Count Wake County among them in your mental list of America's fast-growing places.

Only 13 of America's 3,141 counties gained more residents than Wake County the past six years, the U.S. Census Bureau says.

Almost 160,000 people moved to Wake from 2000 to 2006, a 25 percent increase. That's about half a Raleigh, or one and a third Carys, over six years.

No wonder we're short on schools, parks are crowded, roads are clogged and waits seem longer at our trendy new restaurants.

But the growth is mostly good, said Tony Gurley, chairman of Wake's board of commissioners.

"It puts stress on our infrastructure, and we have to make sure that the decisions we make now continue to improve the quality of life for everyone," Gurley said Thursday. "But we have opportunities now that people couldn't have dreamed of 25 years ago. Growth brings us challenges, but also the resources to meet them."

Wake now is within about 41,000 people of Mecklenburg, the state's most populous county, which itself grew an estimated 19 percent since the decade began.

By percentage growth, four smaller N.C. counties grew even faster than Wake: Union, Currituck, Brunswick and Hoke.

North Carolina gained an estimated 810,000 people from 2000 to 2006, a 10 percent rise, to about 8.9 million Tar Heels.

"It's a double-edged sword," said Bob Coats, the governor's Census liaison at the State Data Center. "It's a compliment to the good work local governments are doing, but it's also a strain."

With rapid growth, he said, communities must build more to accommodate newcomers while serving those already here.

"You have to meet the needs of the people coming in," he said. "Or they can just as easily leave."