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Wesley Chapel Makes List Of 8 U.S. Boom Towns

Tribune file photo by ANDY JONES (2007)

Brothers Matthew Bradley, 15, and Kendrick Bradley, 8, fish in a lake behind their home in the Bridgewater community in Wesley Chapel.

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TBO.com

Published: January 9, 2009

Not every Bay area economic indicator is heading down.

A data products company has included Wesley Chapel on a list of eight boom towns, or "most notable high-growth areas in the U.S.," based on its evaluation of the nation's 17,000 census places.

The Gadberry Group of Little Rock, Ark., ranks Wesley Chapel No. 4 on the "Gadberry 8," which has grown from the "7 in 2007" it created for the first time last year.

Here's what the company says about the Pasco County community in a news release today:

"The number of Wesley Chapel households grew from 11,334 in 2000 to 28,576 households in 2008, or 152%. Wesley Chapel had the largest growth in Seasonal Units of all eight places with growth of 80% – from 596 to 1,075.

"Wesley Chapel had the second-largest growth in average household income increasing from $77,474 in 2000 to $102,450. Wesley Chapel also captured the second position for average net worth at $573,038."

Ranking was based on such factors as change in population and the presence of emerging Census blocks, neighborhood areas with less than 10 households in the 2000 census and more than 100 households in 2008.

Gadberry, whose customers include top national retailers, says it also weighted the analysis using ethnicity, household income, net worth, economic stability, length of residence and age.

Here's the complete list:

- Queen Creek, Ariz. (Phoenix suburb)

- Enterprise, Nev. (Las Vegas suburb)

- Helotes, Texas (San Antonio suburb)

- Wesley Chapel (Tampa suburb)

- Indian Trail, N.C. (Charlotte suburb)

- Castle Rock, Colo. (Denver suburb)

- Elk Grove, Calif. (Sacramento suburb)

- New Orleans, La.

New Orleans, still reeling from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005?

"Few would argue that New Orleans represents one of the most dramatic examples of household change in our nation's history. … Using an exclusive form of data, Gadberry measured the geographic migration of displaced New Orleans households over time as they moved away from, and later returned to, their homes in New Orleans."

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