There’s a demographic transformation taking place in Northern Virginia and it’s expected to continue.
The growth of racial minorities and foreign-born populations has increased over the past couple decades. According to the Northern Virginia Regional Commission in 2000, minority residents made up 34.6% of the population. That number has since grown to 49.4%.
From 2000 to 2010, 88% of the people moving to the area were minorities. By 2018, it was 90%.
By the 2030s, the birthrate in Northern Virginia is expected to be offset by an increase in baby boomer deaths, which means the biggest contributor to population growth will be minorities.
The majority of the region’s recent growth has occurred in Loudoun and Prince William counties as well as Manassas and Manassas Park and is expected to have a major impact on the services provided by the government and schools as the region plans for trends to continue.
The biggest drivers of the demographic shift include an increase in Asians and Hispanics, as well as the region’s economic dependency on the federal government job sector and federal contracting jobs.
According to the Census Bureau’s 2017 National Population Projections, nationwide, there will be a majority-minority population by 2045.
Northern Virginia has some of the highest foreign-born populations in the U.S.
Population growth peaked between 2000 and 2010 when it hit 42,000. It has slowed since then but the average annual gain since 2010 was 36,000.
