The 300 million population mark is fast approaching. In fact, you can see for yourself by visiting the U.S. Census population clock. One new person every 11 seconds! That’s around 7,800 people every day. Let’s see…that means we’ll hit 300 million in about four days!

On Wednesday, October 11, UVA’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service hosted a conference to study the meaning of the milestone, and more specifically its effect on Virginia.

For instance, did you know that folks coming from other states and countries account for 53 percent of Virginia’s population grown since 2000? Or that out-of-staters who moved here are younger, better educated, and earn more than locals?

Workplace and housing data was also discussed. Not surprisingly, the median price of a home has skyrocketed throughout Virginia, increasing as much as 150 percent in places like Fairfax and Prince William County. What’s worse, household incomes have remained stagnant. While the median household income in Virginia increased by 15 percent since 2000, from $47,125 to $54, 240, a 12.8 percent increase in inflation pretty much negates the gain. And Virginia is doing better than the country as a whole. In the last five years, the national median houshold income went from $41,994 to $46,242. That’s a 10 percent gain, but with inflation at 12.8 percent…well, you do the math.

Real poverty is a problem too. According to recent data, 15 percent of children under 5 in Virginia live in poverty, as well as roughly 40 percent of female-led households.

On a political note, Larry Sabato, one of the panelists at the conference, suggested that the fast-growing Latino population could be a threat to the Republicans’ chance to win the White House in the future, as they usually only get 32 percent of the Latino vote. Hmmm….perhaps Sabato forgot about Jeb Bush’s son, George P. Bush who spoke at the 2004 Republican National Convention and whose mother, Columba Bush, is Mexican.

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