Walker County is seeing the strongest influx of new residents in Northwest Georgia, posting a domestic migration rate of 5.6 percent—the highest in the region—according to new data tied to a broader population surge in the greater Chattanooga metropolitan area.
The county’s overall population grew by 3.8 percent between 2020 and 2025, second only to Murray County, which led the region at 4.1 percent. Meanwhile, Dade County was the only Northwest Georgia county to report a population decline during that period.
The new figures come as a report from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Center for Regional Economic Research highlights rapid growth across the Chattanooga metro area, driven largely by domestic migration.
According to the report, the metro area added more than 31,000 residents between 2020 and 2025, pushing its population to nearly 595,000. At the current pace, the region is expected to surpass 600,000 residents later this summer.
Researchers found that nearly 27,000 of those new residents moved from other parts of the United States, making domestic migration the primary driver of growth—an unusual trend compared to national patterns, where international migration has played a larger role.
Growth has been particularly strong in Hamilton County, where the population increased by about 6.5 percent over the five-year period—more than double the national average. Across the broader region, population growth reached approximately 5.3 percent, with many surrounding counties, including Walker, contributing to the upward trend.
The report also notes the Chattanooga area reflects a broader shift across the South, which accounted for nearly three-quarters of total U.S. population growth during that time.
