Where to plant
Every ZIP area in Georgia and Tennessee ranked by how much the population is moving in — the last five years and the official forecast — with a small weight for whether there are enough people to sustain a plant. How near a Church of God church is carries no weight; the church columns are context.
Showing growth ZIP areas only — ZIP areas that gained 2,500+ people between the 2018 and 2023 ACS windows, are forecast to, or grew 25%+ while adding 1,200+ people. Toggle off to search every ZIP area. Forecast to 2036 is the official projection (2026–2036) from Georgia’s Office of Planning and Budget (2026 series) and Tennessee’s Boyd Center at UT (2022 series). Both publish by county, so each county’s decade change is apportioned to its ZIP areas by population share. A ~ marks any ZIP area still on our modeled trend.
| Rank | ZIP area | county | State | Population | Growth 5 yr | % | Forecast to 2036 | % | Churches ≤12 mi | Nearest | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 164 | Atlanta 30326 | Fulton County | GA | 8,497 | +2,467 | +40.9% | +820 | +9.3% | 18 | 4.4 mi | 72 | — |
| 168 | Byron 31008 | Peach County | GA | 20,882 | +2,501 | +13.6% | +1,554 | +7.0% | 7 | 2.7 mi | 72 | — |
| 176 | Lagrange 30240 | Troup County | GA | 31,670 | +2,556 | +8.8% | +1,553 | +4.6% | 2 | 6.9 mi | 72 | — |
| 178 | Columbus 31907 | Muscogee County | GA | 61,544 | +4,881 | +8.6% | +819 | +1.3% | 4 | 3.7 mi | 72 | — |
| 186 | Harlem 30814 | Columbia County | GA | 10,767 | +2,229 | +26.1% | +1,164 | +9.8% | 4 | 2.8 mi | 72 | — |
| 195 | Kingston 30145 | Bartow County | GA | 9,065 | +1,923 | +26.9% | +1,201 | +12.2% | 6 | 10 mi | 71 | — |
| 202 | Thomaston 30286 | Upson County | GA | 24,616 | +2,531 | +11.5% | +1,066 | +4.0% | 1 | 1.8 mi | 71 | — |
| 204 | Gainesville 30506 | Hall County | GA | 44,964 | +496 | +1.1% | +7,751 | +15.9% | 7 | 5.0 mi | 71 | — |
| 211 | Midway 31320 | Liberty County | GA | 10,431 | +2,173 | +26.3% | +867 | +8.0% | 3 | 4.3 mi | 70 | — |
| 217 | Douglasville 30135 | Douglas County | GA | 66,689 | +555 | +0.8% | +5,704 | +8.0% | 13 | 1.7 mi | 70 | — |
| 220 | Scottdale 30079 | DeKalb County | GA | 4,850 | +2,026 | +71.7% | +291 | +5.8% | 17 | 5.3 mi | 70 | — |
| 221 | Hull 30646 | Madison County | GA | 8,161 | +1,655 | +25.4% | +1,073 | +12.3% | 4 | 6.4 mi | 70 | — |
| 236 | Fortson 31808 | Harris County | GA | 8,888 | +1,927 | +27.7% | +640 | +6.8% | 4 | 4.7 mi | 69 | — |
| 239 | Murrayville 30564 | Lumpkin County | GA | 4,815 | +1,401 | +41.0% | +615 | +12.0% | 6 | 6.2 mi | 68 | — |
| 245 | Taylorsville 30178 | Bartow County | GA | 4,202 | +1,231 | +41.4% | +651 | +14.1% | 3 | 8.4 mi | 68 | — |
| 248 | Macon 31204 | Bibb County | GA | 32,730 | +3,044 | +10.3% | +418 | +1.3% | 8 | 2.2 mi | 68 | — |
| 271 | Waycross 31503 | Ware County | GA | 23,173 | +2,549 | +12.4% | +328 | +1.4% | 9 | 0.4 mi | 66 | — |
| 539 | Lawrenceville 30043 | Gwinnett County | GA | 89,046 | -1,629 | -1.8% | +10,040 | +10.6% | 21 | 3.0 mi | 47 | — |
| 561 | Alpharetta 30022 | Fulton County | GA | 64,919 | -3,888 | -5.7% | +6,266 | +9.3% | 16 | 4.7 mi | 46 | — |
| 563 | Atlanta 30331 | Fulton County | GA | 63,418 | -1,074 | -1.7% | +6,121 | +9.3% | 13 | 1.1 mi | 45 | — |
| 568 | Norcross 30093 | Gwinnett County | GA | 49,015 | -6,092 | -11.1% | +5,526 | +10.6% | 23 | 1.3 mi | 45 | — |
| 569 | Dacula 30019 | Gwinnett County | GA | 47,887 | -1,375 | -2.8% | +5,399 | +10.6% | 19 | 1.7 mi | 45 | — |
| 573 | Savannah 31419 | Chatham County | GA | 57,354 | -898 | -1.5% | +5,193 | +8.6% | 6 | 3.3 mi | 45 | — |
| 572 | Duluth 30097 | Fulton County | GA | 45,543 | -1,362 | -2.9% | +5,183 | +10.8% | 27 | 1.1 mi | 45 | — |