THE VILLAGES, Fla. — The Villages retirement community is the fastest growing metropolitan area in the nation.
- The Villages population increased 37.8 percent from 2010 to 2018
- The community also ranks among top 10 metropolitan areas
- In 2025, Sumter is expected to have 155,500 residents
- More Sumter County headlines
From April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2018, the U.S. Census Bureau found the population of The Villages metropolitan statistical area grew from 93,420 to 128,754, an increase of 37.8 percent.
The Villages growth rate for the time period was 10 percentage points higher than the second-place area, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, which saw a 27.7 percent growth rate. The Census Bureau released the numbers today from its 2018 population survey.
The Villages ranks among the top 10 metropolitan areas in another category as well. The area placed sixth, at 3.1 percent in year-over-year growth. The leader in this category was Midland, Texas, which grew 4.3 percent from 2017 to 2018. And The Villages’ growth is predicted to persist.
Estimates from the state’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research show that Sumter County will grow to an estimated 133,900 by April 1, 2020.
In 2025, Sumter is expected to have 155,500 residents. In 2030 that number will climb to 175,100, and by April 1, 2040, it’s predicted that the county will have 206,200 residents.
“There’s big expansion in the southern part of The Villages, and we expect that trend to continue,” said Richard Doty, GIS coordinator/research demographer at BEBR. “The lion’s share of the growth is in the unincorporated areas and Wildwood.”
The growth has spurred an ambitious connectivity project including the construction of three golf cart bridges spanning State Road 44 and Florida’s Turnpike, as well as a network of tunnels and multimodal trails to connect the entire community.