The Villages is nation's fastest growing metro area
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - - For the third year in a row, the retirement community The Villages in Central Florida was the nation's fastest-growing metro area.
New figures released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau show that The Villages had the nation's fastest population growth rate at 4.3 percent from July 2014 to July 2015.
Almost all of the growth came from retirees moving to the community located 60 miles northwest of Orlando. Its population is now almost 119,000 residents.
Two other Florida metros were among the 10 fastest-growing cities in the United States. Cape Coral-Fort Myers had a growth rate of 3.3 percent, and Punta Gorda grew by 2.8 percent.
Census figures show that South Florida surpassed 6 million residents for the first time. It's the nation's eighth biggest metro area.
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MIKE SCHNEIDER CONTRIBUTED TO THIS ARTICLE