Most of the fastest growing U.S. counties are in the Sun Belt, but we buck that trend.
Most days in winter, you can’t go 10 minutes without hearing a Seattleite complain about the weather. But according to census data released last week, it’s not stopping people from donning their hooded coats and moving to Rain City.
The data shows that generally Americans continue to follow the sun — a trend going back decades that still shows no signs of abating. Six of the nation’s 10 fastest-growing metro areas are now in Florida, which itself recently overtook New York as the nation’s third most-populous state. As The New York Times demonstrated, there is a strong correlation between areas with fast growth and pleasant winter climates.
We may be far from the Sun Belt here in King County, but with a 7.4 percent increase in population since 2010, our growth is positively Floridian.
I looked at the rates of growth for the 263 U.S. counties with populations greater than 250,000, and compared that with each county’s average January high temperature. In warm counties — ones where it typically passes the 60 degree mark in January — the growth rate since 2010 is much faster than colder counties, averaging 6.1 percent. But we blew past that in King County, despite our average January high of 40 degrees.
Take a look at the map of the 11 large counties that have grown at a similar pace to King since 2010. Eight are in the Sun Belt, including balmy Broward County, Fla., where folks enjoy January temperatures in the mid-70s. Only two have colder January temperatures than us: Howard County, Md. (just south of Baltimore) and Davis County, Utah (in the Salt Lake City area).