VIRGINIA – The 2020 U.S. Census gives new insights into how the country is changing.
Virginia’s overall population grew 7.9% from 2010.
In our viewing area, Bath County saw the biggest drop, seeing an 11% decrease in population, while on the flip side, Appomattox County saw the largest gain, growing 7.7%.
The U.S. Census data found that more people are also leaving the countryside and heading to urban areas. There are similar trends in Central and Southwest Virginia.
“It does sort of mirror what’s happening at the national level,” said Matt Miller, the director of information services for the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission. He said that change is not surprising.
“Cities, in general, attract people. I think the Roanoke Valley is an attractor because it has a diverse economy,” said Miller. “There are jobs here in many different sectors. The quality of life is good.”
Other areas seeing growth include Bedford County, up 6.1%, Montgomery County, up 5.6%, Lynchburg, up 4.6% and Lexington, up 3.9%.
There are some parts of Virginia where the urban growth trend does not hold true. Martinsville’s population dropped 2.4%, Radford’s dropped 2.1% and Danville’s was down 1.1%.
Danville City Manager Ken Larking said this outcome was better than expected.
“I was actually pretty pleased with the results. A lot of estimates showed that Danville’s population would decrease by a much larger amount,” said Larking. “And when you compare Danville to the surrounding area, the percentage decrease is much smaller.”
Miller said the exodus from rural communities is a tough problem to address.
“They struggle with redeveloping some of their commercial sites that are going empty and some of their downtowns struggle. So that is a concern for the rural localities,” said Miller.
The Commonwealth and the country are getting more diverse, including the Roanoke Valley - the largest metropolitan area west of Richmond.
“Our Asian population has increased 40%, Hispanic has increased 63% and the people that identify as being two or more racial groups has increased by more than 200%,” said Miller. “Most interesting is that our white population in our localities in our district have seen a decrease across the board. That is also something that’s happened at the national level. The white population has shrunk.”
Miller said that Census data matters because it impacts congressional redistricting and how localities plan for the future.
“They will help develop policies in terms of long-range plans for economic development, what sectors of the economy may need attention or what groups of people may need more services and strategies to market the region to a wider audience in terms of tourism and for job attraction,” said Miller.