Looking for the fastest-growing metros in the United States? Head to the beaches of South Carolina and Florida, most of the largest metros in the Sunbelt, and mountain markets in Colorado, Utah and Oregon. That’s what EM’s editors discovered when they took a look at which Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) are attracting the most new residents; pulling the most building permits; and have the highest expected growth in their 2017 Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP).
To create the chart on page 2, we pulled data for 50 MSAs expected to enjoy a GMP growth rate of at least 3.5% this year, according to Global Insight data in a report published by the United States Conference of Mayors. We then compared that data to metros with highest percent population growth rate from 2010-2016, and scored high in their year-to-date building permits.
You will see some familiar names in the chart and in the more in-depth list at www.electricalmarketing.com, along with some surprises. Many if not most of the MSAs in Florida and Texas are firmly in growth territory. Texas metros like Austin, College Station, Corpus Christi, Houston, Killeen-Temple and Tyler made the list, but you could easily add in Dallas, San Antonio and Midland or Odessa, too. Same story in Florida, where The Villages retirement haven topped all MSAs with an astronomical 32.7% population growth rate between 2010-2016, and metros including Naples, Cape Coral, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Panama City and Daytona Beach made the list. You could easily add in Orlando, Jacksonville and Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, too.
The biggest surprises? Utah, where the St. George, Provo-Orem, Ogden-Clearfield, Salt Lake City and Logan, UT-ID, MSAs all ranked high by these growth metrics.