A Wake town is one of fastest growing in US. It’s likely not the one you expect.
Every few years, as a new town or community becomes the hot place for developers and homebuyers in the Triangle, you could pretty much be sure that it wasn’t Garner.
That’s beginning to change.
After decades of being bypassed as the Triangle sprawled outward, Garner has become one of the fastest growing places in North Carolina. In fact, among cities and towns with at least 20,000 residents, Garner was the 10th fastest growing nationwide last year, taking its place among boom towns in Texas and Florida.
In the year ending last June 30, Garner added an estimated 3,691 residents, according to numbers released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s an increase of 10.4%, the eighth fastest rate of growth among towns and cities of all sizes in North Carolina last year.
Garner has had growth spurts before. But its population has expanded more slowly than others in the region. In 2000, Garner was Wake County’s fourth largest municipality; now it ranks seventh, overtaken by upstarts Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina and Wake Forest.
And indeed, Garner was only the third fastest growing town in Wake County last year, trailing the current hot places, Zebulon and Wendell.
But Garner is now seeing the level of growth typical of more far-flung communities. Its proximity to Raleigh and Research Triangle Park and major highways make it attractive to people looking for a shorter commute.
“It’s our time now,” Nate Groover, the town’s economic development director, told ABC11 this spring. “Wake County is one of the fastest-growing counties in the country, so obviously, that growth is going to come to us.”
Other findings from the new census numbers
▪ Cary has matured. The town, North Carolina’s seventh largest municipality with an estimated 182,659 residents, grew less than 1% last year and only 4.5% since 2020.
▪ Two other Triangle towns, Carrboro and Hillsborough, actually lost population last year. They were among 98 towns in North Carolina that had fewer residents last June 30 than a year before.
▪ Durham’s population topped 300,000 last year. At 301,870 residents, the city remains the fourth largest in North Carolina, gaining on but still trailing Greensboro, with 307,381.
▪ Raleigh’s population was just shy of half a million last year, at 499,825. And Charlotte, the state’s largest with 943,476 residents, surpassed Columbus, Ohio, to become the country’s 14th largest city.
▪ Eight of the state’s 20 fastest growing towns last year were in the Triangle, including Angier in Harnett County and Four Oaks and Clayton in Johnston County.
▪ North Carolina’s fastest growing town last year? That would be Belville in Brunswick County, just over the bridge from Wilmington. It grew by 857 residents or 35.7%, comfortably topping second place Calabash (23%), also in Brunswick.
This story was originally published May 15, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "A Wake town is one of fastest growing in US. It’s likely not the one you expect.."
