Report:  Population in PWC nears 400k

As of Sept. 15, Prince William has a population count of 394,370, up from 392,900 reported in mid-June, according to third quarter data from the county demographer.

Since 1990, when the figure stood at 215,686, the line that charts growth has never dipped. The population has been on a steady rise for nearly 20 years, however the rate of growth since 2007 is tapering, according to a county demographic fact sheet.

"Between 1990 and 2000, the population of the county increased by 30.2 percent," the fact sheet states. "Even though this represents relatively rapid growth, it is not as fast as in some previous decades … Since 2007, an unprecedented increase in the number of foreclosures has in all likelihood added to the number of vacant properties in the county, but an exact estimate on the impact this may have on the population is difficult to ascertain."

Foreclosures or not, the number of household records in the county—meaning the number of occupied housing units—has tracked upwardly, since April of 1990, the data show. In 1990, there were 70,253 occupied homes in the county. A month ago, this figure reached 132,920, according to the report.

The demographics also dig deeper and reveal several specifics, including the income levels and ethnic backgrounds of those who occupy these homes.

According to third quarter demographics, the majority living in the county are 18 to 64 years old, and draw median incomes of $88,724. Most——just over 60 percent—are white, though that level has fallen dramatically since 1990, when it was 83 percent, and even 2000, when it was nearly 69 percent, the figures show.

The percentage of black residents grew during the same period, from almost 12 percent in 1990 to nearly 19 percent in 2000, where it basically remained through 2008, according to the figures. Also significantly higher now is the level of Hispanic residents, who compose about 19 percent of the county's population. That's up from 2000, when the percentage stood at just under 10 percent, and 1990, when the level was just under five percent, according to the data.

"In recent decades," the fact sheet summarized, "the population of Prince William County increasingly has become racially and ethnically diverse. Between 1990 and 2000, the population of African-Americans more than doubled, from 25,078 to 52,691 people, and the population of persons of Hispanic origin nearly tripled, from 9,662 to 27,338 people."

Staff writer Cheryl Chumley can be reached at 703-670-1907.