2 NC destinations rank among nation’s top ‘boomtowns.’ Here’s why
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Two North Carolina regions are growing, now ranking among the nation’s top “boomtowns.”
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Raleigh ranks No. 2 and Charlotte is No. 4 on a list of the places where people are “moving, building and starting businesses,” according to results published in August.
To determine the biggest hot spots for growth, the online marketplace LendingTree said it studied 50 large metro areas across the country. Using the latest available data from the U.S. government, it scored each place in the following categories: work and earnings; people and housing; and business and economy.
On the resulting list, eight of the top 10 metros were in the South.
“A lot of people and businesses have been heading South over the past several years, and that’s created a lot of momentum,” Matt Schulz, author and LendingTree’s chief consumer finance analyst, wrote in the website’s report. “In many places, you can still find a lower cost of living, a growing population and a business climate that’s attractive to employers.”
Of the two places in North Carolina that landed in the top 10, Raleigh fared the best at No. 2.
The metro received a high score after dominating the work and earnings category. From 2023 to 2024, it was found to have a 4.4% increase in the number of workers and a 6.5% increase in median income — some of the highest values in the study.
The area around North Carolina’s capital city also ranked in the top 10 in the two remaining categories: people and housing — which weighed factors related to population growth — and business and economy.
“Raleigh is seeing the kind of broad-based growth that can really build momentum in a local economy,” Schulz wrote in a news release. “More people are moving in, the workforce is expanding and new housing is being built to accommodate that growth. That can mean more customers and more opportunities for local businesses, though it can also bring growing pains as demand and competition increase.”
Meanwhile, the Charlotte area made its mark in the top 10 for work and earnings as well as people and housing. But it took the No. 13 spot for business and economy as new business applications went down 3.3% year-over-year, results show.
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It’s not the first time a North Carolina destination has ranked as a hub for growth.
In 2024, the Raleigh suburb of Apex was named the state’s No. 1 “boomtown” for changes in population and residents’ incomes, The News & Observer previously reported.
And earlier this year, Greensboro and Asheville made it onto a list of “up-and-coming” places where people are dreaming about settling down.
On the latest list from LendingTree, no other North Carolina metro was represented in the top 50.
Overall, the nation’s No. 1 “boomtown” was Austin, Texas. Beyond Raleigh and Charlotte, here are the other places rounding out the top five:
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This story was originally published September 22, 2026 at 8:27 AM with the headline “2 NC destinations rank among nation’s top ‘boomtowns.’ Here’s why.”
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