Georgia has been one of the nation’s fastest-growing states for decades, experiencing double-digit percentage growth in every decade from 1950 to 2020. In fact, the state’s population has more than tripled in that time, going from nearly 3.5 million in 1950 to 11.2 million in 2024.
With that kind of growth, it’s not surprising that several new cities can emerge, and many of those cities can quickly move of the list of the state’s largest. So, if you were to take a quiz about the largest cities in Georgia, you might be forgiven if you weren’t even aware of their existence.
BetGeorgia.com wondered which big cities tend to be forgotten the most. A quiz on Sporacle.com asked respondents to fill in the blanks for the top 10 most populous cities in Georgia. We then ranked the cities based on the percentage of people who remembered them within the quiz’s time limit.
Rank | City | % Guessed Correctly |
1 | Johns Creek | 16.2% |
2 | South Fulton | 22.7% |
3 | Sandy Springs | 27.1% |
4 | Roswell | 27.4% |
5 | Columbus | 52.9% |
6 | Augusta-Richmond | 65.3% |
7 | Macon-Bibb | 66.7% |
8 | Athens-Clarke | 68.6% |
9 | Savannah | 82.1% |
10 | Atlanta | 99.7% |
The top three most forgotten cities on Georgia’s top 10 list just so happen to be among the newest in the Atlanta metropolitan area.
Johns Creek, located in the northeastern corner of Fulton County, has been a community for years. However, it really didn’t get a name until the 1970s when developers bought land for a business park and gave it the name of a local tributary that flows into the Chattahoochee River.
Georgia state lawmakers allowed voters in the community to vote on incorporation in 2006, and residents approved that referendum later that year. With a population of 82,230, Johns Creek was the state’s 10th largest city in 2024, edging out Warner Robins by less than 2,000 people.
South Fulton did not become a city until eight years ago, and with nearly 108,000 residents, it’s the largest of Atlanta’s incorporated suburbs and the seventh largest city in the Peach State. Among cities with populations of 100,000 or more, South Fulton has the largest percentage of African Americans. Nearly 90% of the city’s residents identify as Black or African American.
Just below South Fulton in the rankings is Sandy Springs, the state’s eighth largest city with a population slightly above 107,000. It is located to the north of Atlanta along Interstate 285.
Sandy Springs, Johns Creek and nearby Roswell are part of a thriving region that are considered among the best places to live in the Atlanta metropolitan area. They’re also all a short distance away from Alpharetta, which is where former NHL player Anson Carter is hoping to land an expansion team in the pro hockey league.
With Georgia lawmakers convening again in Atlanta, BetGeorgia is your source for the latest developments in the quest to legalize Georgia sports betting. We also provide information on what legal alternatives are available in the state.
USA Today photo by Richard Burkhart.
Author
Steve is an accomplished, award-winning reporter with more than 20 years of experience covering gaming, sports, politics and business. He has written for the Associated Press, Reuters, The Louisville Courier Journal, The Center Square and numerous other publications. Based in Louisville, Ky., Steve has covered the expansion of sports betting in the U.S. and other gaming matters.
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