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Where am ILOCATED

Athens-Clarke County, GA Metro Area

The Athens-Clarke County, GA metro area is made up of 4 counties in Georgia: Clarke, Oconee, Madison, and Oglethorpe, largest first. About 224,148 people lived there on July 1, 2025 (Census estimate), 4.1% more than in April 2020.

Clarke County, centralMadison County, outlyingOconee County, centralOglethorpe County, outlyingAthens-Clarke County
Central Outlying 4 counties in Georgia
Population, July 2025
224,148 4.1% more than in April 2020
Type
Metropolitan statistical area
Counties
4: 2 central, 2 outlying
Land area
1,025 sq mi (2,655 km²)
Time zone
Eastern TimeUTC-05:00 in January; UTC-04:00 in July
State
Georgia
Combined statistical area
Atlanta--Athens-Clarke County--Sandy Springs, GA-AL
CBSA code
12020
Open this area in the metro area finder

Counties in the Athens-Clarke County, GA metro area, largest first

CountyRolePopulation, July 2025Share of the area
Clarke CountyCentral129,92158.0%
Oconee CountyCentral44,89320.0%
Madison CountyOutlying32,91914.7%
Oglethorpe CountyOutlying16,4157.3%

A central county holds the area’s core, an urban area of at least 50,000 people. An outlying county is in the area because of commuting: at least a quarter of its workers have jobs in the central counties, or at least a quarter of the people working there live in them. A county belongs to one metro or micro area at most, and it counts whole, countryside included.

Principal city

  1. Athens-Clarke County127,345 people

OMB names the area after its largest principal cities. A principal city is the area’s largest city, plus any other city that is very large or a big job center, and smaller ones with at least as many jobs as working residents (2020 Census and commuting figures). People counts are American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates.

Part of the Atlanta--Athens-Clarke County--Sandy Springs, GA-AL combined statistical area

OMB joins neighboring metro and micro areas into a combined statistical area when enough people commute between them. The other 9 areas in this one, largest first:

  1. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro Area6,482,182 people
  2. Gainesville, GA Metro Area226,568 people
  3. LaGrange, GA-AL Micro Area107,097 people
  4. Rome, GA Metro Area101,378 people
  5. Jefferson, GA Micro Area99,265 people
  6. Calhoun, GA Micro Area61,701 people
  7. Cornelia, GA Micro Area50,416 people
  8. Cedartown, GA Micro Area45,514 people
  9. Thomaston, GA Micro Area28,500 people

Bordering metro and micro areas, nearest first

Areas with a county on this area’s edge. Distances are straight lines between the areas’ largest cities.

  1. Jefferson, GA Micro Area19 mi northwest
  2. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro Area62 mi west

Before using this answer on a form

A metro or micro area is a statistical area that OMB draws for federal statistics. It is not a city, a local government or a mailing address, and it is not a measure of urban and rural: whole counties count, rural parts included. Programs that use metro areas, such as housing income limits or wage rates, can use their own version of these lists; check the program’s own list for an address.

Find the metro area where you are now, find your county, or see every metro and micro area by population.

See this area on Census.gov ↗