Atlanta named among America’s fastest-growing economies in new ranking

Over the past year, Atlanta has experienced some of the most rapid economic growth among the country’s largest metros.

That's according to personal finance website WalletHub's latest ranking on America's fastest-growing large cities, a study based on local economic growth.

To come up with the list, analysts at WalletHub compared 515 cities of varying population sizes based on two key dimensions: socioeconomics and jobs/economy.

Using 15 relevant metrics, such as population growth, job growth, increase in number of businesses among others, the analysts then scored the cities according to population size.

Researchers collected 2010-2016 data from a variety of sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And only the “city proper” in each case was considered for the ranking.

Of the country’s largest cities by population — those with more than 300,000 people — Austin, Texas experienced the highest growth in 2017.

Atlanta came in at No. 11 on the list.

The AJC previously reported the city of Atlanta gained an estimated 9,900 residents in the past year.

That’s more than double its running average annual growth rate of 4,214 since 2010.

According to Mike Carnathan, manager of the Atlanta Regional Commission’s research and analytics group, Atlanta had its strongest year of population growth since the Great Recession.

Along with that population growth, the city region has added 103,100 jobs in the past year, the AJC reported.

But while Atlanta's current job growth is mirroring that of the 2002-2007 housing boom, "to say it's normal and robust would be wrong," according to AJC business reporter Michael Kannell.

2017’s 15 fastest-growing large cities in the U.S., according to WalletHub