Census: Tennessee’s suburban counties still growing fast
FRANKLIN (AP) — Suburban counties continued to be the fastest growing in Tennessee last year, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics released Thursday.
Fayette, a county of about 32,000 people east of Memphis, was the fastest growing in the state. Its population jumped 3.5 percent from July 2002 to July 2003 and has increased about 10.9 percent since 2000.
Fayette County Mayor Rhea Taylor said the county has more available land and lower taxes than Memphis and Shelby County.
“Newcomers like the pastures and get upset when the landowner starts selling lots to people just like them who moved here for the same reason,” Taylor said.
The suburban counties south of Nashville are also growing fast. Rutherford and Williamson each grew by about 3.4 percent and were ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.
Both counties have grown about 10.3 percent since 2000.
Rutherford County Mayor Nancy Allen said the county recruits new businesses and benefits from the constant influx of students at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.
“We’re going after high-paying jobs that will allow MTSU students to stay in the area if they want to,” Allen said.
But the once-bucolic counties find that growth creates new demands.
“We’ve added about 1,200 students last year and will add another 1,350 in the coming school year — that’s a challenge,” said Rogers Anderson, Williamson County mayor. “Things won’t stay the same, but I think we can keep some of the things we love.”
At the Cool Springs Galleria Mall in Williamson County, Evelyn Collom said she arrived five weeks ago from Sacramento and doesn’t miss California.
“I like the people and the lifestyle in Tennessee,” she said. “It’s a wonderful place to live … I pulled up stakes from California because I feel they’ve ruined that beautiful state.”
But Lynn Vandergriff, a 19-year resident of Franklin, said growth is destroying what makes the area attractive to newcomers.
“The growth has been great for taxes,” he said. “We’ve got great schools, but the traffic is horrendous and it’s not going to get any better.”
Tennessee’s urban counties are not growing as quickly. Hamilton and Davidson grew by only a tenth of a percent from 2002 to 2003, and Shelby grew by only 0.4 percent.
Knox’s population increased 1.1 percent.
Eighteen Tennessee counties, mostly rural communities such as Pickett, Lake and Van Buren, showed slight declines in population.
Tennessee’s statewide population in July 2003 was 5,841,748, the Census Bureau reported — a 0.9 percent increase from the same month in 2002. The U.S. population increased by about 1 percent during the same period to about 290.8 million.
The fastest-growing county in the nation is Loudoun County in northern Virginia, near Washington, D.C. It grew by about 31 percent, the census said.
The South showed some of the strongest growth compared to the rest of the country. It had 60 of the nation’s 100 fastest-growing counties, followed by 20 in the West and 18 in the Midwest, according to the census.
2003 population growth in Tennessee counties
Estimated total population for Tennessee counties in July 2003, and the percentage growth from July 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Fayette — 32,289, 3.5 percent
Rutherford — 202,310, 3.4
Williamson — 141,301, 3.4
Carter — 58,394, 2.7
Bedford — 40,253, 2.6
Jefferson — 46,919, 2.5
Maury — 73,198, 2.4
Wilson — 95,366, 2.2
Montgomery — 141,064, 2.1
Loudon — 41,624, 2.1
Robertson — 58,181, 1.8
Sumner — 138,752, 1.7
Monroe — 41,051, 1.7
Sequatchie — 11,958, 1.6
Sevier — 75,503, 1.6
Union — 18,830, 1.6
Blount — 111,510, 1.6
Dickson — 44,935, 1.5
Tipton — 54,184, 1.5
Cumberland — 49,391, 1.4
DeKalb — 18,037, 1.4
Putnam — 64,973, 1.3
Rhea — 29,286, 1.2
Perry — 7,627, 1.2
Grainger — 21,445, 1.2
Warren — 39,129, 1.1
Claiborne — 30,415, 1.1
Knox — 392,995, 1.1
Meigs 11,430 — 1.0
McNairy — 24,938, 1.0
Coffee — 49,643, 0.9
McMinn — 50,632, 0.9
Franklin — 40,512, 0.9
Bradley — 90,264, 0.9
Washington — 110,078, 0.9
Houston — 8,085, 0.9
Cheatham — 37,364, 0.8
Macon — 21,023, 0.8
Trousdale — 7,447, 0.8
Cocke — 34,329, 0.8
Johnson — 17,948, 0.8
Cannon — 13,204, 0.8
Hamblen — 58,851, 0.7
Hawkins — 55,037, 0.6
Bledsoe — 12,556, 0.6
Madison — 93,873, 0.6
Fentress — 16,935, 0.5
Marshall — 27,537, 0.5
Greene — 63,991, 0.5
Hickman — 23,352, 0.5
Stewart — 12,847, 0.5
Dyer — 37,308, 0.5
Campbell — 40,125, 0.5
Henderson — 25,900, 0.4
Grundy — 14,389, 0.4
Shelby — 906,178, 0.4
Polk — 16,171, 0.4
Unicoi — 17,709, 0.4
Smith — 18,225, 0.4
Roane — 52,424, 0.4
White — 23,584, 0.3
Anderson — 71,904, 0.3
Marion — 27,880, 0.3
Lincoln — 31,773, 0.3
Humphreys — 18,123, 0.3
Jackson — 11,208, 0.3
Haywood — 19,626, 0.2
Lawrence — 40,704, 0.2
Sullivan — 153,050, 0.2
Scott — 21,675, 0.2
Lewis — 11,438, 0.1
Morgan — 20,080, 0.1
Hardin — 25,927, 0.1
Hamilton — 309,510, 0.1
Davidson — 569,842, 0.1
Carroll — 29,342, 0.1
Weakley — 34,314, 0.0
Obion — 32,386, (-0.1)
Crockett — 14,491, (-0.1)
Clay — 7,947, (-0.2)
Lauderdale — 27,077, (-0.2)
Benton — 16,500, (-0.3)
Hardeman — 28,174, (-0.3)
Henry — 31,185, (-0.3)
Giles — 29,390, (-0.3)
Gibson — 47,922, (-0.3)
Overton — 20,151, (-0.4)
Wayne — 16,947, (-0.5)
Chester — 15,842, (-0.5)
Moore — 5,911, (-0.7)
Decatur — 11,610, (-0.8)
Hancock — 6,702, (-0.8)
Van Buren — 5,478, (-0.8)
Lake — 7,824, (-0.9)
Pickett 5,006, (-1.0)