Virginians in the census: 8 million total, 1M in Fairfax County

By JOHN RABY

Virginia continues to pack in people living near the nation's capital.

Fairfax County is the state's largest, growing 11.5 percent to 1.08 million residents in 2010, while Loudoun County's population increased 84 percent to 312,311, according to a U.S. Census Bureau count of selected cities and counties released Thursday.

Northern Virginia has grappled with the spread of suburbia for decades. Loudoun County's population in 1990 was 86,129.

State leaders will use population figures to help shape Virginia's legislative and congressional districts. The General Assembly will meet in special session to redraw state legislative districts in early April, postponing primaries and nominating conventions from late May and early June for House and Senate seats into late summer or early fall.

"On the whole, it's what everyone expected," said Larry Sabato, a political scientist and director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics.

U.S. House members are losing constituents in both urban and rural settings, with the biggest gains in suburbs and places just beyond them, he said.

"Disproportionally, the region that benefits is northern Virginia," Sabato said. "They're basically getting an extra quarter of a congressional district. That's what it amounts to."

The state's five largest cities also saw population growth and were unchanged in order. Virginia Beach is still the largest, growing 3 percent to 437,994 residents. It's followed by Norfolk, Chesapeake, Richmond and Newport News.

Alexandria moved up one spot to No. 6 with a 9 percent increase. It was followed by Hampton, Roanoke, Portsmouth and Suffolk.

None of the top 20 counties lost population, while five of the top 20 cities — Hampton, Portsmouth, Charlottesville, Danville and Petersburg — saw declines.

Chesapeake and Suffolk, both in the Hampton Roads area, saw the biggest increase in terms of sheer numbers. Chesapeake had a population gain of 23,025, followed by Suffolk at 20,908.

"I think what you saw over the past decade, especially with the jump and increase in housing values and land prices, people are looking for value," said Greg Grootendorst, chief economist with the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission. "And they found value in places like Chesapeake and Suffolk where they could get a new house ... Chesapeake had land availability and there's also employment opportunity."

Chesapeake Mayor Alan Krasnoff said the growth there shows the city "is well-suited to managed growth and new businesses that want to locate here. It domonstrates that people want to live in a city like Chesapeake and in an area like Hampton Roads."

Overall, Virginia's population increased 13 percent to 8 million in 2010, the eighth straight decade of double-digit growth.

The number of Hispanics grew nearly 92 percent to 631,825 and the state's Asian population surged nearly 69 percent to 439,890.

Hispanics represented 7.9 percent of all Virginians, up from 4.7 percent in 2000, and Asians were 5.5 percent, up from 3.7 percent 10 years earlier.

Whites accounted for 68.6 percent of Virginia's population in 2010, down from 72.3 percent in 2000. Blacks were 19.4 percent in 2010, compared to 19.6 percent in 2000.

More than 233,000 Virginians identified themselves as biracial, comprising 2.9 percent of the population. In 2000, 133,369 indicated more than one race.

Another 19,124 said they were three or more races, down from 143,069 in 2000.

The state's adult population grew 15 percent to 6.1 million.

Associated Press writer Brock Vergakis contributed to this report.