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.
Larger numbers of seniors and declining numbers of younger adults are forcing Arlington leaders to rethink how to allocate services in the fiscal 2027 budget.
Demographic shifts are also calling into question whether the cost of living is making it difficult for residents between ages 20 and 34 to establish roots in the county.
New research shows that thousands of Arlington deeds from the early-to-mid 20th century included language that barred people of certain races, nationalities, or religions from buying property.
Researchers contend that these practices, known as restrictive covenants, play a major role in the segregation of neighborhoods throughout the county and across Northern Virginia, the effects of which are still evident today.
Arlington is denser and more diverse than it was 10 years ago, according to recently-released 2020 Census data.
The population living within the county’s 26 square miles now sits at 238,643 — a 14.9% increase over 2010, when 207,627 people called Arlington home. That outpaced the rate of population growth for Virginia and the U.S. as a whole, at 7.9% and 7.4%, respectively.
Amid a rise in coronavirus cases, community leaders and the Arlington County Public Health Division are continuing to find ways to target particular demographics for which more outreach is needed.
So far, 70% of the adult population in Arlington and 61.8% of the county’s entire population has at last one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, excluding federal doses, according to the Virginia Dept. of Health dashboard. Nearly 64% of the adult population and 56% of the overall population is fully vaccinated. But these percentages start to vary more when broken down by age group, race and ethnicity.
County officials are trying to drum up participation in the next U.S. Census — a year before the feds start surveying and counting.
Arlington has joined other neighboring jurisdictions in creating a group called “Complete Count Committee” tasked with convincing residents to fill out the 2020 Census form when it arrives next April.
According to the data, Arlington’s population is 217,483 and growing quickly: up 6 percent in just the past two years.
Arlington is slightly more male than female: 51 percent to 49 percent.
At a community chat hosted by the African American Leadership Council of Arlington Wednesday night, Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Pat Murphy was asked about the changing demographics of the school population.
According to Dr. Murphy, school administrators have observed the following trends:
