Affordability has made Johnston County the fastest-growing NC county for the past decade, census data shows

Johnston County has been the fastest-growing county in the state for the past decade, according to recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau, and experts say there's no sign that growth will slow.

People living in rapidly changing part of Johnston County say that growth has brought both new challenges and opportunity.

“It has completely changed in my lifetime, not to mention just my parents’ lifetime,” said Michelle Pace Davis, who owns Pace Family Farms.

In 2017, her family’s farm switched from exporting crops like tobacco to inviting families on-site to pick and buy produce.

“Without the people that have moved into the area, we would not be as successful with our farm,” Pace Davis said.

Pace-Davis told WRAL News while the growth had brought shopping developments and more access to medical care for the area, the family’s farm was also completely surrounded by new housing projects.

“It can be very hard, as not a lot of people like change,” Pace-Davis said. “And I’m one of those people, I like things being constant, I like things staying the same.”

Leaders with the Triangle J Council of Governments said census data showed Johnston County led the state in population growth from 2010 to 2020.

“The county was the fastest growing county by percentage in the state at 27.9%,” said TJCOG Executive Director Lee Worsley.

The town of Clayton has been at the forefront of Johnston County's growth; its population rose by more than 63% over the past 10 years.

Experts said the growth mirrored a trend of people moving outside of the Triangle to more affordable communities where they could still commute to work thanks to major highways.

“Getting to those places where Apple’s going to be in RTP, and downtown Raleigh, downtown Durham, is getting more convenient,” Worsley said. “And so folks are making housing choices based on that.”

Close to 500 new homes a year are being built in Clayton now, and the town has been working to keep up with the demand.

“Local government provides a lot of essential services to the community,” said Clayton Interim Town Manager Rich Cappola. “Infrastructure, utilities, public safety, those things take a lot of time and effort to scale up.”

One part of that effort will be a $175 million wastewater plant on the Neuse River that town leaders said should be up and running by 2024.

The town has also been working on its 2045 Comprehensive Growth Plan that will lay out how Clayton will work to manage its growth over the next 25 years.

The plan is set to be finalized in November.