Data from the U.S. Census shows most of the nation's fastest growing metro areas are retirement destinations in the Sun Belt. That's according to a new report from Governing Magazine. Some North Carolina cities are benefiting from the trend.
The population estimates cover the 12-month period that ended in July.
Overall, Raleigh is attracting the most new residents of the state's metropolitan areas. The Winston-Salem and Greensboro-High Point areas are also gaining more people than they're losing.
But the Triad Business Journal's James Ritchie says the Piedmont isn't the hot spot for migration that some other North Carolina areas have become.
“People are leaving the rural areas of the state and smaller metros and also coming from outside of the state for jobs, amenities, healthcare, entertainment,” says Ritchie. “Also, the other big driver for some of the communities is that they're retirement destinations.”
Ritchie says Wilmington and Asheville saw bigger relative gains because of that retirement factor.
On the other end he says, Fayetteville saw the biggest exodus in the state's metro areas. It lost 132 residents per 10,000 people.
The Triad Business Journal looked at 15 metropolitan areas in the state. To see where your community falls, click here.