Is being in an area of Georgia that’s growing quickly a good thing or a bad thing?
Depends on who you ask.
Some want bigger, more exciting cities like Atlanta and Columbus, while others want peace and quiet like in Camilla and Glennville, thank you very much.
But today, we’re going to put opinions aside and look at the cold, hard facts — since 2010, which cities in Georgia have grown the fastest.
After getting knee-deep in the Census’s American Community Survey using Saturday Night Science, we emerged with this set of cities in the Peach State that have people climbing over each other to get in.
Georgia gained a net 27,333 people from other states in the year ending July 2025 — 6th in the nation for domestic migration; the full moving statistics breakdown shows who’s coming and going.
216.8% growth since 2010 · 21,144 net new residents
Located in
DeKalb County, Georgia
Chamblee is a city in northern DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, northeast of Atlanta. The population was 9,892 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
162.0% growth since 2010 · 7,972 net new residents
Located in
Chatham County, Georgia
Port Wentworth is a city in Chatham County, Georgia, United States and it is part of the Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Port Wentworth is part of the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
148.5% growth since 2010 · 9,071 net new residents
Located in
Jackson County, Georgia
Braselton is a town in Barrow, Gwinnett, Hall, and Jackson counties in the U.S. state of Georgia, approximately 53 miles northeast of Atlanta. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 7,511, and in 2015 the estimated population was 9,476.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
123.0% growth since 2010 · 10,273 net new residents
Located in
Cherokee County, Georgia
Holly Springs is a city in Cherokee County, Georgia, United States. Holly Springs is located south of the center of Cherokee County
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
114.4% growth since 2010 · 5,829 net new residents
Located in
Hall County, Georgia
Flowery Branch is a city in Hall County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,679. It is part of the Gainesville, Georgia metropolitan area, and lies on the shores of Lake Lanier.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
110.6% growth since 2010 · 5,530 net new residents
Located in
Henry County, Georgia
Locust Grove is a city in Henry County, Georgia, United States. The population was 5,402 at the 2010 census, up from 2,322 in 2000. Some unincorporated communities such as Luella and many rural areas surround Locust Grove, and those communities have Locust Grove postal addresses.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
104.5% growth since 2010 · 9,291 net new residents
Located in
Bryan County, Georgia
Richmond Hill is a city in Bryan County, Georgia, United States. James Oglethorpe, only a year after the founding of the Georgia colony at Savannah, awarded grants of land on the Ogeechee River in 1734. Once known as St. Phillips Parish, Bryan County was established in 1793. On February 1, 1797 the Bryan County justices valued 2 acres at the Cross Roads for $24 for the purpose of establishing a permanent county seat in courthouse. Cross Roads was the intersection of the Savannah-Darien Stage Road and the Bryan Neck Road. The Cross Roads became Ways Station in 1856 when the Savannah, Albany & Gulf R.R. was built across the nearby Ogeechee River into Bryan County. Near this site a train depot was built, which came to be known as “Ways No. 1 ” for William J. Way, the first station master and a local rice planter on lands through which the railroad passed. A settlement grew up in the section between the railroad tracks and the Crossroads just to the west. It came to be called Ways Station, a designation that lasted until 1941 when the name of the community was changed to Richmond Hill.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
98.8% growth since 2010 · 5,718 net new residents
Located in
Clayton County, Georgia
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
95.5% growth since 2010 · 8,798 net new residents
Located in
Gwinnett County, Georgia
Norcross is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. The population as of the 2010 census was 9,116, while in 2015 the estimated population was 16,634. It is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta metropolitan statistical area, which is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville combined statistical area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
92.7% growth since 2010 · 7,002 net new residents
Located in
DeKalb County, Georgia
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Georgia’s statewide median.
On the map
Where Georgia’s growth is happening
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Measured The Fastest Growing Cities In the Peach State for 2026
To figure out which cities are growing the most, we used Saturday Night Science to look at the growth rates for cities since the beginning of the decade, according to the American Community Survey put out by the census every year. Specifically:
- Current Population
- Population in 2010
- Growth rate from 2010 to Current (the latest available data, which came out in Dec 2024)
We ranked all 132 Georgia cities with a population over 5,000 people from highest growth rate to lowest.
The city with the highest growth rate during this time was crowned the fastest-growing city in the Peach State.
And for those of you who are a little rusty with their statistics, you can calculate the growth rate by the following formula: [Current Population – Population 2010] / [Population 2010].
The data has been updated for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the fastest growing cities in Georgia.
The full plate
Fastest Growing Places In Georgia For 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Population 2010 | Growth | Absolute Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chamblee | 30,895 | 9,751 | 216.8% | 21,144 |
| 2 | Port Wentworth | 12,892 | 4,920 | 162.0% | 7,972 |
| 3 | Braselton | 15,178 | 6,107 | 148.5% | 9,071 |
| 4 | Holly Springs | 18,627 | 8,354 | 123.0% | 10,273 |
| 5 | Flowery Branch | 10,925 | 5,096 | 114.4% | 5,829 |
| 6 | Locust Grove | 10,532 | 5,002 | 110.6% | 5,530 |
| 7 | Richmond Hill | 18,181 | 8,890 | 104.5% | 9,291 |
| 8 | Lovejoy | 11,508 | 5,790 | 98.8% | 5,718 |
| 9 | Norcross | 18,007 | 9,209 | 95.5% | 8,798 |
| 10 | Clarkston | 14,557 | 7,555 | 92.7% | 7,002 |
| 11 | Senoia | 5,589 | 3,062 | 82.5% | 2,527 |
| 12 | Perry | 23,001 | 13,119 | 75.3% | 9,882 |
| 13 | Jefferson | 14,990 | 8,587 | 74.6% | 6,403 |
| 14 | Canton | 35,741 | 20,775 | 72.0% | 14,966 |
| 15 | Pooler | 28,466 | 16,683 | 70.6% | 11,783 |
| 16 | Woodstock | 37,381 | 22,027 | 69.7% | 15,354 |
| 17 | Dacula | 7,444 | 4,416 | 68.6% | 3,028 |
| 18 | Grovetown | 17,014 | 10,289 | 65.4% | 6,725 |
| 19 | Loganville | 15,527 | 9,638 | 61.1% | 5,889 |
| 20 | Cumming | 8,469 | 5,283 | 60.3% | 3,186 |
| 21 | Hiram | 5,231 | 3,305 | 58.3% | 1,926 |
| 22 | Union City | 27,728 | 17,883 | 55.1% | 9,845 |
| 23 | Suwanee | 22,349 | 14,535 | 53.8% | 7,814 |
| 24 | McDonough | 30,947 | 20,182 | 53.3% | 10,765 |
| 25 | Stockbridge | 35,737 | 23,689 | 50.9% | 12,048 |
| 26 | Buford | 17,997 | 12,032 | 49.6% | 5,965 |
| 27 | Oakwood | 5,862 | 3,943 | 48.7% | 1,919 |
| 28 | Sugar Hill | 26,128 | 17,580 | 48.6% | 8,548 |
| 29 | Villa Rica | 18,551 | 12,507 | 48.3% | 6,044 |
| 30 | Temple | 5,901 | 3,990 | 47.9% | 1,911 |
| 31 | Newnan | 44,235 | 30,160 | 46.7% | 14,075 |
| 32 | Fairburn | 16,831 | 11,542 | 45.8% | 5,289 |
| 33 | Dahlonega | 7,299 | 5,062 | 44.2% | 2,237 |
| 34 | Milton | 41,546 | 29,131 | 42.6% | 12,415 |
| 35 | Winder | 19,437 | 13,690 | 42.0% | 5,747 |
| 36 | Byron | 5,971 | 4,243 | 40.7% | 1,728 |
| 37 | Glennville | 5,179 | 3,716 | 39.4% | 1,463 |
| 38 | Gainesville | 45,032 | 32,881 | 37.0% | 12,151 |
| 39 | Dallas | 14,714 | 10,754 | 36.8% | 3,960 |
| 40 | Doraville | 11,134 | 8,321 | 33.8% | 2,813 |
| 41 | Austell | 8,447 | 6,396 | 32.1% | 2,051 |
| 42 | Hampton | 8,687 | 6,590 | 31.8% | 2,097 |
| 43 | Lilburn | 15,390 | 11,725 | 31.3% | 3,665 |
| 44 | Warner Robins | 82,990 | 63,271 | 31.2% | 19,719 |
| 45 | Powder Springs | 18,009 | 13,771 | 30.8% | 4,238 |
| 46 | Kingsland | 19,627 | 15,111 | 29.9% | 4,516 |
| 47 | Fayetteville | 19,719 | 15,264 | 29.2% | 4,455 |
| 48 | Decatur | 24,518 | 19,062 | 28.6% | 5,456 |
| 49 | Douglasville | 37,536 | 29,373 | 27.8% | 8,163 |
| 50 | Conyers | 18,512 | 14,574 | 27.0% | 3,938 |
| 51 | Centerville | 8,505 | 6,760 | 25.8% | 1,745 |
| 52 | Statesboro | 34,149 | 27,263 | 25.3% | 6,886 |
| 53 | Bremen | 7,488 | 5,995 | 24.9% | 1,493 |
| 54 | Rockmart | 5,204 | 4,171 | 24.8% | 1,033 |
| 55 | Cartersville | 24,074 | 19,325 | 24.6% | 4,749 |
| 56 | Social Circle | 5,217 | 4,219 | 23.7% | 998 |
| 57 | Commerce | 8,013 | 6,501 | 23.3% | 1,512 |
| 58 | Duluth | 32,426 | 26,317 | 23.2% | 6,109 |
| 59 | Tyrone | 7,896 | 6,434 | 22.7% | 1,462 |
| 60 | Auburn | 8,711 | 7,114 | 22.4% | 1,597 |
| 61 | Kennesaw | 34,605 | 28,313 | 22.2% | 6,292 |
| 62 | Atlanta | 505,268 | 413,462 | 22.2% | 91,806 |
| 63 | Alpharetta | 66,855 | 54,723 | 22.2% | 12,132 |
| 64 | Calhoun | 18,183 | 15,040 | 20.9% | 3,143 |
| 65 | Monroe | 15,648 | 13,196 | 18.6% | 2,452 |
| 66 | Snellville | 21,620 | 18,276 | 18.3% | 3,344 |
| 67 | Sandy Springs | 107,087 | 90,826 | 17.9% | 16,261 |
| 68 | Fort Oglethorpe | 10,416 | 8,879 | 17.3% | 1,537 |
| 69 | Garden City | 10,426 | 8,969 | 16.2% | 1,457 |
| 70 | Acworth | 22,473 | 19,336 | 16.2% | 3,137 |
| 71 | Dunwoody | 51,758 | 44,689 | 15.8% | 7,069 |
| 72 | Jackson | 5,741 | 4,961 | 15.7% | 780 |
| 73 | Peachtree City | 39,576 | 34,373 | 15.1% | 5,203 |
| 74 | Bainbridge | 14,404 | 12,574 | 14.6% | 1,830 |
| 75 | St. Marys | 19,166 | 16,833 | 13.9% | 2,333 |
| 76 | Carrollton | 27,392 | 24,196 | 13.2% | 3,196 |
| 77 | Johns Creek | 81,988 | 72,685 | 12.8% | 9,303 |
| 78 | Smyrna | 56,633 | 50,242 | 12.7% | 6,391 |
| 79 | Athens-Clarke County unified government (balance) | 127,345 | 113,608 | 12.1% | 13,737 |
| 80 | Lawrenceville | 30,954 | 27,704 | 11.7% | 3,250 |
| 81 | East Point | 38,335 | 34,382 | 11.5% | 3,953 |
| 82 | Stone Mountain | 6,623 | 5,992 | 10.5% | 631 |
| 83 | Covington | 14,584 | 13,199 | 10.5% | 1,385 |
| 84 | LaGrange | 32,078 | 29,067 | 10.4% | 3,011 |
| 85 | Savannah | 147,898 | 134,348 | 10.1% | 13,550 |
| 86 | Eastman | 5,584 | 5,124 | 9.0% | 460 |
| 87 | Marietta | 62,263 | 57,244 | 8.8% | 5,019 |
| 88 | Columbus | 203,711 | 187,629 | 8.6% | 16,082 |
| 89 | Hinesville | 35,679 | 32,920 | 8.4% | 2,759 |
| 90 | Roswell | 92,621 | 85,638 | 8.2% | 6,983 |
| 91 | Toccoa | 9,238 | 8,644 | 6.9% | 594 |
| 92 | Dalton | 34,538 | 32,373 | 6.7% | 2,165 |
| 93 | Thomaston | 9,831 | 9,225 | 6.6% | 606 |
| 94 | Hapeville | 6,630 | 6,240 | 6.2% | 390 |
| 95 | Tifton | 17,210 | 16,240 | 6.0% | 970 |
| 96 | Valdosta | 55,252 | 52,332 | 5.6% | 2,920 |
| 97 | Adel | 5,641 | 5,355 | 5.3% | 286 |
| 98 | Rome | 38,189 | 36,257 | 5.3% | 1,932 |
| 99 | Cairo | 10,055 | 9,548 | 5.3% | 507 |
| 100 | College Park | 14,712 | 13,976 | 5.3% | 736 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS, 2010-current. 132 Georgia cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: These Places Grew Up So Fast In Georgia, You Know?
So there you have it, the fastest growing cities in Georgia are led by Chamblee which has been growing at a blistering pace this decade relative to other cities and towns around the state.
The fastest-growing cities in Georgia are Chamblee, Port Wentworth, Braselton, Holly Springs, Flowery Branch, Locust Grove, Richmond Hill, Lovejoy, Norcross, and Clarkston.
It’ll be interesting to see if these places can keep growing at the same rate over the next couple of years. We’ll be here to let you know! Not sold on Georgia? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Fastest Growing Cities In Georgia FAQs
What is the fastest-growing city in Georgia?
Chamblee is the fastest-growing city in Georgia for 2026, based on population change since 2010. Port Wentworth and Braselton are growing nearly as fast.
What are the top 10 fastest-growing cities in Georgia?
The fastest-growing cities in Georgia are Chamblee, Port Wentworth, Braselton, Holly Springs, Flowery Branch, Locust Grove, Richmond Hill, Lovejoy, Norcross, and Clarkston. We ranked all 132 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
How do you measure growth?
Growth is the percent change in population from the 2010 Census to the latest American Community Survey estimates. No projections, no vibes — just how many more people actually live there now.
What is the slowest-growing city on the list?
Cusseta-Chattahoochee County unified government posts the smallest population change of the 132 Georgia cities we ranked. Slow growth is not automatically bad news, but the momentum is clearly elsewhere.
Do small towns count in this ranking?
Only places with more than 5,000 residents qualify, which keeps one new subdivision from turning a tiny town into a statistical rocket. 132 Georgia cities cleared that bar this year.
