ATLANTA — If it looks and feels like Atlanta is one of America’s most rapidly-changing cities, that’s because it is.
A new report ranks it the eighth fastest-growing large city in the country. Even when it seems like Atlanta is bursting at the seams with new developments and businesses, it appears there’s still room for more growth (which has also brought with it challenges like widening income inequality and rapid gentrification).
The report, by WalletHub, surveyed 515 U.S. cities and came up with a growth score based on 17 factors measured across seven years.
Those included factors like population growth, job growth and median household income growth, as well as corresponding elements like the decrease in poverty rate and unemployment.
Added all together, out of 66 large cities (with populations greater than 300,000 people), Atlanta was No. 8 in growth. That fell behind cities like Austin, Miami and Seattle, which were ranked 1-2-3. It was just behind Fort Worth, Texas, and ahead of Charlotte and Tampa.
In the total rankings out of the 515 cities, Atlanta ranked 57th.
Other Atlanta-area cities figured into the rankings: Sandy Springs was 46th among medium-sized cities and Roswell was 86th among small cities. Georgia cities Athens (104), Savannah (145), Augusta (228) and Columbus (250) also appeared in the medium-sized rankings, and Albany (192) appeared in the small city rankings.
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