Prince William County is gaining residents who are leaving Alexandria and Arlington and Fairfax counties, according to Jill Allmon, Prince William’s demographer.
Allmon said Internal Revenue Service county-to-county migration numbers indicated that trend during the last six years, and that new residents have contributed to increases in population and school enrollment. This increase has contributed to capital improvement projects that are quickly changing the face of Prince William County, officials said.
“We’ve got large increases in our school population, as well as large increases in general population,” she told The Examiner.
Officials in Arlington and Alexandria said last week that lack of affordable housing was causing declining enrollment in public schools.
Alexandria Deputy City Manager Mark Jinks said he believed many residents were moving to Prince William, where rents are cheaper.
Prince William public school enrollment numbers seem to support this belief. Enrollment is up from 53,210 in 2000, to 68,668 in 2006.
At the same time, Prince William’s population has grown from 280,813 in 2,000, to 367,466 now, an increase of 4.3 percent annually, Allmon said. Census numbers indicate that Arlington and Alexandria’s population growth remained relatively flat from 2000 to 2004, although Alexandria city demographer Ralph Rosenbaum said the city’s population has grown more quickly in recent years.
Per capita income figures indicate sharp economic differences between Prince William and its Northern Virginia neighbors. According to Rosenbaum, the most recent department of commerce numbers rank Arlington 10th nationally in per capita income, while Fairfax is 11th and Alexandria is 13th. Prince William, on the other hand, is ranked 207th.
Sean Connaughton, chair of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, said the county has dealt with its growing population by building new infrastructure.
“We’ve taken on the issue head on. We are investing in roads, in schools, in public safety infrastructure and parks facilities,” he said.
Prince William Communications Director Liz Barnes said the county is adding additional firefighters and police officers to deal with the population growth.
Barnes added that a bond to raise more than $200 million to improve roads, libraries and parks is expected on the ballot in November.
Hispanic population growth
» The Hispanic population in Prince William County has gone up from 4.5 percent of the county’s population to 16.5 percent in 2004
