The county ranked 14th among all U.S. counties for growth from July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2006, according to new U.S. Census estimates. That's up from the previous year's ranking of 29th for growth from July 1, 2004, to July 1, 2005.
In the newest figures, Pender County also ranked among the top 100 fastest-growing counties, at 85.
New Hanover ranked 460th out of the 3,192 counties nationwide.
Even with a nationwide slump in the real estate market, Brunswick County's jump in rankings doesn't have very many people surprised.
"I think that the conditions have been in place for this kind of thing to take place over time," UNCW economics professor William "Woody" Hall said. "This didn't happen overnight. It's been going on for a while."
In its cumulative estimate of population growth since the count in 2000, the Census Bureau shows Brunswick rising to 55th nationally by July 2006, up from 82nd a year earlier.
County Commissioner David Sandifer often says that an estimated 19 people move into Brunswick County every day.
That's almost 7,000 people each year.
And, according to the most recent Census data, Sandifer's figure is in the ballpark.
Calculating growth
The Census Bureau estimates that Brunswick County's population grew by about 6,000 between 2005 and 2006, though migration wouldn't account for all the growth.
The county's 2006 population estimate of 94,945 people is already ahead of state demographers' projection of 92,686.
The county's annual growth rate increased too, from 5.4 percent measured July 2005 to 6.6 percent by July 2006.
The Census Bureau arrives at these figures using a methodology that takes into account various components of population change, such as births, deaths, net migration and military movement.
If Brunswick County continues to grow at the same rate from July 2006 to July this year, its population would break the 100,000 mark.
Growth indicators
Among indicators validating the Census methodology are building permit numbers.
Sandifer said he arrives at his "19 people per day" calculation by a number of factors, including the building permits approved each year.
According to county records, 2,034 single-family and mobile home permits were granted from July 1, 2004, to July 1, 2005.
That number increased slightly, to 2,520, the following year.
Since 1999, development has been approved on more than 38,000 acres in the unincorporated area of the county, which accounts for 86 percent of the county.
County Planning Director Leslie Bell said the number of development and building permits are indicators that the county still has a healthy market, despite what officials think has been a slight slowdown in growth over the past year.
"The quality of life is still such that folks consider it a good investment to move here," he said.
Bell said the fastest-growing areas of the county are the N.C. 211 corridor and the northern and southwestern portions of the county.
The N.C. 211 corridor is rich in its availability of infrastructure, and the northern and southwestern parts of the county are located near urbanized areas, Bell said.
Hall said he thinks there is an increasing amount of spillover from South Carolina's Horry County into Brunswick County.
He also said many people are probably turning second homes, such as beach houses, into permanent retirement homes, which increases the county's population.
"There is a chain of events," Hall said.
Along with more retirees come jobs to serve them and homes for new workers to live in.
School enrollment numbers also show the county's growth.
The school system had 10,915 students enrolled in 2004-2005, 11,175 in 2005-2006 and 11,723 this year.