UNION COUNTY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
 100 Hunt-Martin Street
(formerly 100 Hospital Street)
P.O. Box 801
Blairsville, Georgia 30514-0801 U.S.A.
Mitch Griggs, Executive Director
Phone (706) 745-4500
Fax (706) 745-4500
 email:  mitch@ucda.net

POPULATION

Union County's official 2000 population was 17,289.  Union County was the 10th fastest growing of Georgia's 159 counties in 1999 and according to the 2000 Census, gained 44.2% in the decade of the 1990's.  In addition to the current 21,100 permanent residents in 2005, approximately 6,000 retirees winter in Florida and return to the Blairsville area for the months of March-April through November-December.  There are also a number of metro Atlanta residents who maintain a second home here in the mountains and are here for shorter, more frequent periods and are not included in any of these numbers.

Blairsville, the county seat, with 659 residents in 2000, showed a gain of 95 persons during the last decade.  It should be noted that Blairsville has a city limits only one-half mile in diameter, with Butternut Creek golf course taking up almost twenty percent of the municipal area.  A state detention center has 205 beds and these detainees are included as residents of the city for Census purposes.  Residential development has occurred almost exclusively outside the city limits, while Commercial development continues strong both inside and outside the City. Population growth has been as follows:
 

2006 ESTIMATE

2000 CENSUS

1990 CENSUS 

1980 CENSUS
Union County permanent residents 21,300  17,289 11,993 9,390
Union County (Summer 7,000+)  28,300      
     Blairsville  725  659  564 530

 POPULATION OVER FIVE DECADES (1960-2000) AND PROJECTED TRENDS

County from the 2000 Census of Population, City - estimates
  1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2005 2010
Union County  6,510 6,811 9,390 11,993 17,289  21,000 26,640
Blairsville  437  491 530 564 659 725 800

It should be noticed that 96.6% of the current population lives outside the city limits of Blairsville.

 BLAIRSVILLE AREA CURRENT POPULATION AND CENSUS DATA

  2006 Population Estimate  2000 Census Total 2000 Percent Female 2000 Percent Black 1990 Census 1980 Census
Union County  21,300 17,289  50.9%   0.6%  11,993  9,390
     Blairsville  725  659       564 530
Fannin County  23,700  19,798  51.7%  0.1% 15,992  14,748
Lumpkin Co.  24,900  21,016 50.9%  1.5%  14,573 

10,762
Towns County 11,000  9,319  52.7%   0.1%  6,754  5,638
White County  25,500 19,944 50.5% 2.2%  13,006  10,120
Cherokee Co, NC 25,900  24,298 51.5%  1.6%    20,170  18,933
Clay County, NC  10,500  8,775 51.3%  0.8%  7,000  
             

POPULATION DENSITY, 2000 CENSUS

About 51% of the County is owned by the U. S. Government, and is unavailable for private development. The population density for Union County in 2000 was 53.5 people per square mile.  In 2006, the estimated population density is 65.9 people per square mile.  In 2000, the state average was 141.4 persons per square mile.  Union County contains 323 square miles.

 UNION COUNTY POPULATION BY RACE, 2000 CENSUS

  TOTAL WHITE BLACK HISPANIC INDIAN ASIAN OTHER RACE

UNION COUNTY

 17,289 97.9% 0.6% 0.9% 0.3% 0.2% 0.2%