Gwinnett population growth outpacing metro Atlanta area, report says

June 6, 2017 Gwinnett County: ÊA large police presence gathered around two Department of Corrections buses that pulled over to the shoulder of southbound I-85 just before Jimmy Carter Blvd. Tuesday, June 6, 2017 the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center reported. The incident occurred before 6 a.m. and led to traffic delays in the area. One of the two buses later left the scene and the police leaving the one bus. No further information was made available. JOHN SPINK/JSPINK@AJC.COM

Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC

Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC

June 6, 2017 Gwinnett County: ÊA large police presence gathered around two Department of Corrections buses that pulled over to the shoulder of southbound I-85 just before Jimmy Carter Blvd. Tuesday, June 6, 2017 the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center reported. The incident occurred before 6 a.m. and led to traffic delays in the area. One of the two buses later left the scene and the police leaving the one bus. No further information was made available. JOHN SPINK/JSPINK@AJC.COM

Gwinnett County’s population is growing at a faster rate than metro Atlanta as a whole, according to new estimates from the Atlanta Regional Commission.

Between 2016 and 2017, Gwinnett County added 16,900 people, a 1.9 percent increase. The county’s population grew from 877,100 to 894,000.

Metro Atlanta grew by 78,300 people, an increase of 1.8 percent. That rate is the highest the region has seen since the Great Recession. The nine-county region's population grew from 4,401,800 to 4,480,100, according to the ARC's report.

Of the nine counties included in the study, Gwinnett County outpaced six — Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton and Rockdale — in growth rates. DeKalb's rate was the lowest, at 1.23 percent. Henry County grew by 2.4 percent (5,400 people) and Cherokee County grew by 3.04 percent (7,300 people). Both counties have smaller populations than Gwinnett County. None of the counties in the study decreased in population.

Read more about metro Atlanta's population growth here.

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