Wake up.

• Position: Statewide - Statistical table

Biggest gainers [up arrow] Projected change Projected population 2010-19 2019 (000s) Johnston 27.8% 222.0 Wake 27.1 1,169.6 Harnett 25.8 146.1 Brunswick 25.8 138.7 Cabarrus 24.8 223.7 Biggest losers [down arrow] Projected change Projected population 2010-19 2019 (000s) Currituck (11.1)% 20.6 Hyde (6.6) 5.1 Washington (4.4) 12.4 Dare (4.0) 32.8 Halifax (2.6) 53.6 Source: N. C. Office of State Budget and Management For nearly 60 years, ever since it passed Guilford in the 1950 census, Mecklenburg has held the title of North Carolina's most-populous county. But Wake--with the capital city of Raleigh, booming Cary and all those bedroom communities that grew up around government and high-tech jobs--now has more people than the home of Charlotte, by far the state's biggest city. At least that's what state demographers say, though Queen City boosters dispute the numbers. The issue won't be settled until federal census results come out next year. Based on current trends, the state forecasts Wake's growth will outpace Mecklenburg's through the '10s, with the Triangle the...