Atlanta metropolitan area had a population of only a few thousand people.
Atlanta is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia , with an estimated 2016 population of 472,522 . Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area , home to 5,710,795 people and the ninth largest metropolitan area in the United States . Metro Atlanta , designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell , GA Metropolitan Statistical Area , is the most populous metro area in the US state of Georgia and the ninth-largest metropolitan statistical area ( MSA ) in the United States . Its economic , cultural and demographic center is Atlanta , and it had a 2015 estimated population of 5.7 million people according to the U.S. Census Bureau . The Combined Statistical Area spans up to 39 counties in north Georgia and had an estimated 2015 population of 6.3 million people .