Acworth's Booming After 150 Years

The city of Acworth had a lot more to than its and its designation as an All-America City.

It turns out that at the tender age of 150, Acworth is a boomtown, growing rapidly in both population and diversity.

According to official 2010 census numbers the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday, Acworth grew 52.2 percent between April 2000 and April 2010, far outpacing both Cobb County and Georgia as a whole.

That growth gave the city 20,425 residents, more than 7,000 ahead of the 13,422 in the 2000 census.

The number of people 18 and older increased 49.7 percent, from 9,792 to 14,659, so Acworth had more adults in 2010 than its total population in 2000.

And those overall numbers tell only part of the story.

In 2000, nearly 80 percent of Acworth’s residents classified themselves as white; that figure dropped to 62.5 percent after the white population grew by “only” 19.3 percent in the past decade (still more than the overall population growth for Cobb and Georgia).

Meanwhile, Acworth’s minority populations more than tripled.

The city’s black population grew by 208.5 percent, from 1,696 to 5,232, and the Hispanic population rose from 812 to 2,542, a 213 percent expansion. Blacks now account for 25.6 percent of Acworth residents, and Hispanics make up 12.4 percent.

Countywide, the population grew from 607,751 in 2000 to 688,078, a 13.2 percent increase. Cobb is the fourth-largest county in the state.

Georgia's largest county continues to be neighboring Fulton, with a total population of 920,581 and growth of 12.8 percent the past 10 years.

Georgia's population now sits at 9.69 million, an 18.3 percent increase the past decade. The additional 1.5 million people have gained Georgia a 14th seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.