These are the fastest growing and shrinking counties in the Carolinas

Mecklenburg County added 19,600 people in the year ending June 30, 2017. Only Wake added more, according to newly released U.S. Census Bureau data.

The data – population estimates from July 2016 to July 2017 – show Mecklenburg gained about 54 people a day. The county is now home to 1,076,800, about 4,600 more than Wake.

But four surrounding counties outpaced Mecklenburg.

York and Lancaster counties in South Carolina and Cabarrus and Union counties in North Carolina all grew faster.

York County, S.C., the fastest-growing county in the area, grew by 3.5 percent. It now has about 266,400 residents.

Mecklenburg, by comparison, grew by 1.85 percent.

Other highlights from the data:

▪ The three fastest-growing counties in the Carolinas border the coast: Pender, Brunswick and Horry County, S.C.

▪ Three counties grew by 10,000 people or more: Wake, Mecklenburg and Horry County, S.C.

▪ 52 of the 146 counties in the Carolinas lost people. Cumberland County, N.C. lost the most – nearly 1,000 people.

This story was originally published March 27, 2018 at 10:55 AM with the headline "These are the fastest growing and shrinking counties in the Carolinas."