Recent U.S. Census figures bear out a fact that many Charlotteans already know — the Queen City and its surrounding communities continue to see quick population growth.
And a new study looking at which cities are leading the nation in economic growth shows Charlotte posting strong results in that measure as well.
WalletHub, a personal finance website, recently analyzed 515 U.S. cities on 15 measures of growth and decline over a seven-year period. Those include population and job growth, median household income growth, unemployment and poverty rate decreases as well as building-permit activity growth. Its analysts then broke out scores based on two categories, sociodemographics and jobs/economy, and separated cities into three size brackets that ranged from 100,000 residents or less to 300,000 and more.
Of the large cities, Charlotte’s economic growth came in second, bested only by Austin, Texas. Overall, the Queen City landed at No. 20. Here’s a look at how the Queen City fared in various metrics:
Population growth: 41st
Median household income growth: 134th
Job growth: 17th
Poverty rate decrease: 125th
Regional GDP growth: 148th
Growth in number of businesses: 1st
Working-age population growth: 35th
Foreclosure rate decrease: 222nd
In the small-city category, Concord placed at No. 10 while Gastonia came in at No. 23. Their overall rankings were 24 and 81, respectively. Rock Hill landed further down on the list, at No. 88 among small cities and No. 268 overall.
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Here’s how other cities across the Carolinas ranked for economic growth:
Raleigh: 10th large city, 68th overall
Mount Pleasant (SC): 15th small city, 36th overall
Charleston (SC): 20th midsize city, 40th overall
North Charleston (SC): 28th midsize city, 51st overall
Cary: 52nd midsize city, 90th overall
Durham: 88th midsize city, 165th overall
Asheville: 55th small city, 166th overall
Wilmington: 167th midsize city, 316th overall
Winston-Salem: 177th midsize city, 338th overall
Columbia (SC): 180th midsize city, 341st overall
High Point: 191st midsize city, 369th overall
Greensboro: 201st midsize city, 393rd overall
Greenville (NC): 137th small city, 394th overall
Fayetteville: 248th midsize city, 513th overall
Jacksonville: 202nd small city, 514th overall
Of the entire 515 cities, the top five fastest-growing spots, according to WalletHub, are as follows: Frisco, Texas (Dallas-Fort Worth metro); Kent, Wash. (Seattle-Tacoma metro); Lehigh Acres, Fla. (Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro); Meridian, Idaho; and Midland, Texas.
By Jenna Martin
