This Charlotte Suburb Named Among Fastest-Growing In US: Study

CHARLOTTE, NC — When it comes to one of the fastest growing cities in America, the Queen City has one right in its backyard, according to a new study by WalletHub.

In a study of 515 cities in the U.S., Concord, N.C., was the 16th fastest growing, WalletHub said. When looking at small cities with the highest growth, WalletHub said Concord came in No. 5.

With the Census Bureau reporting that the south and west held 14 of the 15 cities with the largest population gains in 2018, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its report Monday of 2019's Fastest-Growing Cities in America.

It wasn’t the only North Carolina city that made the list. Here’s how other North Carolina cities fared overall when it came to fast growth compared to the top 515 cities:

• No. 52 — Cary
• No. 59 — Charlotte
• No. 97 — Raleigh
• No. 100 — Asheville
• No. 129 — Durham
• No. 214 — Gastonia
• No. 230 — Wilmington
• No. 312 — Greensboro
• No. 314 — Greenville
• No. 337 — Winston-Salem
• No. 368 — High Point
• No. 440 — Jacksonville
• No. 448 — Fayetteville

To determine where the most rapid local economic growth occurred over a period of seven years, WalletHub compared 515 U.S. cities across 17 key metrics, based on two key dimensions, "Sociodemographics" and "Jobs & Economy." The data set ranges from population growth to college-educated population growth to unemployment rate decrease. In addition, WalletHub produced a separate ranking by city size.

WalletHub evaluated those dimensions using 17 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the fastest economic growth. For each metric, it analyzed data spanning from 2012 to 2018 with the exception of "Increase in Number of Startups" (from 2010 to 2014), "Increase in Number of Businesses" (from 2012 to 2016), "Growth in Regional GDP per Capita" (from 2012 to 2017), Increase in Number of Technology Companies (from 2012 to 2016) and Increase in Venture Capital Investment Amount (from 2012 to 2016).

Finally, it determined each city's weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order its sample.

In determining its sample, it considered only the "city proper" in each case and excluded cities in the surrounding metro area. WalletHub categorized each city according to the following population-size guidelines:

• Large city: More than 300,000 people
• Midsize city: 100,000 to 300,000 people
• Small city: Fewer than 100,000 people

Visit WalletHub to view the entire report.