each year. This can be extremely irregular, with several consecutive years receiving no measurable snow. Ablizzard (see:1993 Storm of the Century) caught much of the Southeast off-guard in 1993, dumping 4.5 inches (11.4 cm) at the Atlanta airport on March 13, and much more than that in the suburbs to the north and west, as well as in the mountains. The only other recorded winter storm of comparable severity was theGreat Blizzard of 1899. The heaviest snow was in January 1940, when 8.3 inches (21.1 cm) buried the city during its coldest month on record. The second-heaviest was in 1983, when a very late storm dumped 7.9 inches (20.1 cm) on March 24.Ice storms have occurred in the area. The well-remembered 1973 ice storm was brutal, as was the storm in 1982.

The Southeastern U.S. drought of 2006–2008 began with dry weather in 2006, and left area lakes very low. The drought began to abate significantly after the2009 Atlanta floods, when some areas got up to 20 inches (500 mm) of rain in a week, with half of that falling in just 24 hours near the end of the period. TheUSGS calculated it to be a greater-than-500-year flood.

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The area's prolific rains are drained by many differentstreams and creeks. The mainbasin is that of theChattahoochee River, running northeast to southwest. The further northwestern suburbs drain into theEtowah River via theLittle River andLake Allatoona. The southern suburbs are drained by theFlint River, and the east-southeastern ones by theOconee River andYellow River.

By 2005 the metro area was using 360 million US gallons (1,400,000 m³) of water per day (about 80 US gallons (300 L) per person per day) from these rivers. This usage was reduced by more than 10% during the drought, but soared back up after watering restrictions were eased (and before the flooding ensued). The need for water is seen as a barrier to further growth in the area, but permanent measures for non-emergencywater conservation have never been put in place.^{[citation needed]} The state legislature has refused to pass a requirement forlow-flow toilets to be installed in homes that are sold, bowing topressure from thereal estatesales industry.^{[citation needed]}

Disputes over water are becoming increasingly common, with bothAlabama andFlorida filinglawsuits and threateninginjunctions to prevent Georgia from taking too much water, mostly for metro Atlanta.^{[citation needed]}South Carolina also threatened when apipeline east to theSavannah River was mentioned even informally.^{[citation needed]} The state has now been ordered by a judge to reduce withdrawals from the Chattahoochee south of Lanier to 1970s levels within three years (2012), something that would create an immediate emergency water shortage if it were actually enforced.^{[citation needed]}

The nativeforestcanopy is mainlyoak, redbud,hickory,poplar,tuliptree,pine, andsweetgum, withchestnut having been common decades before in what is now consideredoak-hickory forest.Saw palmetto,Sabal palmetto andTrachycarpus fortunei have become common ornamentals as well. Traveling from the south, the metro area is generally the first area in whichautumn leaf color can be seen, due to the different trees growing at the higher elevation andlatitude.Underneath, theflowering dogwood is very common, theblack cherry are quite prolific, withmulberry popping up sometimes as well.Sourwood is also in its native range, and is easily identified by the fact that it turns fiery red in early October, much brighter and weeks earlier than most other trees (which usually peak in early November).

Shrubby plants includeblackberry,horsechestnut,sumac, and sometimeshawthorn.Virginia creeper,poison ivy, andbriar are commonvines. TheConfederate yellow daisy is awildflower native only to the area around Stone Mountain.

Common garden plants include dogwood,azalea,hydrangea,flowering cherry,maples,pin oak,red-tip photinia,holly,juniper,white pine,magnolia,Bradford pear,forsythia,liriope (mondograss), andEnglish ivy.Lawns can be either cool-seasongrasses likefescue andrye, or warm-season likezoysia andbermudagrass which turn brown in late fall. A fewhomeowners associations actually prohibit green grass in the winter.

Native to the nearby mountains, maples are now one of the most common landscape trees for new homes and parking lots, giving their color in the fall instead of spring. When planted close to buildings (which provide shelter and radiate heat), they can retain some of their color into December, especially if November has been warm.

Commonlawn weeds aremock strawberry,violet,wild onion, and of course the ubiquitousdandelion,crabgrass, andplantain.

By far the most notoriousintroduced species iskudzu, a highlyinvasive species fromJapan which climbs and smothers trees and shrubs. New effective herbicides as well as increased development of formerly rural areas has greatly reduced kudzu in the metro area (although still quite common elsewhere in Georgia). Wisteria planted decades ago by farmers in then-rural areas has become wild and is common in undeveloped forests. Some vines exceed 50 years of age and cover dozens of acres of forest, creating a dense, purple explosion each spring.

Japanese honeysuckle is extremely common, its fragrance an early summer delight. A common ornamental shrub, theChinese privet, has escaped to become the state's most invasive non-native plant species.

Amongmammals, theeastern gray squirrel is by far the most ubiquitous, stealingbirdseed from thebird feeders which many locals maintain.Chipmunks and small brownrabbits are common, but it is relatively rare to hear of them doing any damage.Opossum,raccoons,foxes,coyotes andarmadillos are frequently seen. Garden and meadow snakes are common; six venomouspit viper snakes (Eastern diamondback rattlesnake,timber rattlesnake,pygmy rattlesnake,coral snake,water moccasin andcopperhead) are indigenous, but reports of bites are rare. Many types of frogs, including tree frogs and bullfrogs, are easily heard in early summer, as arecicadas in July and August.Black bears occasionally wander down from the mountains, andwhite-tailed deer are abundant; overpopulated in some areas. Homeowners in the outer suburbs are prone to landscaping damage due to scavenging deer.

The most commonbirds are thebrown thrasher (the GAstate bird),American crow,European (or common) starling,American robin,mourning dove,house sparrow,northern cardinal,house finch,Carolina chickadee,tufted titmouse,bluejay,white-breasted nuthatch, eastern bluebird, mockingbird,brown-headed nuthatch, andCarolina wren. Birds of prey thrive in the area, with three varieties of hawks common near open fields in even the most populated areas. Falcons roost on skyscrapers in downtown Atlanta and can be regularly seen feasting on pigeons.

The American kestrel is sometimes seen. Late in the year, three species of owls can be heard nightly in wooded areas. Variouswoodpeckers can be seen in forested lots, including thered-bellied woodpecker,northern flicker (also known as the "yellow-shafted flicker"), and thedowny woodpecker. The red-headed woodpecker is common in open fields and on golf courses. TheAmerican goldfinch is present mostly in winter, and theruby-throated hummingbird only in summer.

Numerically, Metro Atlanta is the third fastest growing metropolitan area in the U.S.^[16] The 2020 census counted 6,089,815 people in the 28-county metro area. This was an increase of 803,087 from its 2010 population, representing growth of 15.2%. This was, however, a slower rate than the 28.6% increase recorded between 2000 and 2010.

^A Atlanta MSA in 2000 did not include Butts, Dawson, Haralson, Heard, Jasper, Lamar, Meriwether, and Pike counties, whose population totalled in 2000: 135,783; in 2010: 156,368 (2.96% of total new 28-county metro)^[17]
B Compares the larger 28-county Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta MSA 2010 with a smaller 20‑county Atlanta MSA 2000; however the 8 new counties represent less than 3% of the larger 28‑county metro.
Source: for race and Hispanic population, U.S. Census Bureau 2010 and 2000 census; for foreign-born population: US Census Bureau 2010 and 2000 American Community Surveys;Immigrants in 2010 Metropolitan America, Brookings Institution

White Americans made up 55.4% of metro Atlanta's population in 2010, a relative decrease from 63.0% ten years earlier, but in absolute numbers their population increased by over 330,000. Non-Hispanic whites proportionally dropped from 59.5% to 50.7% of the metro's population, while increasing by about 224,000.

Black Americans are the largest racial minority with 32.4% of the population in 2010. Metro Atlanta has the second largest African American population behind theNew York metropolitan area.^[18] From 2000 to 2010, the geographic distribution of blacks in Metro Atlanta changed radically. Long concentrated in the city of Atlanta and DeKalb County, the black population there dropped as more than half a million African Americans settled across other parts of the metro area, including approximately 112,000 in Gwinnett County, 71,000 in Fulton outside Atlanta, 58,000 in Cobb, 50,000 in Clayton, 34,000 in Douglas, and 27,000 each in Newton and Rockdale counties.^[19]

Due to its availability of jobs, Atlanta has been a destination for young college-educated blacks in theReverse Great Migration of African Americans from the North since the turn of the 21st century, with many settling quickly into suburban locations. The Atlanta metropolitan area has the second highest total African American population of any metropolitan area, with only the New York City metro area having more.

Hispanic Americans are the fastest growing ethnic group in Metro Atlanta. At 10.4% of the metro's population in 2010, versus only 6.5% in 2000, the metro's Hispanic population increased an astounding 109.6%, or 298,459 people, in ten years. Major Hispanic groups include 354,351Mexicans, 43,337Puerto Ricans and 17,648Cubans. All of those groups' populations increased by over 90% in the ten-year period. Of the metro's 299,000-person increase in the Hispanic population from 2000 to 2010, 98,000 were in Gwinnett County, 57,000 in Cobb, 55,000 in Fulton (all but 3,000 outside the city of Atlanta), 20,000 in Hall, and 15,000 in DeKalb County.^[20]

TheAsian-American population also increased rapidly from 2000 to 2010. There were 296,956 Asian-Americans in the metro area in 2010, making up 5.9% of the population. This represented an 87% increase over 2000. The largest Asian groups are 108,980Indian-Americans, 93,870Korean-Americans, 67,660Chinese-Americans, and 66,554Vietnamese-Americans.

Atlanta also has Georgia's largestBosnian-American population, with approximately 10,000 in the metro area, mainly in Gwinnett County.^[21]

Metro Atlanta has an increasingly international population, with 716,434 foreign-born residents in 2010, a 69% increase since 2000, with suburban Gwinnett County being one of the most diverse counties in the Southeastern United States.^[22] This was the fourth largest rate of growth among the nation's top 100 metros, afterBaltimore,Orlando andLas Vegas. The foreign-born proportion of the population went up from 10.3% to 13.6%, and Atlanta moved up from 14th to 12th in ranking of U.S. metro areas with the largest immigrant population by sheer numbers. Still, its 13.6% proportion of immigrants is only the 29th highest of the nation's top 100 metros.^[23]

Metro Atlanta's immigrants are more suburban than those of most cities. Out of the top 100 U.S. metros, Atlanta has the 11th highest ratio of the foreign-born living in the suburbs and not in the core city.^[23] Atlanta has a fewethnic enclaves such as aKoreatown, and areas such as theBuford Highway Corridor in DeKalb County and parts ofGwinnett County are commercial centers for multiple ethnic communities.

In 1990, greater Atlanta had the largest Japanese population in the Southeast United States. TheConsulate General of Japan in Atlanta estimated that, during that year, 7,500 to 10,000 Japanese lived in greater Atlanta. Of the metropolitan areas in the Southeast United States, as of 1990 greater Atlanta had the most extensive education network for Japanese nationals.^[24]

In 2008, approximately 83.3% of the population five years and older spoke onlyEnglish at home, which is roughly 4,125,000 people. Over 436,000 people (8.8%) spokeSpanish at home, giving Metro Atlanta the15th highest number of Spanish speakers among American metropolitan areas (MSAs). Over 193,000 people (3.9%) spoke otherIndo-European languages at home. People who speak anAsian language at home numbered over 137,000 and made up 2.8% of the population.^[25][26]

The Atlanta area is home to 31Fortune 1000 headquarters. 2022 rankings:

TheFederal Reserve Bank of Atlanta is the sixth district of the 12Federal Reserve Banks of the United States and is headquartered inmidtownAtlanta. The Atlanta Fed covers the U.S. states ofAlabama,Florida, andGeorgia, the eastern two-thirds ofTennessee, the southern portion ofLouisiana, and southernMississippi as part of theFederal Reserve System.

The area is the world's largest toll-free calling zone spanning 7,162 square miles (18,549 km²),^[27] has four activetelephonearea codes, and local calling extending into portions of two others.404, which originally covered all of northernGeorgia until 1992, now covers mostly the area inside thePerimeter (Interstate 285). In 1995 thesuburbs were put into770, requiring mandatory ten‑digit dialing even for local calls underFCC rules. This made Atlanta one of the US's first cities to employten-digit dialing,^[28] which was begun byBellSouth the year before the Centennial1996 Olympic Games.

In 1998,678 was overlaid onto both of the existing 404 and 770 area codes.Mobile phones, originally only assigned to 404, may now have any local area code regardless of where in the region they were issued.Area code 470, the newest area code, was overlaid with 404 and 770 in the same fashion as 678. The local calling area also includes portions of706/762 and a small area of256 inAlabama on the Georgia border.^[29]

The city of Atlanta is the most wired city in the United States.^[30] Many residents access the internet on a high-speed broadband and/or WiFi connection. It is home to one of the world's largestfiber-optic bundles.

Majorpetroleum andnatural gaspipelines cross the area, running from theGulfcoast,Texas, andLouisiana to the population centers of theNortheastern U.S. This includesColonial Pipeline andPlantation Pipeline, both based in Alpharetta.

Metro Atlanta primarily usesnatural gas forcentral heating andwater heaters, with the major exception ofheat pumps inapartments built during and since the 1980s. This is because winters are mild, and large apartment buildings usually require little energy to heat. Backup heat (also used during defrosting) is usually supplied by electricresistance heating, though some homes havehybrid heating units which use gas backup when it is cold. Exurban homes may also use all-electric instead of gas, ifgas mains have not been extended to an area.

Cooktops andovens are a mix of gas and electric, while gasclothes dryers are rather rare.Nearly all homes have afireplace^{[citation needed]} with a manual-valve gas starter, and some are now equipped with permanentgas logs withelectric switch start. Some homes also have natural gasbarbecue grills, formerly sold atutility company stores.

Georgia Power is the mainelectric power company across the state and the metro area, beginning in 1902 asGeorgia Railway and Power Company, Atlanta'sstreetcar (trolley) company’s. Severalelectric membership corporations also serve the suburbs. These include the second-largest EMC in the nation^[31] inJackson EMC,Cobb EMC, Walton EMC, andSawnee EMC. The city of Marietta operates its own electric utility, Marietta Power, under the Board of Lights & Water (BLW). It is also a member of theMunicipal Electric Association of Georgia (MEAG).

Atlanta Gas Light is thenatural gas utility for the region, and has been so for over acentury and a half, since it installedgas lamps in Atlanta in 1856. It operated as aregulated monopoly until November 1998, the after the state legislature voted in early 1997 toderegulate natural gasmarketing, and make customers choose among nearly 20 different marketers still selling the same AGL-wholesaled gas, such as Gas South, Infinite Energy,SCANA andGeorgia Natural Gas. Most of the gas comes viapipeline fromLouisiana.

Water is provided by various county and a few city systems. Several of these systems actually serve parts of neighboring counties and cities as well. TheCobb-Marietta Water Authority serves not only Cobb, but also parts of neighboring Paulding and Cherokee counties, for example. Duringdrought or otheremergency, cities and counties can enactoutdoor water-use restrictions, however some cross-jurisdictionwater systems have also acted to put bans in place. In late September 2007, the stateEnvironmental Protection Division of theGeorgia Department of Natural Resources, stepped-in with its first-ever ban, covering most of the northern half of the state. Whilesurface water is by far the primary source of water for the region, the drought had many systems (and a few wealthy homeowners) drilling newwells forground water, though the localwater table is around 400 feet (120 m) deep, onaverage.

Sewerage is also handled by the water utilities, but the various water and sewer networks may not conform to the same boundaries, resulting ininterbasin water transfers. This is for practical reasons, because the area is hilly and divided by severalwatersheds, because the area has developed irregularly and erratically, and becausewater treatment plants are usually not nearsewage treatment plants.Septic tanks are still used in the older homes of some exurbs.

Low-densityresidential subdivision development dominates the metro Atlanta suburbs.

Changes inhouse prices for the metro area are publicly tracked on a regular basis using theCase–Shiller index; the statistic is published byStandard & Poor's and is also a component of S&P's 20‑citycomposite index of the value of the U.S. residential real estate market.

All of Georgia'scommunity improvement districts are located in metro Atlanta.

• Buckhead Community Improvement District, coveringBuckhead^[32]
• Perimeter Center Community Improvement Districts, covering thePerimeter Center area of Sandy Springs and Dunwoody^[33]/
• Cumberland Community Improvement District, aroundCumberland Mall^[34]
• Town Center Area Community Improvement District, aroundTown Center at Cobb mall^[35]
• Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District, aroundGwinnett Place Mall^[36]
• Gateway85 Community Improvement District, covering area southeast ofNorcross^[37]
• Evermore Community Improvement District, orHighway 78 Community Improvement District, covering part of theU.S. 78 corridor in Gwinnett nearSnellville^[38]
• Lilburn Community Improvement District, established early 2010 inLilburn
• Aerotropolis Atlanta CIDs^[39]
• Boulevard CID (industrial district), created 2010^[40]

In May 2016, the City of Atlanta launched Atlanta City Studio, the city's first "pop-up urban design laboratory focused on shaping the future of city neighborhoods."^[41] The studio hosts "lectures, open forums, urban art presentations and other neighborhood and design components."^[42]Atlanta City Studio will relocate twice per year in order for residents to interact with staff and share their ideas about improving city design. The studio is located on the second floor ofPonce City Market and in January 2017 will relocate "to a retail location on the Westside, possibly on MLK Jr. Drive or Cascade Road."^[43]

In geographic terms, Georgia has the smallest average county size of any state.^{[citation needed]} This focuses government more locally but allows greater conflict between multiple jurisdictions, each with its own agenda.

The first significantintergovernmental agency in metro Atlanta was theMetropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, which runs the MARTApublic transportation system. Alongside other factors such asrace andclass, as well as a lack of planning and perceived lack of need, problems associated with theinner city of Atlanta (crime,poverty, and poorpublic school performance) influenced Cobb, Gwinnett, and Clayton county voters to refuse to allow construction of MARTA into their respective counties during the 1970s. These decisions resulted in permanent effects onland development in the region, making use of privateautomobiles even more of a necessity.^{[citation needed]}

TheAtlanta Regional Commission is so far the closest that the area has come to ametropolitan government. It approves only those projects deemed to have a positive effect beyond the immediate area in which they are to be constructed. TheGeorgia Regional Transportation Authority is somewhat of a cross between ARC and MARTA, working to improve mobility, air quality, and land use practices in the region. GRTA also operatesXpress buses from 11 counties, and could operatecommuter rail service in the future. Currently, plans for commuter rail and eventualintercity rail (including the long-proposed but still unfundedAtlanta Multimodal Passenger Terminal) are the responsibility of theGeorgia Rail Passenger Authority, which receives almost no funding.

Since 2007 proposals have been floated to allow new multi-countysales taxes, in addition to existing county sales taxes for roads, to pay for regional transportation initiatives.^[44]

Politics

Due to demographic shifts and population increases in the region, Metro Atlanta has trended toward theDemocratic Party, so much so that Democrats have been able to win statewide due to turnout from this area. In 2020,Joe Biden won the area by 15.4 points, enough to narrowly capture the state's 16 electoral votes.^{[citation needed]}

In2020 and2022, DemocratsJon Ossoff andRaphael Warnock successfully won full terms to represent the state in theU.S. Senate, mainly due to winning by large margins in Metro Atlanta.^{[citation needed]}

The area is served by a network of healthcare facilities including private practice, urgent care, hospital systems, and specialty care facilities. There are approximately 37 hospitals serving the metro. There are both private for profit systems and community not-for-profit systems.

Trauma Centers - Level I * ; Level II **

Former teams include theAtlanta Flames (nowCalgary Flames) andAtlanta Thrashers (nowWinnipeg Jets), both of theNational Hockey League.

Atlanta also plays host to twoNASCAR Cup Series races each year atAtlanta Motor Speedway.

The Atlanta metropolitan area is also home to threeNCAA Division I programs, with theGeorgia Tech Yellow Jackets andGeorgia State Panthers in Atlanta proper and theKennesaw State Owls inKennesaw. Both Georgia Tech and Georgia State are members of theFootball Bowl Subdivision in theAtlantic Coast Conference andSun Belt Conference, respectively, while Kennesaw State is a member of theASUN Conference in theFootball Championship Subdivision; however, Kennesaw State accepted an invitation to move up to the FBS level fromConference USA starting in 2024.

• Dobbins Air Reserve Base
• Fort Gillem, closed
• Fort McPherson, closed

The U.S. Census Bureau has defined a metropolitan area for Atlanta which includes, but is not limited to,Roswell, Georgia andSandy Springs, Georgia. According to the 2016American Community Survey, about 78% of working metropolitan residents commuted by driving alone, 9% carpooled, 3% used public transportation, and 1% walked. Less than 1% of working residents commuted by bicycle, while about 2% of commuters traveled by all other means. About 7% of residents worked at home.^[45]

Atlanta has always been a rail town, and the city once had an extensivestreetcar system, which also providedinterurban service as far out as Marietta, 15 miles (24 km) to the northwest.^[46][47] The streetcars were replaced by an extensivetrolleybus system, supplemented by buses, in the 1940s and 1950–52, and then converted to all buses in the 1950s and 1960–62. However, building a modern rapid transit system proved a difficult and drawn-out process and, compared to the original plans for a regional system, has only partially been accomplished.

MARTA operates buses and asubway system in the city of Atlanta, Fulton, Clayton and Dekalb counties, whileCobb andGwinnett counties operate their own independent Suburban Transit Systems that feed into MARTA. This is a result of those counties' refusal to join the MARTA system (Gwinnett voted in March 2019 to reject MARTA again^[48][49]), a situation which was originally closely related towhite flight from the city.^[50] It is the only US system in which the state does not provide any funds for operation or expansion, instead relying entirely on a 1%sales tax in its three counties. Due to the passage of a 1% sales tax in Clayton County on November 4, 2014, MARTA replaced the defunct C-Tran system bringing buses and commuter rail to the county beginning March 2015, with full bus service in 2016. TheAtlanta Streetcar, a 2.7-mile (4.3 km) light rail loop, connectsCentennial Olympic Park and MARTA heavy rail subway to the Sweet Auburn district and points in between.Xpress GA, a suburban commuter bus service operated by the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority or GRTA, has over 32 routes running from the suburbs and exurbs to downtown Atlanta in 12 metropolitan counties.

Plans are underway for commuter rail andbus rapid transit (BRT), though these are some years away. The $20 billionNorthwest Corridor HOV/BRT project appears to conflict with other plans, such as the metro-wideConcept 3 approved by theTransit Planning Board, and the no-barrierHOT lanes on I‑85 in Gwinnett. MARTA is also considering a BRT line of its own to the east.

The firstcommuter rail line would run south of the city, eventually extended toLovejoy and possiblyHampton nearAtlanta Motor Speedway. The "Brain Train" would likely be the second route, connecting theUniversity of Georgia in Athens toEmory University andGeorgia Tech in Atlanta.

As planned, all commuter trains would arrive at theAtlanta Multimodal Passenger Terminal (MMPT), the long-delayed facility just acrossPeachtree Street from theFive Points MARTA station, where all of its lines meet. Planning for the system and its extension asintercity rail across the state are the responsibility of theGeorgia Rail Passenger Authority.

Another proposed plan that has received very stronggrassroots support in recent years is theBeltLine, agreenbelt and transit system that takes advantage of existing and unused rail tracks to set up a 22-mile (35 km)light rail orstreetcar circuit around the core of Atlanta, as well as establishing moregreen space and footpaths for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Before Atlanta was even a city, it was arailroadhub. From this came the joke, popular among otherSoutherners, that "regardless of whether one goes toheaven orhell, everyone must go through Atlanta first". Many of its suburbs pre-date it as depots ortrain stations along the major lines in and out of town.

Many of thesehistoric stations, including Atlanta'sUnion Station andTerminal Station, weredemolished like many countycourthouses and other historic buildings. Many have been saved however, including theL&N station in Woodstock, and the stations along the mainW&A line in Marietta and Smyrna.

Throughmergers, the main railroads in the area are nowNorfolk Southern andCSX. TheGeorgia Northeastern Railroad is ashort line that also services part of the area. There are also severalrailyards of Atlanta and vicinity, as well as theSoutheastern Railway Museum and theSouthern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History.

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, more commonly known asAmtrak, runs theintercity rail lineCrescent through metro Atlanta twice daily, with one train heading towardsNew Orleans and the other headed towardsNew York. All trains make a scheduled stop atPeachtree Station in northern Midtown Atlanta, but it is also possible for arrange for trains to stop inGainesville, Georgia as well.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the world's busiest airport and is the onlyinternational airport for the region (and only major international airport for the state).

Other airports (maintained by local counties) includeCharlie Brown Field (Fulton),McCollum Field (Cobb),Cartersville Airport (Bartow),DeKalb Peachtree Airport (DeKalb),Briscoe Field (Gwinnett),Coweta County Airport (Coweta),Cherokee County Airport (Cherokee),Atlanta Speedway Airport (Henry), andPaulding County Airport (Paulding). Former local airports wereStone Mountain Airport andParkaire Field, among others.

DeKalb Peachtree Airport is the primary business jet airport. This is due to its proximity to Downtown, Midtown, Buckhead, and the Perimeter office areas.

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Atlanta is served by three major interstate highways. Including tributaries, they are the following:

(Note: The cities used below are also thecontrol cities used for the Metro Atlanta Bypass/I-285 signs entering from the suburbs.)

Interstate 75 passes through from Macon to the south, and fromChattanooga to the north.Interstate 575 is a spur which merges with I‑75 near Kennesaw. I‑575 serves northeast portions of Cobb County and a large portion of Cherokee County. It ends in Ball Ground.Interstate 675 is a route which connects I‑75 in Henry County to I‑285 in southern Dekalb County. Most of the corridor is within Clayton County.

Interstate 85 passes through from Montgomery on the southwest and from Greenville on the northeast. I-75 merges with I-85 to form theDowntown Connector from the Brookwood Interchange, just north of Midtown Atlanta, to just south of theLakewood Freeway in south Atlanta.Interstate 185 is a spur which merges with I‑85 in LaGrange and stretches southward to Columbus.Interstate 985 is a spur which merges with I‑85 in Suwanee and serves the northern suburbs of Gwinnett and Hall Counties. It terminates just northeast of Gainesville.

Interstate 285 is thebeltway which encircles the city and its immediate eastern suburbs. It is commonly known as the Perimeter. I‑285 passes through Clayton, Cobb, Fulton, and DeKalb Counties.

Interstate 20 passes through from Birmingham to the west and from Augusta to the east. It serves Douglasville, the major suburb west of Atlanta. It serves Lithonia and Conyers to the east.

Atlanta is also served by several other freeways, in addition to the interstate highways, including:

Georgia 400 is the main corridor serving the north-central suburbs, and was the only toll road in the metropolitan Atlanta area. As of November 23, 2013, the tolls ended and the toll plazas were demolished. It reaches into the northern portion of Fulton County and gradually turns northeast before entering Forsyth County. The controlled-access portion terminates just northeast of the city of Cumming. To the south, it terminates and merges into southbound I‑85 just south of the Buckheadbusiness district. Cumming/Dahlonega is used on I‑285 as the northbound sign, and Atlanta/Buckhead as the southbound. From I‑85 northbound, it uses Buckhead/Cumming.

Stone Mountain Freeway, orU.S. 78, is an 8‑mile corridor east of Downtown Atlanta and the neighboring suburb of Decatur. It serves northeast portions of Dekalb County, including the city of Stone Mountain. It continues east as a divided highway into south Gwinnett County, including the suburbs of Lilburn, Snellville and Loganville. U.S. 78 also stretches east to Athens.

Lakewood Freeway, orGeorgia 166, extends between Lakewood Park in south Atlanta and Campbellton Road, just west of I‑285.

Peachtree Industrial Blvd, orGeorgia 141, is a route north-northeast of Atlanta which begins on the north side of I‑285 and runs parallel to I‑85 for about four miles until it terminates when it splits into GA‑141 and Peachtree Industrial (continuing as a normal divided highway).

Georgia State Route 316 is a four-mile-long route that branches from I‑85 and stretches eastward into Gwinnett County. It continues east as a normal divided highway through the suburb of Lawrenceville and on to Athens.

There are many historic roads across the area, named afterits mills andearly ferries, andthe bridges later built to replace the ferries.Pace's Ferry is perhaps the best known.

Owing to the area's long history of settlement and uneven terrain, mostarterial roads are not straight but meander instead, which can be confusing as much as the famed proliferation of Atlanta streets with "Peachtree" in the name. It is also often joked that half the streets are named Peachtree, while the other half have several names to make up for it.

Partly, confusion is because the region maintains the historic nomenclature of each county naming its roads for the towns they connect with in surrounding counties. Thus, from Dallas to Roswell,Georgia 120 is Marietta Highway to the Paulding/Cobb county line, is Dallas Highway to the city of Marietta, Whitlock Avenue to thetown square, South Park Square for just onecity block, Roswell Street toCobb Parkway (at theBig Chicken), Roswell Road to the Cobb/Fulton county line, and finally Marietta Street to the town square in Roswell. Further confusion is from the arbitrary location of state routes by theGeorgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), so that they travel an erratic path requiring several turns by drivers instead of traveling the original straight route; and the renaming of roads by state legislators to honor their friends.

There are many roads like this throughout the area, leading to duplication of names in different counties. In Fulton, "Roswell Road" refers toGeorgia 9 through northern Atlanta and across Sandy Springs, in addition to the above-mentioned use in Cobb, for example. Numericstreet addressing is done by county as well, with the origin usually being at one corner of the town square in the county seat. TheU.S. Postal Service ignores these actual and logical boundaries however, overlappingZIP codes and their associated place names across counties. The Cumberland/Galleria area has Cobb's numbers and an "SE" suffix, but is called "Atlanta" by the USPS (despite beingVinings, which the USPS ironically calls "unacceptable"), which can confuse visitors to think it is far away in southeast Atlanta.

Where more than one town in the same county has a road to the same place, the smaller towns have their own name prefixed to it, while thecounty seat does not. The road need not go directly to the other place, but may connect through other roads. Examples include Due West Road west from Marietta, Kennesaw Due West Road southwest from Kennesaw, and Acworth Due West Road south from Acworth. Some are usuallyhyphenated, like Peachtree-Dunwoody Road, Ashford-Dunwoody Road, Chamblee-Dunwoody Road, and Chamblee-Tucker Road.

There are also several roads named for communities which have been overwhelmed by the urban and suburban sprawl, and so are somewhat odd to newcomers. These includeSandy Plains,Crabapple,Toonigh,Luxomni, andDue West. Some of these communities are in the middle of the road, while some are at or very near one end. Some areas are renamed, either over time (Sandy Plains gradually became "Sprayberry" whenSprayberry High School moved there and similarly named shopping centers popped up around it); by the USPS (Toonigh is identified as "Lebanon"), or after rapid development. In such cases, the roads usually maintain their historic names even if the neighborhoods do not.

There are also a fewU.S. highways that cross the area, including19,23,29,41, and78.

Other arterials are completely new, like much ofBarrett Parkway,Sugarloaf Parkway andSouth Fulton Parkway, constructed by their counties but partly covered with a state route number. Occasionally, roads are realigned or extended to meet each other directly at a cross-road, leading to odd curves and name changes.

• North Georgia

• Media related toAtlanta metropolitan area at Wikimedia Commons
• Metro Atlanta travel guide from Wikivoyage

• Atlanta metropolitan area
• Regions of Georgia (U.S. state)
• Metropolitan areas of Georgia (U.S. state)

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