Bradenton area among fastest growing in the nation. Don’t expect it to slow anytime soon

A new report indicates that several metropolitan areas in Florida are among the fasting growing in the nation.

Forbes published its list of America’s fastest-growing cities and regions, with eight located in Florida.

The ratings come from Moody’s Analytics, which processed information such as population growth, employment and home value in 100 of the largest metro areas in the United States.

The Bradenton-Sarasota-North Port metropolitan statistical area had the highest employment numbers of all 25 ranked cities. According to Moody’s, employment grew 3.99 percent in 2017.

Overall, the area ranked No. 13 on the list, boasting 7.22 percent projected wage growth in 2018, 2.06 percent population growth in 2017 and a projected job growth of 2.64 percent this year.

Other key numbers from the Bradenton-Sarasota-North Port area included in the Forbes report:

▪ The projected population growth for 2018 is 2.29 percent;

▪ The gross metro product growth in 2017 was 2.84 percent;

▪ The projected gross metro product growth for 2018 is 5.11 percent;

▪ Wage growth in 2017 was 3.58 percent;

▪ Home price growth is 2017 was 8.58 percent;

▪ The projected home price growth for 2018 is 2.19 percent.

Last year, the Bradenton area held the No. 6 spot in the Forbes list.

Seven other Florida regions were featured in the top 25, including the Orlando, Tampa and Lakeland areas:

▪ No. 4. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford;

▪ No. 9. Cape Coral-Fort Myers;

▪ No. 12. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray Beach;

▪ No. 14. Lakeland-Winter Haven;

▪ No. 16. Jacksonville;

▪ No. 20. Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach;

▪ No. 23. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater.

This story was originally published March 2, 2018 at 1:12 PM with the headline "Bradenton area among fastest growing in the nation. Don’t expect it to slow anytime soon."