Charlotte landed the No. 4 spot among the nation's biggest "boomtowns," according to a LendingTree study published in August 2026.

The online financial marketplace, headquartered in Charlotte, evaluated 50 large metro areas across three categories: people and housing, work and earnings, and business and economy. Charlotte earned a final score of 61.6, trailing only Austin, Texas (No. 1 for the third straight year), Raleigh (No. 2) and Seattle (No. 3).

Charlotte's workforce grew 4.0% and median earnings rose 6.2% from 2023 to 2024, placing the metro No. 6 nationally in work and earnings. Population grew 2.8% over the same period, with 13.6% of residents having moved from another county, state or country. Housing units increased 2.4%.

The growth tracks with hiring across the Ballantyne area. The Charlotte metro added 37,600 jobs in 2025, the second-largest total of any U.S. metro behind New York City, according to GoBallantyne citing Charlotte Ledger reporting. That figure covers 2025, a separate period from the LendingTree study's 2023-to-2024 data window.

Not every indicator pointed up.

New business applications fell 3.3% year-over-year, dragging Charlotte to No. 13 in the business and economy category. The metro still posted 3.6% real GDP growth during the same period.

Eight of the top 10 metros in the study were in the South. Besides Charlotte and Austin, the Southern contingent included Raleigh, Tampa (No. 5), Jacksonville, Orlando, Houston and Nashville. Only Seattle and Phoenix cracked the list from outside the region.

"A lot of people and businesses have been heading South over the past several years, and that's created a lot of momentum," Matt Schulz, LendingTree's chief consumer finance analyst and the study's author, wrote in the report. "In many places, you can still find a lower cost of living, a growing population and a business climate that's attractive to employers."

Schulz also cautioned that rapid growth brings trade-offs, noting that entrepreneurs in fast-growing Southern metros face rising rents and heavier competition.

The study drew on federal data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Schulz wrote that businesses willing to carve out a niche and build a loyal customer base will find these fast-growing metros "great places to put down roots."