Foreign Born Population
New 2023 Demographic Data Analyzed for the Five Largest Northern Virginia Jurisdictions
The NOVA Region Dashboard’s demographics on income, poverty, educational attainment, and the foreign born population have been updated with the new 2023 American Community Survey one-year data released September 12 by the U.S. Census Bureau. View this data to stay informed and for insights on current demographic conditions and trends.
Check back on or after December 12th, for the 2023 American Community Survey five-year data analysis of all Northern Virginia jurisdictions.
Over the coming days, NVRC will be issuing a series of four blogs on the data highlights and insights of this new 2023 demographic data. This the fourth in the series.
The Washington, D.C. metropolitan area is one of the most diverse in the country when taking into consideration the racial, ethnic, and foreign born (immigrant) population make-up. Northern Virginia contains a sizable amount of the metropolitan area's diverse population. The foreign born or immigrant population is transforming the region. Note, the terms foreign born and immigrant are used interchangeably.
Immigration has been driving demographic transformations in the region, including:
School enrollment changes
Sizable increases in the number of Hispanics and Asians
Population growth
Employment growth
All of Northern Virginia’s five largest jurisdictions have a foreign born population share that is much greater than the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States.
Out of the 843 jurisdictions with a population of 65,000 or more in the USA, all are ranked #76 or higher, with the region's highest ranked, large jurisdiction being Fairfax County, ranked 17th with a foreign born population of 31.6%.
Fairfax County has a greater foreign born population share than New York County, New York (Manhattan) (29.3% and 24th) and Orange County, California (30.8% at 20th).
Northern Virginia's foreign born population share, as defined for this analysis using the region's five largest jurisdictions, is 28.5%, which is only 0.8% less than Manhattan. Back in 2000, all jurisdictions in Northern Virginia had a foreign born population share that was less than Manhattan. These high and changing ranks for the region's jurisdictions are indicative of the diverse population and a transforming Northern Virginia region and D.C. metropolitan area.
The Northern Virginia foreign born population share increased from 2011 to 2017, increasing from 25.5% to 28.6% respectively. From 2017 to 2021 it trended down, reaching a low of 27.2% in 2021. The decline from 2017 to 2021 was a result of the 2016 to 2020 presidential administration's reforms to immigration policy, as well as the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic led to a drop in the region's population between 2020 and 2021 due to out-migration of residents, higher death rates than normal times, and slowing immigration. In 2022 the pandemic was subsiding and immigration began to rebound in the country and region.
The decrease in the overall foreign-born population from 2017 to 2021 was largely attributable to a specific group of the foreign-born population. It was non-citizens migrating out of the area in greater amounts than naturalized citizens moving into the area. Between 2017 and 2022 the region's naturalized citizen population trended up, while the non-citizen population trended down. In 2023 the naturalized citizen population remained stable, while the non-citizen population increased.
About the Northern Virginia Regional Commission
NVRC is a consortium of thirteen local governments representing more than 2.5 million residents. While only 3% of Virginia's land mass, Northern Virginia has a GDP of $276 Billion which is 41.6% of the GDP of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Northern Virginia’s GDP is larger than 24 states and the District of Columbia and if a country would be the 48th largest economy in the world.