America’s 10 Fastest-Growing States

The populations of these states are growing the fastest, even in slow economic times.

What a difference a year makes.

As of July 1, 2007, Nevada was the fastest-growing state in the country. With a population of over 2.5 million, the Silver State flourished because of continued real estate development in its marquee city, Las Vegas. But all that came to a screeching halt in 2008.

The credit crisis forced the country into a recession, and overdeveloped cities like Las Vegas–where the majority of Nevada’s population lives–were hit the hardest.

For nearly 20 years, construction projects like Boyd Gaming (nyse: BYD - news - people ) Company’s Echelon Place–a collection of new hotels, casinos and restaurants that broke ground in 2007–continuously attracted new workers, meaning steady growth for the state’s population. But now the Echelon development is running a year behind schedule–just one example of the lost jobs and opportunities facing the area today.

While still seeing an increase larger than 42 of its counterparts, Nevada dropped from No. 1 to No. 8 on a ranking of America’s fastest growing states, with 1.79% year-over-year increase from 2007 to 2008. Today, an estimated 2.6 million people reside in Nevada.

It’s the similar story in other states, but not to quite the same extent.

Behind the Numbers
To determine America’s fastest-growing states, we looked at census population estimates from July 1, 2008–released today–and compared them with census population estimates from July 1, 2007. Those states with the biggest year-over-year percentage increase grew the fastest.

This year the leader was Utah, with a 2008 population of 2.6 million and a year-over-year increase of 2.53% from 2007. Following Utah were Arizona and Texas, with increases of 2.31% and 2%, respectively.

The top two have starkly different reasons for their rankings atop the chart. For Utah, the population increase can be attributed to a baby boom: 40,000 were born there over the past year. With an increase of about 60,000 people in the area, that means in-migration–or people moving into the state from somewhere else–accounts for a small fraction of the overall population boost.

Arizona, however, can attribute its jump to the housing boom that only went bust over the past two years. From 2000 to 2008, the state’s population increased by 26.7%. While that pace may now slow because of the dismal economy, the state was able to keep up growth from July 2007 to July 2008.

The only two states to lose population were Michigan and Rhode Island. Michigan’s population declined 0.5%, while Rhode Island’s fell 0.2%. Michigan’s reliance on the failing auto industry and Rhode Island’s housing bust are behind the declines.

On Track For Big Growth

 

 

 

USGBC - U.S. Green Building Council

HUD - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

NAR - National Association of REALTOR

RealtyTrac

FHFA - Federal Housing Finance Agency

Freddie Mac

MBA - Mortgage Bankers Association