Paulding County growth has a number attached to it, and the county published it. By 2050, Paulding’s population is anticipated to exceed 250,000 residents.
The county currently holds the thirteenth highest population in Georgia and was the second fastest growing county by percentage in metro Atlanta over the last decade. Getting from roughly 190,000 today to 250,000 means adding a city the size of Cartersville and then some.
I was the number one Paulding County REALTOR® for 2025 and I work out of an office on Cedarcrest Road, which means I watch this happen from the middle of it. The question buyers ask me is where that growth actually lands. The county’s own planning documents answer it more clearly than any market report.
Paulding Was Late, and That Is the Whole Story
The Georgia Conservancy put it plainly in its land use study for the county’s comprehensive plan update. Paulding is described as one of the very last metro Atlanta counties to experience widespread growth challenges as a result of the region’s decades-long population boom.
The study frames that lateness as an advantage. Paulding has the opportunity to learn from the past successes and failures of other metro counties that have seen years of widespread development, and county stakeholders are looking to take advantage of that late-to-the-party status by guiding growth deliberately.
The driver is not complicated. A large amount of affordable real estate in Paulding has provided an attractive draw for both residential and commercial development, and an increase in population and development of usable land is described as inevitable.
That is the honest frame. The growth is coming. The county has been planning for where to put it.
Watch Dallas Acworth Highway First
If you want one corridor to track, this is it, and the county is already engineering for it.
The Dallas Acworth Highway Corridor Improvement Project will evaluate improvements along approximately 2.3 miles of Dallas Acworth Highway between Mt. Tabor Church Road and Frey Road on one end and State Route 92 and Cedarcrest Road on the other. The county describes it as a major connection between downtown Dallas and the Crossroads Community, currently carrying nearly 17,000 vehicles per day.
A separate project, Dallas Acworth Highway at New Hope, will improve roughly one mile of roadway between south of Bobo Road and north of Due West Road, currently in preliminary engineering.
Seventeen thousand vehicles a day on a two-lane county road is the number that explains why this corridor gets attention. When a county starts acquiring right of way and engineering improvements, development follows the capacity.
Highway 278 Is the Commercial Spine
Residential growth gets the headlines. Commercial growth in Paulding is concentrated somewhere specific.
Paulding County Economic Development promotes the Paulding 278 Business Corridor, which connects directly to I-20 and on to Hartsfield-Jackson. The county cites a growing presence of aerospace, advanced manufacturing, medical, and professional service businesses, anchored by the Paulding Northwest Atlanta Airport and the LEED Silver certified WellStar Paulding Hospital.
The county also conducted a scoping study with the Cities of Dallas and Hiram covering 8.4 miles of US 278 and State Route 6 from the Cobb County line to State Route 120 at Buchanan Street, looking at mobility, safety, and pedestrian access.
That matters to residential buyers for a specific reason. A county with a real commercial and industrial tax base spreads its burden beyond homeowners, and Paulding already carries the lowest county millage rate in metro Atlanta at roughly 24.875 mills. Commercial growth along 278 is part of what protects that.
Hiram and Dallas Are the Pressure Points
The two cities have absorbed growth at rates that outpaced the county itself.
Census figures show Dallas going from 5,056 residents in 2000 to 11,544 in 2010, an increase of just over 128 percent. Hiram’s growth over the same decade was described as even more explosive. Both cities more than doubled while the county’s overall numbers swelled at a lower rate.
Hiram sits about eight miles southeast of Dallas via US 278 and five miles west of Powder Springs, which places it directly on the commuter path toward Cobb and I-20.
The county is engineering there too. The Hiram Sudie Road at Davis Mill Road roundabout has been in design since 2019, is currently in right-of-way acquisition, and construction is anticipated to begin in fiscal year 2026.
The Infrastructure Already Built Tells You Where Growth Can Go
Water capacity determines development more than zoning does, and Paulding solved that.
The Richland Creek Reservoir is complete, funded in part through the county’s Quality Local Government status under the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. The county notes that more than $100 million in QLG-enabled funds have paid for infrastructure including the reservoir and the revitalization of historic downtown Dallas and Hiram.
A reservoir is a twenty-year decision. Counties do not build water supply for the population they have. They build it for the one the comprehensive plan projects.
If you want to understand where a county believes its growth is going, look at what it has already paid for.
The Plans Are Public and Recently Adopted
This is the part most buyers never take advantage of, and it is free.
Paulding’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan update, titled Charting the Course, was completed in December 2022 and adopted by the City of Dallas Council on April 10, 2023, the City of Hiram Council on April 11, 2023, and the Paulding County Board of Commissioners on April 25, 2023. The Comprehensive Plan for the county and the Cities of Dallas, Hiram, and Braswell received a limited update in the same cycle.
The county also commissioned a Major Corridors Study through Kimley-Horn that expands on both plans, recommending roadway widening, right-of-way preservation, large-scale operational and safety improvements, and new connection projects. A Comprehensive Safety Action Plan was adopted by resolution in 2025.
Those documents name specific roads and specific intersections. If you are buying land or a home you intend to hold for a decade, reading the corridor recommendations for your area is worth an hour.
The Constraint Nobody Is Solving
I would be doing you a disservice if I only covered the optimistic side.
Paulding County has no interstate. Every project above improves surface roads, roundabouts, and corridors. None of them changes the fundamental fact that commuters here drive Highway 278, Highway 92, Dallas Acworth Highway, or Cedarcrest to reach I-20 or cross into Cobb for I-75.
Census-based data puts the countywide average commute at 39.6 minutes, well above the national average of 26.4, with 5.85 percent of the workforce reporting commutes exceeding 90 minutes.
Adding 60,000 residents to a road network without an interstate is a real planning challenge, and the county is engineering for it rather than ignoring it. But a buyer should price the commute honestly rather than assuming improvements will resolve it.
What This Means If You Are Buying
Three practical conclusions from the planning documents.
First, the corridors with engineering money behind them are where value is most likely to shift. Dallas Acworth Highway between Cedarcrest and downtown Dallas is the clearest example, with two active projects and 17,000 daily vehicles. Growth follows capacity.
Second, proximity to the 278 business corridor matters for reasons beyond commuting. A residential buyer benefits from the commercial tax base that corridor generates, because it helps hold down the millage rate that made Paulding attractive in the first place.
Third, check what is planned near any parcel you are serious about. County planning departments publish pending rezoning applications, land use maps, and corridor recommendations. The field behind a house is knowable, and nobody is required to tell you what is coming.
Buyers comparing Paulding against Acworth, Kennesaw, Dallas, Cartersville, and Woodstock should also confirm the county from the parcel’s tax record. An Acworth mailing address can sit in Paulding, and that single fact changes the tax rate, the schools, and the emissions requirement.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much will Paulding County grow?
The county’s own transportation planning documents anticipate the population exceeding 250,000 by 2050. Paulding currently holds the thirteenth highest population in Georgia and was the second fastest growing county by percentage in metro Atlanta over the past decade.
Which areas are growing fastest?
The Cedarcrest and Dallas Acworth Highway corridor carries active county improvement projects and nearly 17,000 vehicles daily. The US 278 corridor anchors commercial and industrial growth with direct I-20 access. Dallas and Hiram both more than doubled in population between 2000 and 2010, outpacing the county as a whole.
Will the roads keep up?
The county is actively engineering for it, with corridor improvement projects on Dallas Acworth Highway, a roundabout at Hiram Sudie and Davis Mill scheduled to begin construction in fiscal 2026, and a Major Corridors Study recommending widening and right-of-way preservation. What none of it changes is that Paulding has no interstate, and the countywide average commute of 39.6 minutes reflects that.
Buying in Paulding County?
I know which corridors have engineering money behind them and which parcels back up to something that has not been announced yet. If you want that context applied to a specific address, call me.
(404) 867-3869 | nicolefrance-realestate.com/contact/
Selling in Paulding? Start with a home value estimate, read what past clients say, or learn more about my background.
Sources: the Paulding County Comprehensive Transportation Plan on population projections and plan adoption, Paulding County projects under design on the Dallas Acworth Highway corridor and Hiram Sudie roundabout, and the Georgia Conservancy Blueprints study on the county’s growth position.
This post is general information. Nicole France is a REALTOR®, not a planner or county official. Population projections are estimates, project timelines change, and comprehensive plans are updated on multi-year cycles. Verify current project status and pending zoning with the Paulding County planning department.
Nicole France is a REALTOR® with RE/MAX Center serving buyers and sellers across Acworth, Kennesaw, Dallas, Cartersville, and Woodstock. Client Focused · Results Driven.