America's Fastest-Growing Towns

In the last decade, there have been hundreds of communities in every state that have seen significant growth in new homes. Many of them are outside the urban core and often far from established centers of employment. Will the current economic slowdown put an end to these communities?

"The boomtowns of this decade are not booming so much in the last couple years," said William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. "It's possible those places will come back again. A lot depends on where the economy grows and where the new knowledge centers are."

Business Week magazine worked with Gadberry Group, a business location company, to identify communities in every state that have experienced the largest growth. The data is extracted from the U.S. Census.

The top ten fastest-growing communities:

1. Summerlin South, Nev., 618 percent
2. Katy, Texas, 168 percent
3. Wentzville, Mo., 160 percent
4. Spring Hill, Tenn., 157 percent
5. South Carolina, 156 percent
6. Brighton, Colo., 153 percent
7. Wesley Chapel, Fla., 151 percent
8. Lehi, Utah, 110 percent
9. Canton, Ga., 99 percent
10. Oswego, Ill., 98 percent

Source: Business Week, Prashant Gopal (02/06/2009)