Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the sixth-largest in the United States, based on the July 1, 2025 population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Its economic, cultural, and demographic center is Atlanta, and its total population was 6,482,182 in the 2025 estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The core 5 counties of metropolitan Atlanta are Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb, DeKalb, and Clayton, with over 60% of the metro area’s population residing in these counties. The metro area forms the core of a broader trading area, the Atlanta–Athens–Clarke County–Sandy Springs combined statistical area. The combined statistical area spans up to 39 counties in North Georgia. The CSA recorded in the 2020 U.S. census a population of 6,930,423. One in ten (10.7%) of residents served by the Atlanta Regional Commission (including the core 5 counties of the metropolitan area) live within Atlanta city limits.
Definitions By U.S. Census Bureau standards, the population of the Atlanta region spreads across a metropolitan area of , comparable to the size of New Jersey. Because Georgia contains more counties than any other state except Texas (explained in part by the now-defunct county-unit system of weighing votes in primary elections), 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 Atlanta city limits.
A 2006 survey by the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce counted 140 cities and towns in the 28‑county Metropolitan Statistical Area in mid-2005. 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) and Mulberry (2024) – have incorporated since then, following the lead of Sandy Springs in 2005.
The Atlanta metropolitan area was first defined in 1950 as Fulton, DeKalb, and Cobb counties. Clayton county was added in 1956. Two year later, Gwinnett was added. Walton, Newton, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Henry, Cherokee, Rockdale, and Butts 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 larger combined statistical area adds the Gainesville and Athens metropolitan areas plus LaGrange, Thomaston, Jefferson, Calhoun, and Cedartown micropolitan areas, for a total 2012 population of 6,162,195. The CSA also abuts the Macon and Columbus MSAs. The region is one of the metropolises of the Southeastern United States, and is part of the emerging megalopolis known as Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion along the I-85 Corridor.
Metropolitan statistical area The counties listed below are included in the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area. In 2023, the Office of Management and Budget split the Metropolitan statistical area into two conurbated 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 the Atlanta Regional Commission, a weak metropolitan government organization which also is a regional planning agency. The eleven ARC counties, bolded, and four more (Bartow, Coweta, Hall, Paulding), with an asterisk (*), form part of the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, created in 2001.
Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell MSA
CountySeat2020 census2010 censusChangeAreaDensityFulton *Atlanta Gwinnett *LawrencevilleCobb *Marietta DeKalb *Decatur Clayton *Jonesboro Cherokee *Canton Forsyth *Cumming Henry *McDonough Paulding *Dallas Coweta *Newnan Douglas *Douglasville Fayette *Fayetteville CarrollCarrollton NewtonCovington Bartow *Cartersville WaltonMonroe Rockdale *Conyers BarrowWinder SpaldingGriffin LumpkinDahlonega PickensJasper HaralsonBuchanan DawsonDawsonville ButtsJackson MeriwetherGreenville MorganMadison PikeZebulon JasperMonticello HeardFranklin Total
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 the Gainesville 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.
Combined statistical area
Atlanta GA-AL CSA
Statistical area2020 census2010 censusChangeAreaDensityAtlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell, GA MSAAthens–Clarke County, GA MSA Gainesville, GA MSA LaGrange, GA-AL Micropolitan Statistical Area Rome, GA MSA Jefferson, GA Micropolitan Statistical Area Cornelia, GA Micropolitan Statistical Area Cedartown, GA Micropolitan Statistical Area Thomaston, GA Micropolitan Statistical Area Toccoa, GA Micropolitan Statistical Area Total
Municipalities
Edge cities 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 a census-designated-place (CDP) by the census bureau. One notable example is East Cobb, an unincorporated area (though not a CDP) adjacent to Marietta and Roswell 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.
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):
Cities and suburbs 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
Ellenwood (unincorporated) pop. 46,967 Bill Arp (unincorporated) pop. 44,518 Peachtree Corners pop. 43,905 Newnan pop. 42,549 Gainesville (included in CSA) pop. 42,296 Milton pop. 41,296 East Point pop. 38,358 Tucker pop. 35,322 Woodstock pop. 35,065 Douglasville pop. 34,650 Peachtree City pop. 34,364 Kennesaw pop. 33,036 Canton pop. 32,973 Chamblee pop. 32,251 Duluth pop. 31,873 Redan (CDP) pop. 31,749 Lawrenceville pop. 30,629 Silver City (unincorporated) pop. 29,495 McDonough pop. 29,051 Stockbridge pop. 28,973 Union City pop. 26,830 Carrollton pop. 26,738 Sugar Hill pop. 25,076
Places with 24,999 or fewer inhabitants
Decatur pop. 24,928 Griffin pop. 23,478 Clarkdale (unincorporated) pop. 23,401 Cartersville pop. 23,187 Candler-McAfee (CDP) pop. 22,468 Acworth pop. 22,440 Lathemtown pop. 21,110 Suwanee pop. 20,786 Snellville pop. 20,573 North Druid Hills (CDP) pop. 20,385 Forest Park pop. 19,932 Fayetteville pop. 18,957 Winder pop. 18,338 North Decatur (CDP) pop. 18,511 Conyers pop. 17,305 Norcross pop. 17,209 Buford pop. 17,144 Villa Rica pop. 16,970 Powder Springs pop. 16,887 Lithia Springs (CDP) pop. 16,644 Rex (unincorporated) pop. 16,580 Fairburn pop. 16,483 Riverdale pop. 15,129 Belvedere Park (CDP) pop. 15,113 Monroe pop. 14,928 Clarkston pop. 14,756 Druid Hills (CDP) pop. 14,568 Lilburn pop. 14,502 Covington pop. 14,192 Loganville pop. 14,127 Dallas pop. 14,092 College Park pop. 13,930 Braselton pop. 13,403 Mountain Park (Gwinnett) (CDP) pop. 13,089 Vinings (CDP) pop. 12,581 Panthersville (CDP) pop. 11,237 Doraville pop. 10,623 Thomaston pop. 9,816 Irondale (CDP) pop. 8,704 Tyrone pop. 7,658 Hampton pop. 6,987 Auburn (CDP) pop. 6,887 Barnesville pop. 6,775 Austell pop. 6,581 Morrow pop. 6,445 Lovejoy pop. 6,422 Hapeville pop. 6,373 Conley (CDP) pop. 6,228 Stone Mountain pop. 5,802 Flowery Branch pop. 5,679 Cumming pop. 5,430 Locust Grove pop. 5,402 Jonesboro pop. 4,724 Palmetto pop. 4,448 Dacula pop. 4,442 Bonanza (CDP) pop. 3,135 Avondale Estates pop. 2,960 Lakeview Estates (CDP) pop. 2,695 Grayson pop. 2,666 Lake City pop. 2,612 Chattahoochee Hills pop. 2,378 Lithonia pop. 1,924 Berkeley Lake pop. 1,574
Geography
Northern Suburbs: Sandy Springs, Roswell, Johns Creek, Alpharetta, Brookhaven, Dunwoody, Peachtree Corners, Milton, Woodstock, Canton, Duluth, Chamblee, Sugar Hill, Suwanee, Norcross, Buford, Holly Springs, Mountain Park (Gwinnett), Doraville, Ball Ground, Berkeley Lake, Nelson, Waleska, Mountain Park (Fulton/Cherokee), Rest Haven
Eastern Suburbs: Stonecrest, Tucker, Redan, Lawrenceville, Decatur, Candler-McAfee, Snellville, North Druid Hills, Conyers, North Decatur, Belvedere Park, Clarkston, Lilburn, Scottdale, Panthersville, Gresham Park, Druid Hills, Dacula, Stone Mountain, Grayson, Avondale Estates, Lithonia, Lakeview Estates, Pine Lake, Milstead
Southern Suburbs: South Fulton, 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, Kennesaw State University, Dallas, Hiram
Topography and geology
The area sprawls across the low foothills of the Appalachian Mountains to the north and the Piedmont to the south. The northern and some western suburbs tend to be higher and significantly more hilly than the southern and eastern suburbs. The average elevation is around .
The highest point in the immediate area is Kennesaw Mountain at , followed by Stone Mountain at , Sweat Mountain at , and Little Kennesaw Mountain at . Others include Blackjack Mountain, Lost Mountain, Brushy Mountain, Pine Mountain, and Mount Wilkinson (Vinings Mountain). Many of these play prominently in the various battles of the Atlanta campaign during the American Civil War. If the further-north counties are included, Bear Mountain is highest, followed by Pine Log Mountain, Sawnee Mountain, and Hanging Mountain, followed by the others listed above. Stone, Sweat, Bear, and Sawnee are all home to some of the area's broadcast stations.