NEW TODAY: Bend is 3rd Fastest Growing City, in all of U.S.A.

BEND, Ore. – Bend has made it close to the top of yet another national list, this one an analysis that ranks more than 500 cities in terms of economic growth this decade.

With the Census Bureau reporting that the South and West held 14 of the 15 cities with the largest population gains in 2018, the personal-finance website WalletHub released on Monday its report on 2019’s Fastest-Growing Cities in America as well as accompanying videos.

To determine where the most rapid local economic growth occurred over a period of seven years, WalletHub compared 515 U.S. cities of varied population sizes across 17 key metrics. The data set ranges from population growth to college-educated population growth and unemployment rate decrease. In addition, they produced a separate ranking by city size.

The report found Lehigh Acres, Florida the fastest-growing city economy, followed by Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Bend finished ahead of No. 4 Enterprise, Nevada and No. 5 Frisco, Texas.

Economic Growth in Bend (1=Fastest-Growing; 258=Avg.)

• 12^th – Population Growth
• 1^st – Job Growth
• 1^st – Regional GDP Growth
• 119^th – Unemployment Rate Decrease
• 1^st – Growth in Number of Businesses
• 15^th – Working-Age Population Growth
• 75^th – Median House Price Growth

Bend ranks 3^rd overall and 2^nd in terms of small-city growth.

For the full report, visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/fastest-growing-cities/7010/