The growth of Northern Virginia’s Hispanic population in the past decade has been driven by an expansion of immigrants from El Salvador and an influx of South Americans to the Washington suburbs, census data show. Three out of five of Virginia’s new Salvadoran residents over the past decade live in Fairfax or Prince William counties. Growth in Fairfax — traditionally a mixing bowl — has been overshadowed by the explosion in Prince William, where the Salvadoran population grew more than six times over in 10 years.
The South American population’s growth in the past decade has mostly been concentrated in Fairfax County. Across Northern Virginia, Bolivians and Peruvians make up the most common South American nationalities in most jurisdictions.
