Butler County is one of the top counties in the state for incoming investment and business growth, according to a financial service.

SmartAsset, a New York City-based website that analyzes financial data to help consumers, recently released its second annual study of local economies.

It analyzed data including business growth, gross domestic product growth, new building permits and municipal bonds to arrive at an incoming investment index. Butler County was ranked 4th out of the state’s 67 counties.

It was also ranked 385th out of 2,830 counties in the country that have data available.

Allegheny County, ranked 5th, was the only other Western Pennsylvania County in the top 10. Dauphin County was ranked first.

In 2015, SmartAsset did the study for the first time and Butler came in 2nd, landing behind Cumberland County.

For real estate development, Butler County was ranked first. The county saw 12.2 residential building permits issued per 1,000 homes during 2015. The national average is 5.2 per 1,000.

For analyzing business growth and GDP growth SmartAsset looked at the figures from 2011 to 2014.

Over that three-year period, Butler County saw a GDP growth of $388 million and business growth of 3.1 percent. For business growth, the county was ranked eighth in the state.

SmartAsset’s goal is to give financial advice to people who are considering making investments, buying a home, starting a business or moving to a new area, said A.J. Smith, vice president of content.

Presenting data in the form of maps and rankings helps people understand it better, Smith said.

“Someone who is thinking about what investment opportunities are out there or starting a business, these are interesting factors as they make their decision,” she said.

Although too much investment can sometimes lead to problems or a bubble, ranking highly in these categories is usually a good indicator of a healthy economy, Smith said.

“We think it is a positive sign when people are investing in the area or they think it would be a good place to open a business; that means they think it is a good place to be,” Smith said.

Stan Kosciuszko, Butler County Chamber of Commerce president, said the county has seen some significant businesses open in the past couple years, such as two new hotels in Butler Township and several hotels in Cranberry Township.

The average salary for workers in the county is higher than the state average, and there has been significant residential growth in Cranberry and Jackson township. “It’s a great time for Butler County,” he said.

Recent U.S. Census Bureau data has indicated that Cranberry Township is one of the main sources of population growth in the county. According to the township’s website, it issued 300 residential building permits in 2015. It estimated the construction value of these projects at $55.6 million.