DENVER (KDVR) — It isn’t Colorado’s Denver metroplex drawing in the best investment dollars right now, but Weld County.

Financial advisor SmartAsset crunched investment indicators in counties across the nation in three key metrics: business establishment growth, gross domestic product growth and new building permits. Nationally, Los Angeles County has the most incoming investment, with a solid growth in business and a gross domestic product growth in the hundreds of millions.

In Colorado, Weld County had the state’s highest incoming investment in 2022. Weld County’s business community is thriving, with a 6.8% growth in business driving a $5.8 billion growth in the county’s GDP.

It’s new buildings, though, where the county truly eclipses the rest of the state. Weld County has 47 new building permits for every 1,000 homes. This is the highest rate in the state — 17 homes more than in the next-highest county. Douglas, El Paso and Routt counties have the next-highest new building permit rates.

Crowley County in the plains east of Pueblo has the next-highest investment. The sparsely populated county has had the highest business growth in the state, 22.6% overall. Douglas, Denver and El Paso counties come next in terms of overall investment.