Five Florida counties are in the nation’s top 25 in percentage of growth and No. 1 rests firmly in Northeast Florida: Flagler County.
The Palm Coast-dominated county grew by 13.9 percent in one year, according to statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau, making it easily the fastest-growing in the nation.
The just-released numbers compare 2003 to 2004 and Flagler went from 30,056 to 34,231 housing units.
St. Johns County was 23rd, going up 5.7 percent with over 3,000 new housing units.
Other Florida counties in the top 25 are No. 6 St. Lucie, which is on the east coast; mid-state Sumter County, at No. 8; and mid-state Osceola County at No. 18.
The state also has five of the top 12 in actual growth, a measure that shows up primarily in large counties: Hillsborough (Tampa) at No. 6, Lee (Fort Myers) at No. 7, Palm Beach at No. 8, Dade (Miami) at No. 10 and Orange (Orlando) at No. 12.
In the reporting period, Florida showed a 2.5 percent rise in units, going from 7.8 million to just over 8 million. Only California and Texas have more.
All North Florida counties show major growth in the four years starting in 2001: Duval has gone from 336,362 units to 357,721, Nassau from 26,829 to 29,028, Baker from 97,426 to 102,700, St. Johns from 60,999 to 69,964, Flagler from 26,205 to 34,231, Clay from 55,583 to 62,501 and Putnam from 34,076 to 34,701.