The Weldon Cooper Institute at UVA has recently released its population projections for Virginia and its localities through 2040. Though these are projections and subject to lots of variables , but there are some interesting tidbits …
- by 2040 Virginia will have surpassed New Jersey (now 11) and Michigan (now 10th) to become the 10 most populous state in Virginia
- the population center of Virginia in 1940 was in Cumberland County. By 1970 the population Center was in Richmond. Now it is in Caroline County and, according to projections, by 2040 the population center will be near or in Fredrickburg
- the population of Prince George will be 38,379 in 2020, 40,816 in 2030, and 42,640 in 2014
- School age children in Prince George will be approximately 17-19% of the total population in 2020, but in the two ensuing decades the percentage of school age children will trend slowly downward, more like 15-17%
- By contrast the Prince George population age group of 65 to 85+ will grow from abut 15% of the total population in 2020 to 25% in 2014
Remember that these are just projections but population trends have tremendous influence on politics, budgets, crime, education, health, transportation, all aspects of life, really. Do we need to have more smaller schools? Do we need to address health and transportation needs if the senior citizens. What about transportation in general? Are we going to continue to be an automobile reliant community? What other infrastructures demands do we need to plan for. Your thoughts are welcome.
Visit the link above to visit the report from the Weldon Cooper Institute and some other interesting sources are statchatva.org and Bacon’s Rebellion (focuses on a variety of Virginia trends, politics, and history.
Prince George VA & Environs 