Georgia Has 8 Of Country's Fastest Growing Cities: Study

GEORGIA — Some Georgia towns saw explosive growth during the 1990s, with populations and the local business markets expanding faster that local resources could keep up. But that rapid growth came to a crashing halt with the economic downturn in the mid- to late-aughts. Today, only one Georgia city broke into the top 30, that was Sandy Springs, which ranked 29th on the consumer finance site WalletHub's list of Fastest Growing Cities in America.

Sandy Springs, a Metro Atlanta city located in Fulton County, had a population of 93,853, according to the 2010 Census. In 2017, the estimated population was 106,739 and is Georgia's seventh-largest city. After Sandy Springs, Atlanta was Georgia's next fastest growing city at number 64 and Athens-Clarke was right behind at 65th.

For better or worse, the rest of Georgia's big cities have a slower growth rate, just slightly faster than I-20 at rush hour. Savannah ranked 177th, Roswell 346th, Augusta 481st, Albany 488th and Columbus 500th.

So how did WalletHub come up with its rankings? "To determine where the fastest local economic growth has occurred in the U.S., WalletHub compared 515 cities of varying population sizes based on 15 key measures of both growth and decline over a period of seven years," the site said. "Our data set ranges from population growth to unemployment rate decrease to growth in regional GDP per capita."

Here's how Georgia cities fared in the rankings:

• 64. Atlanta, GA
• 65. Athens-Clarke, GA
• 177. Savannah, GA
• 346. Roswell, GA
• 481. Augusta, GA
• 488. Albany, GA
• 500. Columbus, GA

According to WalletHub, these are the five fastest-growing cities in America:

• Fort Meyers, FL
• Midland, TX
• Pearland, TX
• Bend, OR
• McKinney TX

These are the five slowest-growing cities, according to the study:

• Youngstown, OH
• Lawton, OK
• Erie, PA
• Shreveport, LA
• Decatur, IL

Read the full results here.
Photo of downtown Atlanta via Shutterstock