Demographics of Georgia (U.S. state)

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1790	82,548		—
1800	162,686		97.1%
1810	251,407		54.5%
1820	340,989		35.6%
1830	516,823		51.6%
1840	691,392		33.8%
1850	906,185		31.1%
1860	1,057,286		16.7%
1870	1,184,109		12.0%
1880	1,542,181		30.2%
1890	1,837,353		19.1%
1900	2,216,331		20.6%
1910	2,609,121		17.7%
1920	2,895,832		11.0%
1930	2,908,506		0.4%
1940	3,123,723		7.4%
1950	3,444,578		10.3%
1960	3,943,116		14.5%
1970	4,589,575		16.4%
1980	5,463,105		19.0%
1990	6,478,216		18.6%
2000	8,186,453		26.4%
2010	9,687,653		18.3%
Sources: 1910–2010

The demographics of Georgia are inclusive of the ninth most populous state in the United States, with over 9.68 million people (2010 census), just over 3% of America's population.

The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Georgia was 9,815,210 on July 1, 2011, a 1.32% increase since the 2010 United States Census.

In 2007, Georgia had an estimated population of 9,544,750 which was an increase of 180,809 from the previous year, and an increase of 1,177,125 since 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 438,939 people (that is 849,414 births minus 410,475 deaths) and an increase from net migration of 606,673 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 228,415 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 378,258 people.

The state stood sixth in the country for undocumented immigrants. There were 35,000 in 1990; the count more than doubled from January 2000 to January 2009, at 480,000.

There were 743,000 veterans in 2009.

Race and age

A map of Georgia, detailing the population density and distribution.

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Georgia had a population of 9,687,653. In terms of race the population was:

• 59.7% White American (55.9% Non-Hispanic White, 3.8% White Hispanic),
• 30.5% Black or African American (including Hispanics)
• 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native (including Hispanics)
• 3.2% Asian American (including Hispanics)
• 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (including Hispanics)
• 4.0% from Some Other Race (including Hispanics)
• 2.1% Multiracial American (including Hispanics)
• 8.8% Hispanics and Latinos of any race.

The largest ancestry groups are: 10.8% American (mostly British descent), 9.5% Irish, 8.9% English and 8.2% German. In the 1980 census 1,584,303 Georgians cited that they were of English ancestry out of a total state population of 3,994,817 making them 40% of the state, and the largest ethnic group at the time. Today, many of these same people cite that they are of "American" ancestry are actually of English descent and some are of Scots-Irish descent, however they have families that have been in the state so long, in many cases since the colonial period, that they choose to identify simply as having "American" ancestry or do not in fact know their own ancestry. Their ancestry primarily goes back to the original thirteen colonies and for this reason many of them today simply claim "American" ancestry, though they are of predominately English ancestry.

As of 2004, 7.7% of its population was reported as under 5 years of age, 26.4% under 18, and 9.6% were 65 or older. Also as of 2004, females made up approximately 50.6% of the population and African Americans made up approximately 29.6%.

Historically, about half of Georgia's population was composed of African Americans who, prior to the Civil War, were almost exclusively enslaved. The Great Migration of hundreds of thousands of blacks from the rural South to the industrial North from 1914–1970 reduced the African American population.

Georgia had the second fastest growing Asian population growth in the U.S. from 1990 to 2000, more than doubling in size during the ten-year period. Georgia also has a significant and diverse population of Hispanics, especially Mexicans and Puerto Ricans. Most of the recent Hispanic, Asian, Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan African populations is concentrated in the diverse Atlanta metropolitan area, with the rest of Georgia being mostly blacks and whites. In addition, according to census estimates, Georgia ranks third among the states in terms of the percent of the total population that is African American (after Mississippi and Louisiana) and third in numerical Black population after New York and Florida. Georgia was the state with the largest numerical increase in the black population from 2006 to 2007 with 84,000.

Georgia is the state with the third-lowest percentage of older people (65 or older), at 10.1 percent (as of 2008).

The colonial settlement of large numbers of Scottish American, English American and Scotch-Irish Americans in the mountains and piedmont, and coastal settlement by some English Americans and African Americans, have strongly influenced the state's culture in food, language and music. The concentration of Africans imported to coastal areas in the 18th century repeatedly from rice growing regions of West Africa led to the development of Gullah-Geechee language and culture in the Low Country among African Americans. They share a unique heritage in which African traditions of food, religion and culture were continued more than in some other areas. In the creolization of Southern culture, their foodways became an integral part of all Southern cooking in the Low Country.

Languages

Top 10 Non-English Languages Spoken in Georgia

Language	Percentage of population (as of 2010)
Spanish	7.42%
Korean	0.51%
Vietnamese	0.44%
French	0.42%
Chinese (including Mandarin)	0.38%
German	0.29%
Hindi	0.23%
Niger-Congo languages of West Africa (Ibo, Kru, and Yoruba)	0.21%
Gujarati	0.18%
Portuguese and French Creole (tied)	0.16%

As of 2010, 87.35% (7,666,663) of Georgia residents age 5 and older spoke English at home as a primary language, while 7.42% (651,583) spoke Spanish, 0.51% (44,702) Korean, 0.44% (38,244) Vietnamese, 0.42% (36,679) French, 0.38% (33,009) Chinese (which includes Mandarin,) and German was spoken as a main language by 0.29% (23,351) of the population over the age of five. In total, 12.65% (1,109,888) of Georgia's population age 5 and older spoke a mother language other than English.

Religion

The Al-Farooq Masjid Mosque of Atlanta, Georgia

According to the 2014 U.S. Religious Landscape Study based on telephone interviews conducted by the Pew Research Center, 79 percent of Georgia residents identified as Christian, with two-thirds being Protestants, similar to the population of other Southern states. The overall breakdown of religious affiliations was as follows:

• Christian: 79%
  • Evangelical Protestant: 38%
  • Mainline Protestant: 12%
  • Historically Black Protestant: 17%
  • Roman Catholic: 9%
  • Jehovah's Witnesses:2%
  • Mormon: 1%
  • Orthodox Christian: <1%
  • Other Christian: <1%
• Non-Christian faiths: 3%
  • Jewish: 1%
  • Muslim: <1%
  • Buddhist: <1%
  • Hindu: <1%
  • Other world faiths: <1%
• Other faiths: 2% (including Unitarians, New Age, and Native American religions)
• Unaffilitated (religious "nones"): 18% (including agnostics and atheists)
• Nothing in particular: 13%
• Don't know: 1%

The largest Christian denominations by number of adherents in 2000 were the Southern Baptist Convention with 1,719,484; the United Methodist Church with 570,674; and the Catholic Church with 374,185.

LGBT

The city of Atlanta also has one of the highest LGBT populations per capita. It ranks 3rd of all major cities, behind San Francisco and slightly behind Seattle, with 12.8% of the city's total population identifying themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. According to the 2000 United States Census (revised in 2004), Atlanta has the twelfth highest proportion of single-person households nationwide among cities of 100,000 or more residents, which was at 38.5%.