By any standard, population growth in Southwest Florida has slowed from the torrid pace of 2000-2006. However, it still ranks near the top when compared to the rest of the country.
The Cape Coral-Bonita Springs-Ft. Myers metropolitan area (Lee County) dropped one spot to the fourth fastest growing metro area while the Naples-Marco Island metropolitan area (Collier County) fell to the 16th fastest growing metro area for the time period 2000-2007.
The rankings are based on the percentage of growth, not the actual number of people. Lee County’s population grew by 33.9% (150,000) and Collier County’s by 25.6% (65,000) from April 2000 to July 2007.
