Census Data Shows Rapid Growth in Virginia Slowing

Virginia's rapid growth slowed this decade, according to the first figures unveiled Tuesday from the historic  2010 Census.

Virginia's population is officially 8 million, an increase of nearly a million since 2000. That's a 13 percent increase, higher than the 9.3 percent growth in the total U.S. population. Virginia grewby 16 percent from 1980-90 then 14 percent from 1990-2000.

The total U.S. population stands at  308 million a 9 percent increase at the end of the first decade of the century.

These were the first results of the 2010 census — the national and state populations and what they mean for the apportionment of 435 House seats. Details on race and ethnicity, household makeup and other information from the 10-questioncensus will be released beginning in February

As it does every decade, the census report will set off  a political sweepstakes from Fairfax to Richmond because the numbers are the basis for the reapportionment of both houses of the Virginia state legislature and the Fairfax County board of supervisors. The new numbers also lead to changes on the boundary lines for the state's 11 congressional districts.

The redistricting has implications for all our politicians from Dranesville supervisor John Foust to state Dels. Barbara Comstock and Jim Scott and and state Sen. Janet Howell.

As chairman of the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee, Howell is currently guiding the process of redistricting of the State Senate and the US Congressional Districts.  Her committee held public hearings this fall.

Virginia remains the 12th largest state with 11 members of Congress. The most populous state was California (37,253,956); the least populous, Wyoming (563,626). The state that gained the most numerically since the 2000 Census was Texas (up 4,293,741 to 25,145,561) and the state that gained the most as a percentage of its 2000 Census count was Nevada (up 35.1% to 2,700,551).

Regionally, the South and the West picked up the bulk of the population increase, 14,318,924 and 8,747,621, respectively. But the Northeast and the Midwest also grew: 1,722,862 and 2,534,225.