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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The fastest growing large county in the United States is not in a trendy Sun Belt state. It’s in Illinois, a member in good standing of the Rust Belt.
Kendall County, Ill., a far-flung suburb of Chicago, grew nearly 100% in the last nine years, according to a recent report by the U.S. Census Bureau. The county went from a population of 54,563 on April 1, 2000, to an estimated 104,821 last July,
The county has been transitioning from an agricultural area to a bedroom community — albeit one far from the main job center. “It’s a wonderful place to live with excellent schools and a very low crime rate,” said Anne Vickery, a member of the Kendall County Board. “But you’re going to have to travel to get to Chicago.”
The more than 300-square-mile county is still 60% devoted to agriculture, but when the housing boom was at its height, that farmland was disappearing rapidly and sold for as much as $75,000 an acre.
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