Fulton County is in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,066,710, making it the state's most populous county. Its county seat and most populous city is Atlanta, the state capital. About 90% of the city of Atlanta is within Fulton County; the remaining portion is in DeKalb County. Fulton County is the principal county of the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area.
History
Fulton County was created in 1853 from the western half of DeKalb County. It was named in honor of Robert Fulton, the man who created the first commercially successful steamboat in 1807.About Fulton County
After the American Civil War, there was considerable violence against freedmen in the county. During the post-Reconstruction period, violence and the number of lynchings of blacks increased in the late 19th century, as whites exercised terrorism to re-establish and maintain white supremacy. Whites lynched 35 African Americans here from 1877 to 1950; according to the Georgia Lynching Project, 24 were killed in 1906. This was the highest total in the state.Lynching in America/ Supplement: Lynchings by County, 3rd Edition, 2015, p. 4 With a total of 589, Georgia was second to Mississippi in its total number of lynchings in this period.
In addition to individual lynchings, during the 1906 Atlanta race massacre, whites killed at least 25 African Americans; the number may have been considerably higher. Two white persons died during the riot; one a woman who died of a heart attack. The violence affected black residential and business development in the city afterward. The Georgia legislature effectively completed disenfranchisement of African Americans in 1908, with constitutional amendments that raised barriers to voter registration and voting, excluding them from the political system.
At the beginning of 1932, as an austerity measure to save money during the Great Depression, Fulton County annexed Milton County to the north and Campbell County to the southwest, to centralize administration. That resulted in the current long shape of the county along of the Chattahoochee River. On May 9 of that year, neighboring Cobb County ceded the city of Roswell and lands lying east of Willeo Creek to Fulton County so that it would be more contiguous with the lands ceded from Milton County.
In the second half of the 20th century, Atlanta and Fulton County became the location of numerous national and international headquarters for leading companies, attracting highly skilled employees from around the country. This led to the city and county becoming more cosmopolitan and diverse.
In 1992, Fulton County elected the first African-American woman, Jacquelyn Harrison Barrett, to the position of Sheriff in the history of the United States.
In 2023, rapper Playboi Carti was arrested in Fulton County. That same year, Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants were indicted by Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis. , the prosecution is being continued by Pete Skandalakis. Fulton County was a centerpoint in Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election in Georgia; in January 2026, the FBI conducted a raid on the county's election office.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.4%) is water. The county is located in the Piedmont region of the state in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the north. The shape of the county resembles a sword with its handle at the northeastern part, and the tip at the southwestern portion.
Going from north to south, the northernmost portion of Fulton County, encompassing Milton and northern Alpharetta, is located in the Etowah River sub-basin of the ACT River Basin (Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basin). The rest of north and central Fulton, to downtown Atlanta, is located in the Upper Chattahoochee River sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). The bulk of south Fulton County, from Atlanta to Palmetto, is located in the Middle Chattahoochee River-Lake Harding sub-basin of the larger ACF River Basin, with just the eastern edges of south Fulton, from Palmetto northeast through Union Hill to Hapeville, in the Upper Flint River sub-basin of the same larger ACF River Basin.
Adjacent counties
Cherokee County – northwest Forsyth County – northeast Gwinnett County – east DeKalb County – east Clayton County – south Fayette County – south Coweta County – southwest Carroll County – west Douglas County – west Cobb County – west
National protected areas Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (part) Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site
Communities
There are 15 cities within Fulton County. Four cities include land outside of the county (Atlanta, College Park, Palmetto, and Mountain Park) but still have their center of government and the majority of their land within Fulton County. After the formation of South Fulton in 2017, the only unincorporated part of the county is Fulton Industrial Boulevard, from roughly Fulton Brown Airport (Brown's Field) down to Fairburn Rd. (concurrent with GA-158 and GA-166) This led to Fulton County becoming the first county in Georgia to suspend all city services.
Cities
Alpharetta Atlanta Chattahoochee Hills College Park East Point Fairburn Hapeville Johns Creek Milton Mountain Park Palmetto Roswell Sandy Springs South Fulton Union City
Former unincorporated communities Campbellton (now within South Fulton) Ocee (now within Johns Creek) Red Oak (now within South Fulton) Sandtown (now within South Fulton) Serenbe (village within Chattahoochee Hills) Shake Rag (within Johns Creek)
Demographics
2020 census +Fulton County, Georgia – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)276,418303,724369,997376,014404,79346.86%46.80%45.34%40.85%37.95%Black or African American alone (NH)300,952322,428361,018400,457448,80351.02%49.68%44.24%43.50%42.07%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)6449041,1481,5861,5580.11%0.14%0.14%0.17%0.15%Asian alone (NH)2,9268,22124,63551,30480,6320.50%1.27%3.02%5.57%7.56%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)x included in the Asian category in the 1980 Censusx included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census261287381xx0.03%0.03%0.04%Other race alone (NH)1,3903011,5992,5826,4440.24%0.05%0.20%0.28%0.60%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census9,29215,78537,797xx1.14%1.71%3.54%Hispanic or Latino (any race)7,57413,37348,05672,56686,3021.28%2.06%5.89%7.88%8.09%Total589,904648,951816,006920,5811,066,710 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%
Racial / ethnic Profile of places in Fulton County, Georgia (2020 Census)Following is a table of cities, villages, and census designated places in Fulton County, Georgia. Data for the United States (with and without Puerto Rico), the state of Georgia, and Fulton County itself have been included for comparison purposes. The majority racial/ethnic group is coded per the key below. Communities that extend into and adjacent county or counties are delineated with a followed by an accompanying explanatory note. The full population of each community has been tabulated including the population in adjacent counties. Majority minority with no dominant groupMajority WhiteMajority BlackMajority HispanicMajority Asian
+Racial and ethnic composition of places in Fulton County (2020 Census) (NH = Non-Hispanic)PlaceDesignationTotal PopulationWhite alone (NH)%Black or African American alone (NH)%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)%Asian alone (NH)%Pacific Islander alone (NH)%Other race alone (NH)%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)%Hispanic or Latino (any race)%United States of America (50 states and D.C.) x331,449,281191,697,64757.84%39,940,33812.05%2,251,6990.68%19,618,7195.92%622,0180.19%1,689,8330.51%13,548,9834.09%62,080,04418.73% x334,735,155191,722,19557.28%39,944,62411.93%2,252,0110.67%19,621,4655.86%622,1090.19%1,692,3410.51%13,551,3234.05%65,329,08719.52% State 10,711,908 5,362,156 50.06% 3,278,119 30.60% 20,375 0.19% 475,680 4.44% 6,101 0.06% 55,887 0.52% 390,133 3.64% 1,123,457 10.49% County 1,066,710 404,793 37.95% 448,803 42.07% 1,558 0.15% 80,632 7.56% 381 0.04% 6,444 0.60% 37,797 3.54% 86,302 8.09%Alpharetta City 65,818 36,473 55.41% 6,667 10.13% 101 0.15% 13,181 20.03% 22 0.03% 538 0.82% 2,716 4.13% 6,120 9.30%Atlanta Partly in DeKalb County City 498,715 192,148 38.53% 233,018 46.72% 767 0.15% 22,208 4.45% 171 0.03% 2,493 0.50% 17,922 3.59% 29,988 6.01%Chattahoochee Hills City 2,950 2,026 68.68% 647 21.93% 5 0.17% 7 0.24% 0 0.00% 13 0.44% 99 3.36% 153 5.19%College Park Partly in Clayton County City 13,930 1,528 10.97% 11,017 79.09% 31 0.22% 116 0.83% 2 0.01% 90 0.65% 359 2.58% 787 5.65%East Point City 38,358 3,527 9.19% 29,156 76.01% 74 0.19% 250 0.65% 11 0.03% 211 0.55% 359 0.94% 4,044 10.54%Fairburn City 16,483 1,540 9.34% 12,601 76.45% 16 0.10% 220 1.33% 4 0.02% 71 0.43% 383 2.32% 1,648 10.00%Hapeville City 6,553 1,574 24.02% 2,339 35.69% 24 0.37% 262 4.00% 3 0.05% 57 0.87% 228 3.48% 2,066 31.53%Johns Creek City 82,453 39,483 47.89% 8,528 10.34% 73 0.09% 24,603 29.84% 38 0.05% 524 0.64% 3,414 4.14% 5,790 7.02%Milton City 41,296 25,802 62.48% 3,882 9.40% 74 0.18% 6,446 15.61% 10 0.02% 247 0.60% 1,821 4.41% 3,014 7.30%Mountain Park with a small portion in Cherokee County City 583 475 81.48% 10 1.72% 2 0.34% 14 2.40% 0 0.00% 2 0.34% 47 8.06% 33 5.66%Palmetto Partly in Coweta County City 5,071 1,203 23.72% 2,949 58.15% 9 0.18% 43 0.85% 1 0.02% 25 0.49% 180 3.55% 661 13.03%Roswell City 92,833 58,745 63.28% 10,694 11.52% 87 0.09% 4,626 4.98% 31 0.03% 707 0.76% 3,853 4.15% 14,090 15.18%Sandy Springs City 108,080 58,130 53.78% 19,773 18.29% 137 0.13% 10,160 9.40% 56 0.05% 806 0.75% 4,278 3.96% 14,740 13.64%South Fulton City 107,436 3,402 3.17% 96,463 89.79% 148 0.14% 459 0.43% 33 0.03% 729 0.68% 2,674 2.49% 3,528 3.28%Union City City 26,830 1,220 4.55% 22,686 84.55% 51 0.19% 135 0.50% 12 0.04% 147 0.55% 586 2.18% 1,993 7.43%
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 1,066,710 people, 448,577 households, and 238,444 families residing there, reflecting the county's historically positive population growth with the exception of the 1980 U.S. census.
The median age was 35.5 years; 20.6% of residents were under the age of 18 and 12.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 91.6 males age 18 and over. 99.4% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.6% lived in rural areas.
The racial makeup of the county, as recorded in the 2020 census, was 39.3% White, 42.5% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 7.6% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 3.6% from some other race, and 6.6% from two or more races; Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 8.1% of the population.
There were 448,577 households in the county, of which 26.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 35.2% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 36.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 494,006 housing units, of which 9.2% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 50.0% were owner-occupied and 50.0% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.3%.
2010 census In 2010, its racial and ethnic makeup was 43.50% Black or African American, 40.85% non-Hispanic white, 0.17% American Indian and Alaska Native, 5.57% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.28% some other race, 1.71% multiracial, and 7.88% Hispanic or Latino of any race.