Union, five others from North Carolina crack list of nation's 100 fastest growing counties

• N.C. county population estimates and rankings (XLS)

Six North Carolina counties are among the nation's 100 fastest growing since April 2000, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released in March.

According to the Bureau's new population estimates as of July 2009, Union County has realized a 60.5 percent growth in population over the past nine years – good for 14th among all counties. Other Tar Heel counties ranking in the top 100 are Brunswick (No. 38), Wake (45), Johnston (66), Hoke (95) and Currituck (98). The Bureau did not include counties with less than 10,000 citizens, meaning Camden County, which grew by 41.3 percent, was not ranked.

Wake County continued to close the gap on Mecklenburg County in the rankings of most populous counties. They are the state's only two counties to break the nation's top 100: Mecklenburg is 49th and Wake is 54th.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, 25 North Carolina counties either grew by less than 1 percent or decreased in population since April 2000 – furthering the perceived divide between the "two North Carolinas."