Lake was the second slowest-growing county in Central Florida in the past five years, according to new data released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Sumter, on the other hand, was not only the fastest growing county in the region, but in the state and the nation, data from the bureau’s 5-Year American Community Survey shows.
The region includes Lake, Sumter, Marion, Volusia, Seminole, Osceola, Polk and Orange counties.
Volusia was the slowest-growing county, with a population of 494,449 in 2009, increasing to 498,981 in 2014. That’s a 0.92 percent increase.
Lake’s change from 297,828 to 305,010 was a 2.41 percent gain.
Thanks to The Villages retirement community and affiliated growth, Sumter saw a population increase of 45 percent — from 71,519 to 103,708 residents. That’s 32,189 more residents in five years, topping the region, state and nation, percentage wise.
Here’s the population growth of the other five counties in the region:
- Marion — 318,886 to 334,771 or 4.98 percent.
- Seminole — 408,694 to 432,135 or 5.74 percent,
- Polk — 566,657 to 617,323 or 8.94 percent.
- Orange — 1,062,394 to 1,200,241 or 12.98 percent.
- Osceola — 244,739 to 289,449 or 16.63 percent.