A report recently released by WalletHub ranks Waco, Bryan and College Station among some of the fastest growing cities in the nation.
Natalie Ruiz, Director of Economic Development for the City of College Station, is excited about the direction the city is taking.
"We're starting to see more and more young families, retirees, so it's becoming more and more balanced as we grow over time," Ruiz said.
The study went from 2009 to 2015 and looked at factors like population growth and the decrease in unemployment rate.
"Jobs in the construction industry have increased in the last several years and had an impact locally," Ruiz said.
The city of Waco has also seen an increase in jobs and businesses deciding to set up shop in the growing city.
"When economic conditions are good, these national chains and companies and other establishments want to come in, that's just great for us," Larry Holze, spokesperson for the City of Waco, said.
But, with a rapid growing economy also come other problems to look out for.
"We're facing a lot of issues that a lot of rapidly growing cities, especially cities in Texas [are experiencing] in terms of infrastructure--making sure that we have transportation improvements out ahead of new growth," Ruiz said.
Another issues that city leaders are keeping a close eye on is keeping housing affordable.
"We're experiencing great growth in our housing market. We're having apartment complexes and single family areas," Holze said.
Overall, Waco, Bryan and College Station ranked 132, 10 and 15 respectively.
Copyright 2016 KXXV. All rights reserved.
