ARC: Forsyth Co. growth rate tops two percent in a year's time

The population of Forsyth County grew at a rate of 2.1% between April 2022 and this past April, according to the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC). That was one of the fastest growth rates in the 11-county ARC region.

The report shows the population of Forsyth is now estimated at 270,833 compared to 265,033 a year ago, an increase of 5,800.

Atlanta led the way with a growth rate of 2.8% as the region’s population grew to 5.16 million. The population of Atlanta itself is now put at 521,315by the ARC, a year-to-year increase of about 14,000.

The AJC quotes ARC officials, in a report released Wednesday, as saying the growth is driven by strong employment growth, noting that jobs in the region have increased by 5.4% since the pandemic began three years ago.

About the Author

Ken Stanford is Online News Editor for GLORY 97.5, a position he has held since August 2022.

Ken was born in Moultrie, Georgia, and says he knew from the time he was 5 or 6 he wanted to be a “radio announcer.” That dream was realized when he was hired by Moultrie radio station WMTM in 1960 at the age of 15 as a weekend disc jockey. A 1963 graduate of Moultrie (now Colquitt County) High School, he has spent his whole career in Georgia working for stations in Atlanta, Marietta, and Gainesville – most recently as News Director for 40 years at WDUN in Gainesville. He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force Reserves.

Ken retired in 2011 but came out of retirement last year to help GLORY, on a part-time basis, beef-up its online news presence.

He is the recipient of many Associated Press awards and is a former judge of state and national Associated Press broadcast news contests. In 2005, he was presented with the Georgia Associated Press Broadcasters Association’s President’s Award for Excellence in Journalism and in 2019 was inducted into the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame.

He lives in Gainesville with his wife of 52 years, the former Sandra McKnight of Clio, Alabama, and they have one child, a daughter, Lisa, who lives in Cumming with her family.