Virginia Now Has 12th Largest Population

CHARLOTTESVILLE—Virginia’s population reached 7.7 million on July 1, increasing by more than 633,000 since the 2000 federal census, according to estimates released today by the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service.

The commonwealth has the 12th largest population in the nation.

While Virginia’s population continues to increase, its rate of growth has declined in recent years. Since 2000, Virginia gained 324,000 citizens through what demographers call “natural increase,“ when the number of births exceeds the number of deaths.

Since then, Virginia also gained an estimated total of 315,000 residents from migration, split almost equally between those moving to the commonwealth from other states and from other countries.