Arlington is more diverse and far more digitally connected than it was five years ago. Adjusted for inflation, its typical household is also earning less.
That’s the picture from a five-year review of the county’s Race and Ethnicity Dashboard, announced Thursday by the Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development. The report compares 2019 and 2024 American Community Survey estimates across income, poverty, education, digital access, age and commuting.
“We see both meaningful progress and persistent structural disparities that shape residents’ daily life and long-term opportunities,” said CPHD Director Samia Byrd. “Using this data, we will continue to explore the actions needed to expand opportunity and advance equity for all residents.”
A more diverse county, partly on paper
People of color now make up 39.6% of Arlington’s population, up from 28.5% in 2019.
But the report cautions that much of that shift is a measurement change rather than a demographic one. The Census Bureau revised how it asks about race in 2020, and the more detailed question moved many people who had previously identified as white into the multiracial category.
The result: Arlington’s white population appears to have dropped by 24,272 people, or 14.5%, while its multiracial population more than doubled, growing 118.4% to 46,364.
Actual growth was more modest. The Black population grew 4.5%, the Asian population 4.0% and the Hispanic population 3.3%. The county added 2,790 residents overall, reaching 236,254 — a 1.2% increase, continuing a post-pandemic rebound.
Arlington is also aging. The under-5 population fell 15% over the five years while the number of residents 65 and older grew 15%, patterns the report says hold across all racial groups.
Income gaps hold steady
Arlington’s median household income was $142,114 in 2024 — about 4% lower than five years earlier, once the 2019 figure is adjusted for the 23.1% inflation of that period.
White households had the highest median income at $162,762, essentially flat from 2019. Asian households earned $119,024, or 73% of the white median. Black households earned $94,758 and Hispanic households $94,375, both about 58% of the white median, while multiracial households earned $89,910, or 55%.
The largest gain went to Black households, whose median income rose 24%. Asian, multiracial and Hispanic household incomes all declined in inflation-adjusted terms.
Poverty ticks up
The share of Arlington residents living below the federal poverty level rose to 7.4% from 6.8%. The 2024 threshold for a family of four was about $32,000.
Poverty rates among Black residents (15%) and Asian residents (14%) are now three times the white rate, which held at 5%. Multiracial and Hispanic poverty rates both fell, to 9% and 10% respectively.
Still among the nation’s most educated
Educational attainment kept climbing: 77% of Arlington residents 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, up from 75% in 2019. The county routinely tops national rankings of the most educated places in the U.S.
The gains were broad. The share holding at least a bachelor’s degree rose to 87% among white residents, 54% among Black residents (from 47%), 54% among multiracial residents (from 43%) and 48% among Hispanic residents (from 43%). Asian residents were the only group to decline, slipping from 78% to 77%.
The commute never came back
The sharpest change in the report is how Arlington gets to work. In 2019, 7% of residents 16 and older worked from home. In 2024, it was 35%.
Driving alone fell from 51% to 38% and remains the most common arrangement, narrowly. Public transportation was cut roughly in half, from 27% to 14%.
Remote work is not evenly distributed. White residents work from home at the highest rate, 38%, followed by Asian residents at 37% and Black residents at 32%. Multiracial residents are at 27% and Hispanic residents at 23%.
The report ties that to industry. Remote-friendly sectors like professional and technical services, information and finance tend to pay more, it says, while construction, hospitality, food service, transportation and many healthcare jobs offer less flexibility and lower wages.
The digital divide nearly closed
The share of Arlington residents without access to a computer, smartphone or tablet fell from 3.5% in 2019 to 1.1% in 2024.
The gains were steepest among the groups that had been furthest behind. Before the pandemic, 7.8% of Hispanic residents, 7.4% of Black residents and 7.3% of multiracial residents lacked a device; those rates are now 1.8%, 1.9% and 1.6%. Asian residents have the lowest rate of any group, at 0.5%.
The county launched a Digital Equity Initiative in October 2024 aimed at closing what remains, working with nonprofits to distribute devices, provide technical help and target outreach to census tracts with lower broadband adoption.
The dashboard, first released in 2021, is updated annually as new ACS data arrives. Future briefing reports will come out on a five-year schedule.
