These 4 Brunswick County towns are among the fastest growing in North Carolina
The U.S. Census Bureau has confirmed what many Brunswick County residents have suspected for the past two years.
According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau population estimates, the Leland area has been one of the fastest growing parts of North Carolina since the onset of the pandemic.
Data released in late May shows between April 2020 and July 2021, Leland grew by 8.6%, bringing its total population to 25,974.
The area was the third fastest growing in the entire state, behind the towns of Wendell (15%) and Zebulon (12%), both in Wake County.
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The next four places with the highest population increase were Northwest (9.7%), Navassa (8.9%), Leland and Calabash (7.6%), giving Brunswick County four of the top six fastest growing towns in the state.
When adjusting for size, Leland was the fastest growing town with a population of at least 10,000 residents. For just towns with a population above 5,000, Brunswick County had two of top 10 fastest growing towns: Leland and Oak Island.
The growth brought the Northwest and Navassa populations to 777 and 1,525, respectively. On the other side of the county, the small border town of Calabash grew to 2,192 residents.
Outside of the Leland area, Oak Island had the biggest jump in gross residents, with 377 newcomers bringing their population to just under 8,900 last year, a 4.4% increase.
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Brunswick County as a whole saw a 4.4% increase, bringing its population to 144,215. Throughout the county only Bolivia (-0.7%) and Varnamtown (-0.2%) saw population declines.
It was the second fastest growing county in the state behind Currituck County, which grew by 4.5% to 29,653 residents.
Fueling the population boom, Brunswick County over the same period had the fastest growing housing stock, with units increasing by 4.2% or 3,743 units.
During that time Brunswick County built more total homes than more populous counties like New Hanover and Durham. Only Wake and Mecklenburg counties built more total homes, adding more than 12,000 and 10,000 units respectively.
The census data also showed signs of recent nationwide trends continuing, like population decreases in major metropolitan centers and population gains in the south and west of the U.S. Seven of the top 15 fastest growing cities in the country were in the south.
Reporter John Orona can be reached at 910-343-2327 or jorona@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Brunswick County growth since pandemic among best in state
