Monday, May 02, 2011

What's fastest-growing U.S. city? Hint: Southern, suburban

Bloomberg Businessweek crunched the numbers. It found a town that grew 838 percent between 1990 and 2010, going from 3,567 to 33,484 people. Since 2000 it grew 63.47 percent. 

If that sounds like Huntersville, or maybe Indian Trail, well it isn't. It's Olive Branch, Miss., about 20 miles south of Memphis. Here's the Memphis Commercial Appeal article. And here's the Businessweek article.

The analysis looked at year-over-year growth in households, 2000-10, and other factors, such as the 2010 average length of residence and the change in average household income from 2000 to 2010. But household growth was the dominant factor. The Businessweek article notes that it didn't go strictly by city or municipal boundary lines. By its measures, the fastest-growing city in North Carolina was Cary. The site notes that the Raleigh-Cary metro area was the fourth-fastest growing in the U.S. from 2000 to 2010.

And the fastest-growing city in South Carolina is Charlotte's just-over-the-line neighbor, Fort Mill.