Virginia is growing faster than the national average, and a new study shows it’s growing in some surprising places. as Sandy Hausman.
We’re now a state of 8.2 million, up 2.3 percent from the last census, and you’ll never guess the fastest growing city in the Commonwealth.
“Covington tops the list as the fastest growing locality.”
Chen Cai is with the Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia. She says it might be due to a record-keeping error, or the city of
Covington may be going through a baby boom, with 120 births recorded last year, compared with 60 in a typical year. More people moved to cities than suburbs, and as usual, they go where the jobs are.
“More than 50% of the growth occurred in Northern Virginia, and almost all the growth occurred in the metropolitan areas.”
The arrival of people from other states and countries helped to offset a net loss in 64 communities where there were more deaths than births. That’s a reflection of an aging population and couples having smaller families. On average, the state is adding 100,000 people a year.
“Virginia’s still attracting people from other parts of the country, other parts of the world, and on average every year we add about 50,000 more due to natural increase – so about 100,000 births every year, and 50,000 deaths.”
Richmond is growing, along with Hampton Roads, Winchester, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg and Staunton.
— Sandy Hausman
Virginia Public Radio 