Kennesaw by the Numbers: Growth, KSU and Getting Around
By Mary McMath, Keller Williams Realty Atlanta North
October 28, 2026 · 2 min read
Kennesaw is the fastest-growing of the cities I cover on this blog, and buyers keep asking about it. Here are the numbers.
A small city that keeps growing. Kennesaw had 33,036 residents in the 2020 census and an estimated 37,970 in 2025, an increase of about 15% in five years. The city covers just under 10 square miles.
Big Shanty to Kennesaw. The community was known as Big Shanty from the 1830s until it was chartered as Kennesaw on September 21, 1887. The 1862 Great Locomotive Chase began here, when Union raiders stole the locomotive The General. The depot area downtown sits across from the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History, and the Big Shanty Festival fills downtown every April.
Kennesaw State University. KSU enrolled a record 51,375 students in fall 2025, up 7.4% from the year before and its seventh straight year of growth. It's the third-largest university in Georgia and an R2 research institution. That growth shapes the local rental and housing market around campus.
City limits vs. a Kennesaw address. Like Marietta, a Kennesaw mailing address doesn't always mean city limits. The Town Center shopping area, for example, is in unincorporated Cobb County and is served by Cobb County police. Check the tax district on any home you're considering.
Getting around. I-75 runs just northeast of the city, with exits 269, 271 and 273. The Northwest Corridor Express Lanes, reversible toll lanes that need a Peach Pass, have an access point at Big Shanty Road.
Take it from Mary: if you're weighing a home near campus, ask me about rental activity on the street. It can affect everything from parking to resale. More on the Kennesaw area page.
A note on the numbers: every figure in this post is a good-faith estimate taken from the sources below as of the date it was posted. Figures aren't exact and can change, so please do your own research and confirm anything important with the official source before relying on it.
Sources
Photo: Thomson200 via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
More about Kennesaw
