The Villages Is Fastest-Growing Metro In US, Says New Census Data
Thursday, March 27, 2014
By: Nicole Creston

March 27th, 2014 | WMFE, Orlando - The Villages is the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the nation, according to new data released Thursday by the US Census Bureau.

Technically speaking, The Villages is not a city – it’s an unincorporated retirement community that stretches across the boundaries of Lake, Sumter and Marion counties.

But it meets the US Census Bureau’s definition of a metropolitan area, which requires a population of 50,000 people or more.

The Villages passes that benchmark by more than double, with just over 107,000 residents. According to the new data, that number represents a 5.2 percent growth, the highest in the nation between July 2012 and July 2013.

The Texas town of Odessa ranked a distant second, with a 3.3 percent jump in population that the US Census Bureau attributes to an upward trend in oil-rich and gas-rich areas nationwide.