Atlanta Authority

Also known as: Atlanta Metro Authority

Atlanta is a upper-middle-income mid-sized city of 505,268 with home prices 1.4× the Georgia median.

Atlanta, Georgia — Reference Overview

Atlanta is one of those cities that exists, simultaneously, at several different scales of meaning: a municipality of just over half a million people, a regional economic center of several million more, and a proper noun that carries a weight in American cultural and political history somewhat disproportionate to its physical footprint. The city proper, seated in DeKalb County, Georgia, had a total population of 505,268 according to Census ACS 5-Year 2024 estimates — a figure that, depending on which boundary one draws, can feel either surprisingly modest or entirely beside the point.

Demographics and Age Character

The median age in Atlanta is 34.2 years, according to Census ACS 5-Year 2024 data, which places the city firmly in what demographers tend to call a "young professional" character. Of the total population, 84,109 residents are under 18, while 176,730 fall in the 18-to-34 range — a cohort that, in raw numbers, is larger than the entire population of many Georgia counties. Children represent 16.6 percent of the population.

The city's racial composition, per Census ACS 5-Year 2023 estimates, includes 234,243 Black residents, 199,161 white residents, 24,889 Asian residents, and 31,223 residents identifying as Hispanic or Latino. Total households number 231,504, of which 93,398 are family households.

Housing Affordability

Atlanta's housing market, measured against its own residents' incomes, does not resolve into an easy picture. The price-to-income ratio stands at 5.1, and rent consumes approximately 24.0 percent of median income, according to calculations derived from Census median income and home value data. The city is classified as "expensive" and "not affordable" by that same methodology — a designation that carries a certain irony given Atlanta's long-standing reputation, relative to coastal cities, as a place where the cost of living was manageable. That reputation has been eroding for some time, and the numbers reflect it.

Air Quality

The EPA's AQI Annual Summary for 2024 recorded 366 days of air quality data for the Atlanta area. Of those, 178 were classified as "good" days and 182 as "moderate." Six days fell into the "unhealthy for sensitive groups" category. No days were recorded as unhealthy for the general population, very unhealthy, or hazardous. The maximum AQI recorded was 133. For a city of Atlanta's size, density, and traffic volume, the absence of days in the upper AQI categories is notable, though the balance tilting toward "moderate" rather than "good" for roughly half the year suggests the air is not entirely without its complications.

Broadband Access

According to FCC Broadband Data Collection figures as of June 2025, broadband availability in Atlanta is essentially universal across the city's 288,544 housing units. Full coverage — 100 percent — is reported at the 25/3 Mbps, 100/20 Mbps, and 250/25 Mbps service tiers. At the gigabit tier (1,000/100 Mbps), coverage reaches 92.4 percent of units. That last figure is worth pausing on: it means roughly 7.6 percent of Atlanta's housing units, in a city this size, remain without access to gigabit-class service — a number that translates to a meaningful count of households in absolute terms.

Education

Atlanta is home to 29 colleges and universities, per NCES IPEDS 2022 data matched to the city. Among the most prominent is Georgia State University, which according to College Scorecard data enrolls 26,623 students, charges in-state tuition of $8,664 and out-of-state tuition of $24,840, and reports a median SAT score of 1,076. Its admission rate is 55.4 percent and its completion rate is 53.4 percent. The city also supports 418 licensed childcare centers, per state facility records — a figure that reflects both the scale of the city's population and the particular demands of a workforce skewed toward working-age adults.

Climate

The nearest weather station to Atlanta, the Atlanta Fulton County AP station located 6.9 miles from the city center, records an average temperature of 63.7 degrees Fahrenheit and annual precipitation of 49.1 inches, according to NOAA ACIS data. That precipitation figure places Atlanta among the wetter major American cities — wetter, for instance, than New York or Miami on an annual basis, though the rain tends to arrive in a more distributed fashion rather than in concentrated seasonal bursts.

Civic and Cultural Infrastructure

Atlanta's nonprofit and civic landscape is substantial. The city hosts 42 arts organizations, including the Atlanta Community Symphony Orchestra and the Atlanta Opera Guild, per IRS Exempt Organizations data. There are 790 religious congregations registered with the IRS, and 26 civic service organizations, among them chapters of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America with addresses on Peachtree Street NE. Six animal rescue and shelter organizations operate within the city, including the Atlanta Humane Society.

The Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Business Development Center is identified by IRS Exempt Organizations BMF as the canonical chamber of commerce entity associated with Atlanta — a detail that reflects the city's growing Latino population, which at 31,223 residents represents a meaningful and expanding share of the civic fabric.

Banking

FDIC branch data shows a range of banking institutions operating in Atlanta, including Truist Bank's Tuxedo Branch at 3754 Roswell Road NE and Wells Fargo Bank's Village at East Lake branch, among others. The presence of multiple national and regional institutions across the city's geography reflects Atlanta's role as a financial services hub for the broader Southeast.

Municipal Governance and Code

Atlanta's municipal ordinances are codified and publicly accessible through Municode at https://library.municode.com/ga/atlanta. The city's regulatory framework draws on Georgia state law in the standard fashion for Georgia municipalities, including references to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated for matters ranging from property maintenance standards to building codes. Municode corpus excerpts note that applicable codes in Georgia municipalities typically encompass housing and abatement standards under Title 8, fire and life safety codes under Title 25, and locally adopted building codes — all of which apply to Atlanta's built environment in the ordinary course of municipal administration.

Further Reading

• U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates — https://data.census.gov
• National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data 2022 — https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/
• City of Atlanta, Municipal Code of Ordinances (Municode) — https://library.municode.com/ga/atlanta