Cary third fastest growing city in ’08; Raleigh is 8th, Durham 16th

Raleigh, N.C. — Cary, Raleigh and Durham cracked the top 25 fastest growing cities list in the U.S. in 2008, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Estimates for the year between July 1, 2007 and July 1, 2008 showed Cary’s population surging 6.9 percent to 129,545.

Only New Orleans (8.2 percent) and Round Rock, Texas (8.2 percent) grew faster.

Raleigh, meanwhile, ranked eighth with an increase of 3.8 percent to 392,552.

Durham came in 16th with 3 percent growth pushing its population to 223,284.

Charlotte, meanwhile, ranked 23rd with a 2.7 percent growth rate to 687,456.

Atlanta came in 13th at 3.4 percent, its population reaching 537,958.

In terms of numerical growth, Cary ranked 23rd with 8,389 additional residents.

Raleigh added 14,368, good for 15th.

Charlotte grew by 18,251, the 11th highest total.

Atlanta added 17,590 people, ranking 13th.