Sarasota lands on list of America's 'boomtowns'

Boomtown is in the eye of the beholder.

That’s a key takeaway from a new report from online financial marketplace LendingTree. Its boomtown report ranked and scored the 100 largest metros across eight metrics grouped into three categories: people and housing; work and earnings; and business and economy.

Florida, and in particular three metro areas on the west coast of the state including the Sarasota area, is booming, at least statistically and in comparison to other parts of the country. Of course, that boom, while trumped by LendingTree in the report and celebrated by economic development leaders, has come at a cost, exacerbating affordable housing and cost of living issues in many parts of the region.

The flip side, as LendingTree points out, is that being a boomtown presents opportunities for business — in both potential customers and the hiring pool.

“An influx of business growth may mean greater competition, which could help lower some of the costs of running your business,” says LendingTree Chief Consumer Finance Analyst Matt Schulz in the report. “It could also mean greater opportunity to partner with other companies when it comes to marketing, training or other aspects of business. It could mean more networking opportunities. The list goes on and on.”

The report looked at data from 2021-2023, averaging out each category for a final score. Austin, with an overall score of 72.1, edged out Orlando, at 72, for the No. 1 spot. North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton was No. 3, while Cape Coral-Fort Myers was No. 5 and Lakeland was No. 8. The Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach MSA was No. 9, giving Florida five of the top 10. (New Orleans, Cleveland and Worcester, Massachusetts occupy the bottom three on the list, for slowest growth.)

The Sarasota-Manatee region, with North Port in south Sarasota County, has some significant growth even among other boomtowns. That includes.

• An 11.8 gain in GDP, fifth-highest nationally
• A 6.5% increase in housing units, 11th-highest nationally
• A 5.9% increase in population, seventh-highest nationally and a larger gain than Austin.

This article originally appeared on sister site BusinessObserverFL.com.