LIOO Moving · Data & Research · Updated July 2026

Atlanta Moving Statistics (2026)

Who’s moving to metro Atlanta, from where, when, and what it costs — every figure sourced, refreshed annually. Journalists and bloggers: cite freely with a link; each stat below is written to be quotable. Print / save as PDF

Growth is steady — and slower than Atlanta’s legend

Metro Atlanta still grows every year, but the rate has been easing for four decades. Annualized growth of the 11-county region by era (ARC):

Quotable: “Metro Atlanta added about 64,000 residents last year — every one of its 11 core counties grew — but the region’s growth rate, 1.2% a year this decade, is less than half its 1990s pace.”

Where the growth landed in 2024–25: Fulton County led with +18,800 residents, with Gwinnett next at +15,200 (ARC). All 11 core counties grew.

Where Atlanta’s movers come from

• Abroad, mostly, since 2020: of the 208,833 people metro Atlanta added between April 2020 and July 2024, roughly two-thirds came from international migration (Census components of change) — a historic shift from the domestic-transplant pattern of earlier decades.

• Top domestic feeder: metro New York, the #1 origin for movers into Atlanta in Census/Harvard migration-flow research (migrationpatterns.org), followed by other large Northeast and Midwest metros.

• Georgia pulls more movers in than it loses: national van-line studies have repeatedly ranked Georgia majority-inbound (United Van Lines measured 53.5% inbound in its 45th National Movers Study, with a job as the #1 stated reason at 41.3%).

What renting costs the people arriving

Average asking rent across Atlanta listings sits around $2,100/month on Zillow’s 2026 market data (about $1,750 for a typical one-bedroom on apartment-focused indices — methodologies differ, so ranges beat single numbers). After the steep run-up of 2021–22, Atlanta asking rents have been flat-to-softening over the past year across major indices — a renter-friendly backdrop unusual among fast-growing metros. What the move itself costs is a separate question with its own data: see what moving costs in Atlanta.

When Atlanta actually moves LIOO dispatch data

Nationally, about 60% of moves compress into May–September. Our own operations calendar sharpens that for Atlanta: month-end weeks and Saturdays book out first, all year — lease cycles drive the metro more than weather does — and the cheapest reliably-available windows are mid-week, mid-month, even in summer. (Full seasonal breakdown: the best time of year to move.)

Quotable: “In Atlanta the moving calendar follows the lease calendar: month-end Saturdays sell out first every month of the year, while a mid-week, mid-month move date is the closest thing to a discount the calendar offers.”

Methodology & update policy

External figures come only from the named public sources (ARC, U.S. Census Bureau, Census/Harvard migration research, Zillow market data, United Van Lines) with their measurement years stated; operational observations are LIOO Moving dispatch experience, labeled as such. Nothing is estimated to fill a gap — where indices disagree (rents), we show the range. This page is reviewed and refreshed annually; next scheduled update July 2027. To cite: link this page and name the underlying source per stat.