The video above is file from 2020.
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — New Kent County, Virginia is listed among the 10 fastest-growing counties with populations of 20,000 or more in the United States last year, per new U.S. Census Bureau estimates for 2023.
The county saw almost a 5% jump in population from July 2022 to July 2023, according to the new data, gaining nearly 1,200 new residents. From April 2020 to last July, New Kent gained nearly 3,200 residents.
Other counties saw growth from 2022 to 2023 near the same clip, including Goochland’s nearly 4% increase in population.
As for Virginia cities, more than half of the localities in the WAVY viewing area saw a drop in population instead of an increase. Locally, Suffolk saw the biggest year-over-year increase with 2,233 more residents, according to Census data. Norfolk, on the other hand, lost 1,628 people.
Population figures depend on several factors, including natural changes like births and deaths and people moving in and out of the state.
Virginia saw an increase of more than 36,500 residents from July 2022 to 2023, per the data, with births outpacing deaths.
Virginia had 95,669 births and 79,980 deaths – a 15,689 difference – from July 2022 to July 2023.
In that same span, Virginia saw international migration grow by more than 28,000 and a negative net domestic migration of almost 7,000.
Here’s a look at how counties in the Hampton Roads area changed from July 2022-2023:
- Accomack County: 16 more residents
- Gloucester County: 507 more residents
- Isle of Wight County: 576 more residents
- James City County: 1,171 more residents
- New Kent County: 1,182 more residents
- Surry County: 66 more residents
- Sussex County: 117 more residents
- York County: 212 fewer residents
Here’s a look at how cities in the Hampton Roads area changed from July 2022-2023:
- Chesapeake: 1,427 more residents
- Emporia: 70 fewer residents
- Franklin: 65 more residents
- Hampton: 760 fewer residents
- Newport News: 862 fewer residents
- Norfolk: 1,628 fewer residents
- Poquoson: 11 more residents
- Portsmouth: 161 fewer residents
- Suffolk: 2,233 more residents
- Virginia Beach: 1,420 fewer residents
- Williamsburg: 162 more residents
“U.S. migration returning to pre-pandemic levels and a drop in deaths are driving the nation’s growth,” Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Population Division at the Census Bureau, said in a statement last December.
“Although births declined, this was tempered by the near 9% decrease in deaths. Ultimately, fewer deaths paired with rebounding immigration resulted in the nation experiencing its largest population gain since 2018,” she added.
Across the country, the data shows that 60% of counties in the U.S. saw population growth last year, with those in the South experiencing faster gains and those in the Northeast and Midwest seeing more population losses. On average, counties saw a 0.29% population increase from 2022 to 2023.
“Domestic migration patterns are changing, and the impact on counties is especially evident,” Lauren Bowers, chief of the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Branch, said in a statement accompanying the new data from the Census Bureau.
“Areas which experienced high levels of domestic out-migration during the pandemic, such as in the Midwest and Northeast, are now seeing more counties with population growth. Meanwhile, county population growth is slowing down out west, such as in Arizona and Idaho,” Bowers said.
