Brunswick County, Myrtle Beach part of second-fastest growing metro area in US

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — If you live in Brunswick County or anywhere around Myrtle Beach, you have probably noticed some new neighbors of late.

That’s because the county is part of the second-fastest growing metro area in the country, according to the US Census Bureau.

Several years ago the federal government moved Brunswick County into the Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC-NC Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). That’s the area that’s growing as fast as almost any other across the United States. The Myrtle Beach area trailed only The Villages, FL, in percentage growth from 2015 to 2016.

While more people died than were born in the Myrtle Beach area between July 1, 2015, and July 1, 2016, the area still added nearly 17,000 people for a 3.9-percent increase. The Villages grew by 4.3 percent over the same period.

Raleigh, the only other North Carolina MSA in the top 25, ranked 14th on the list.