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Annual Population Report

Population growth in Virginia slowed last year—but the commonwealth still outpaced the nation.
 

Between 2012 and 2013, Virginia’s population grew less than 1-percent, to nearly 8-point-3 million people.  That’s the slowest growth in the state since the recession….but still higher than the national average.

“We had about .9% of growth, where country as a whole had only .7% so we are still among the leading states growing faster than the nation," says Qian Cai Director of Demographic Research with the Weldon Cooper Center. She says within Virginia, the biggest population gains were in urban localities—such as Northern Virginia—with Fredericksburg coming in as the fastest growing locality in the state since 2010, increasing by more than 15%.

Arlington, Harrisonburg, Radford and Richmond also grew faster than the state average.
That wasn’t the case for Southside and Southwest Virginia, where for instance, all seven coal producing localities declined in population.

“Due both to more people moving out than in, and more deaths than births in those localities.”

And the numbers are important--  tied directly to money,  They’re used by government agencies in revenue sharing, funding allocations, planning and budgeting.