A. Population and Population Growth

choose Austin, Cincinnati, Denver, Indianapolis, Portland, Sacramento, San Antonio and Tampa. Second, we choose Atlanta, Nashville and Memphis, because of their proximity to Charlotte and because Charlotte frequently competes with them for economic development.

A. Population and Population Growth

We begin by showing each city's population and population growth rate in our regional and national comparison set in Figure V.1 and Figure V.2.

Figure V.1 Regional Competitor MSAs Population 2021 and Population Growth 2019 to 2021

Figure V.2 National Competitor MSAs

The State of Housing in Charlotte Report 2022

Population 2021 and Population Growth 2019 to 2021

From Figure V.1, we note that Charlotte MSA has the largest population and one of the fastest growing populations in the region, just behind Raleigh and Spartanburg.13 Figure V.2 shows that the Charlotte MSA population is similar to the other comparison MSAs. The exception is the Atlanta MSA, which has more than twice the Charlotte MSA population. Figure V.2 shows that the Charlotte MSA has one of the highest population growth rates among these national competitor cities, with only Austin and Indianapolis growing faster.

B. Median Home Prices

Figure V.3 presents the median home price for each regional competitor MSA in 2021 and the annualized growth rate from 2019 to 2021. The Charlotte MSA median home price is right in the

13 Note that the Raleigh MSA does not include Durham and Chapel Hill. Those cities are included in the Raleigh Combined Statistical Area and brings the total population to a little over two million. We have elected to work with the MSA for consistency throughout the report. The State of Housing in Charlotte Report 2022