Tuesday morning’s announcement of the official 2010 U.S. Census count is expected to reveal one exciting development for D.C. — the District could see its first population increase in 60 years, according to one expert.
William Frey, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program, said D.C. is on track to top 600,000 people in 2010’s final count. Since 1950, when the District’s population peaked at 802,175 people, each decennial census following has shown a population decrease.
Frey said if his estimation is correct, it would be the first time D.C.’s population cracked the 600,000 mark in 20 years. And while no new demographic data will be released Tuesday, early data shows that the District’s population makeup is vastly different than it was in 1990.
Whereas in the 1990s, D.C. was in the midst of its white flight, the 2000s have marked a return to the city for young urbanites and whites as D.C. benefited from the development boom. While that boom has pushed lower-income families into the suburbs, the overall trend has been an increase in population.
