Whitestown was the state’s fastest-growing community in 2016, with a growth rate of 9.2 percent, according to the latest annual study by the IU Kelley School of Business Indiana Business Research Center. This marks the sixth consecutive year that Whitestown has ranked as the state’s fastest-growing municipality with a population of at least 5,000. During that time span, Whitestown’s population has more than doubled from 3,147 in 2010 to 6,590 in 2016.
Tanya Sumner, Whitestown's director of public relations, said the town’s population is even higher than noted in the release — it was 7,814 in November 2016, according to a special census.
Seven Indiana cities posted annual population increases of more than 1,000 residents in 2016, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau, which the research center analyzed.
Carmel led with an addition of 2,977 people last year, followed by gains in Indiana’s two largest cities. Indianapolis added an estimated 2,869 people, and Fort Wayne grew by 1,682 residents from 2015 to 2016.
More suburban Indianapolis communities claimed the next five spots: Noblesville, with an increase of 1,562 residents in 2016; Westfield, 1,285 more residents; Fishers, 1,147 residents; Greenwood, 1,073 residents; and Plainfield, with 834 more residents.
Lafayette, which grew by 700 residents, and Bloomington, which had 672 additional people, rounded out the top 10.
For the second year in a row, McCordsville in Hancock County was Indiana’s second-fastest-growing place, with a growth rate of 7.2 percent in 2016; followed by Bargersville in Johnson County (4.2 percent growth), and Hamilton County’s Westfield (3.6 percent) and Carmel (3.4 percent).
In all, 13 of the 15 fastest-growing cities or towns in the state in 2016 were in suburban counties in the Indy metropolitan area. The only places outside Central Indiana to make the top 15 were the Lake County communities of Winfield (2.9 percent) and St. John (1.9 percent).
With a population of 855,164 residents, Indianapolis was the nation's 15th-largest city in 2016, ranking just behind Columbus, Ohio, (860,090) and ahead of Fort Worth, Texas (854,113).