MADERA COUNTY — According to the latest government data, Madera County is outpacing other similar-sized counties, both in California and around the western U.S., in terms of economic growth.
Recently published United States Bureau of Economic Analysis records show that for 2018, the latest year for which statistics have been compiled, Madera County saw the fastest growth in real GDP among the Far West Region’s “medium-sized” counties.
Madera County’s 6.6 percent growth rate is being fueled by the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industries, according to the report, which can be viewed here.
Given the pace of construction along the county’s bustling southern Highway 41 corridor, with two new master planned communities being built — and three large new hotels poised to open in Oakhurst — county officials say Madera is likely to score even higher on 2019’s growth report.
At 28.4 percent growth rate in 2018, Story County, Nevada, was the Far West Region’s top “small-sized” county in terms of growth while the Bay Area’s Santa Clara County was the Far West Region’s fastest growing “large-sized” county in 2018, coming in at a growth rate of 10.2 percent.
