02/09/2024
Several major cities within the Hampton Roads region have seen a decline in population since the coronavirus pandemic, according to demographers with the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service.
Recently released annual state population estimates show people moving out of the heavily populated areas of Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, while the vast majority of the rural regions in the state experienced a significant population spike. The data compared the population from the April 1, 2020 census to July 1, 2023 estimates.
Hampton Roads’ most populous city, Virginia Beach, lost more than 5,800 people, a 1.3% drop, going to 453,605 in 2023. Newport News declined 2.1% to 182,268. Portsmouth population dropped by 1.9% to 96,085.
Populations in Hampton and Norfolk remained flat over those three years. Hampton had a 0.2% population decline to 136,895 people while Norfolk gained 107 people for a population of 238,112.
One of the most notable trends observed across the state was people leaving big metro areas in favor of smaller cities and counties nearby. Two Hampton Roads cities that saw population growth over the three-year period are Suffolk and Chesapeake. Suffolk had 100,690 people in 2023, up 6,366 (6.7%) from 2020. Chesapeake also saw a slight increase, going from 249,422 in 2020 to 252,478 in 2023.
People don't want to live on top of each other.. So, buying a residential property, to build two in it's place need to stop. Changing the demography of a neighborhood is discussing .
