Manteca is growing and not just in the number of residents.

WalletHub tapped a panel of economic and urban research experts to analyze 17 key metrics to determine that when it comes to economic and socio-demographic gains Manteca ranks 35th out of the nation’s 515 fastest growing cities overall during the past seven years. 

When the cities surveyed are grouped by population size, Manteca comes in 9th nationally for cities 100,000 and under while Tracy is at 13th.

The metrics WalletHub’s experts used emphasizes growth in median household to building permit activity.

Four California cities performed better than Manteca — Milpitas at 17th, Santa Clarita at 20th, Chino at 26th, and Indio at 20th. Also in the top 100 from the Golden State was Pleasanton at 36th, Oakland at 43rd, Tracy at 48th, Mountain View at 51st, Clovis at 54th, Roseville at 55th, Santa Clara at 64th, San Mateo at 65th, Murietta at 66th, Fotana at 72nd, Chino Hills at 74th, Fremont at 80th, Sunnyvale at 84th, San Francisco at 87th, and Hemet at 91st.

In order to determine the most rapidly growing local economies, WalletHub compared 515 cities of varying population sizes based on two key elements, “Socio-demographics” and “Jobs and Economy.” 

They evaluated those elements using 17 relevant metrics. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the fastest economic growth. For each metric, they analyzed data spanning from 2012 to 2018 with the exception of “Increase in Number of Startups” (from 2010 to 2014), “Increase in Number of Businesses” (from 2011 to 2016) and “Increase in Venture Capital Investment Amount (from 2010 to 2016)”.

Overall, population growth accounted for 25 point in the overall weighted score. Working-age population growth — as well as  the growth in the percentage of college-educated residents — was scored based on 12.50 points each on the 100 point scale.

Keep in mind this isn’t referencing the actual percentage of the population that is working age or college educated but rather the percentage growth in both areas.

It underscores how residential growth — primarily an influx for the Bay Area seeking affordable housing — is transforming the Manteca economy.  The 10,200 residents that have moved to Manteca over the last decade have increased the pool of working age adults as well as the college education population much faster than just the schools alone.

That is significant in that Manteca’s pitch to land employers is based on a growing labor pool as well as gains in the overall education of people rising in Manteca.

The other 14 factors account for the other 50 points used to rank cities

The largest in that group is job growth that accounted for 6.45 points.

Among other considerations worth 3.23 points apiece were median household income growth, growth in households with annual income above $75,000, unemployment rate decrease, poverty rate decrease, growth in regional growth domestic product per capita, increase in number of businesses, median house growth, building permit activity growth, and foreclosure rate decrease.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@manteabulletin.com