On Monday, Jason Chaliff, a real estate broker in Atlanta, had a tweet go somewhat viral. He predicted that there were five metro areas in the US that are going to explode in he next decade.
- Savannah, GA; Wilmington, NC; Chattanooga, TN; Myrtle Beach, SC; Panama City, FL
One Problem: While these areas might see major growth over the next decade, Wilmington and Myrtle Beach have already exploded. According to the latest Census data, Myrtle Beach was the second fastest growing metro area in the country and Wilmington was the seventh.
- Myrtle Beach has seen its population grow from 351,028 in April 2020 to 413, 391 in 2024. This was a jump of 17.8% in just four years.
- Wilmington’s population has grown from 422,604 in April of 2020 to 480,522 in 2024. This was 13.7% jump in just four years.
Slight Slowdown: As the pandemic migration slows so is growth in these hot spots. However, even with the slowdown, Myrtle held on to its number two spot and Wilmington fell to 12th place.
- Myrtle still was the second hottest metro area in the country with 3.8% growth this last year (2023-2024). Extrapolating that 3.8% and you get 15.2% over the next four years, just slightly below the 17.8% of the last four years.
- Wilmington fell to 12th place with year-over-year growth of 2.6% in 2024. If you extrapolate that data, you get 10.4%, slightly below the last four years and still in double-digits.
Looking Ahead: While it is unlikely we will see another explosion in growth like we had these last four years, it is clear that we are still looking at 2-3% growth a year in the Port City. It is going to be up to our local leaders to make sure they are planning for his growth and building the proper infrastructure to handle it. Because the people are coming whether we like it or not.