For the fifth consecutive year, the Pinehurst-Southern Pines micropolitan is the No. 1 micropolitan area in North Carolina, according to POLICOM’s 2022 Economic Strength rankings.
For 2022, the Pinehurst-Southern Pines area ranked first out of 22 micropolitan statistical areas in North Carolina and 39th out of the 543 micropolitan statistical areas across the United States, placing our area in the top 7% nationally of communities with a stable but consistently growing economy.
A “micropolitan” is defined as a statistical area having an urbanized hub with a population of at least 10,000 but less than 50,000. The Pinehurst-Southern Pines micropolitan includes all of Moore County. Residents who live in communities like Moore County with a high economic strength ranking enjoy a higher quality of living. The Pinehurst-Southern Pines micropolitan’s current ranking reflects a move up 14 places from 53 on last year’s list.
POLICOM, a Florida-based independent economic research firm, uses 23 economic factors measured over a 19-year period to analyze local and state economies annually to determine if a particular economy is growing or declining and why. The company looks at each micropolitan area across the country to evaluate the long-term tendency of each economy to grow consistently in both size and quality. The higher the ranking, the more constant the growth has been over an extended period of time.
“Moore County’s rankings over the past 5 years affirm that our economy has been consistently strong and resilient which has helped position our community to more evenly weather the effects of negative economic events like the pandemic and recessions,” said Natalie Hawkins, Executive Director of Moore County Partners in Progress. “And I think we can all agree that given the increasing amount of new residential and commercial development we are seeing right now, it’s pretty evident that Moore County’s economy is not only strong and resilient, but it is also definitely growing.”
“Moore County’s prosperous economy is a significant advantage that we make a point to emphasize to prospective clients looking to possibly locate their businesses here,’” she added.
To view POLICOM’s 2022 Economic Strength rankings for all micropolitan areas, visit https://policom.com/rankings-micropolitan-areas/.
Moore County Partners in Progress is the nonprofit 501(c)(3) public/private economic development corporation that serves all of Moore County. Their mission is “to increase economic prosperity and improve the quality of life for Moore County’s citizens through the creation of quality jobs and capital investment in our communities.” For more information, visit www.moorebusiness.org.
Photo of Carthage sign by Sandhills Sentinel Photographer Melissa Schaub.
Contributed.
