8 N.C. Counties Among Nation’s Fastest-Growing Mar. 20, 2008 RALEIGH, N.C. — Census numbers released Thursday show eight North Carolina counties are among the nation's fastest-growing. Union County near Charlotte is 7th on the list. Brunswick on the coast is 17th. Cabarrus County was 29th. Wake County is the 33rd fastest-growing county among those with populations over 10,000 people. Johnston County came in at 58, while Pender County was 71st. Mecklenburg County, at 82, and Iredell County, at 90, rounded out the Tar Heel counties on the list. Other highlights of the study, which was conducted in 2006-2007, showed that 70 of the 100 fastest-growing counties were in the South, 22 in the West and eight in the Midwest