Dalton, GA Metro Area

The Dalton, GA metro area is made up of 2 counties in Georgia: Whitfield and Murray. About 147,819 people lived there on July 1, 2025 (Census estimate), 3.5% more than in April 2020.

Murray County, outlyingWhitfield County, centralDalton
Central Outlying 2 counties in Georgia
Population, July 2025
147,819 3.5% more than in April 2020
Type
Metropolitan statistical area
Counties
2: 1 central, 1 outlying
Land area
635 sq mi (1,644 km²)
Time zone
Eastern TimeUTC-05:00 in January; UTC-04:00 in July
State
Georgia
Combined statistical area
Chattanooga-Cleveland-Dalton, TN-GA-AL
CBSA code
19140

Counties in the Dalton, GA metro area, largest first

CountyRolePopulation, July 2025Share of the area
Whitfield CountyCentral106,21271.9%
Murray CountyOutlying41,60728.1%

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 county, 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. Dalton34,538 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 Chattanooga-Cleveland-Dalton, TN-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 5 areas in this one, largest first:

  1. Chattanooga, TN-GA Metro Area594,530 people
  2. Cleveland, TN Metro Area134,057 people
  3. Athens, TN Micro Area71,590 people
  4. Scottsboro, AL Micro Area54,281 people
  5. Summerville, GA Micro Area25,300 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. Calhoun, GA Micro Area19 mi south
  2. Chattanooga, TN-GA Metro Area26 mi northwest
  3. Cleveland, TN Metro Area29 mi north

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 ↗