DC Up, Prince George's Down: A Look at DC Area Population Changes in 2022

• April 11th 2023

by UrbanTurf Staff

A new analysis takes a granular look at the areas around DC that saw population gains and declines between 2021 and 2022. 

The Stephen S. Fuller Institute published a report on Tuesday that looks at population change throughout the DC region last year. The report finds that even though the population in the region bounced back from pandemic losses, some of the largest jurisdictions still saw population declines in 2022. 

"Despite overall regional gains, three of our four largest jurisdictions recorded a second consecutive year of net population loss," the report stated. "Prince George’s County recorded the largest decline, with population decreasing 9,283. Fairfax County and Montgomery County recorded similar population losses of 3,403 and 3,314, respectively. The District of Columbia was the only large jurisdiction to gain population from July 2021 to July 2022, recording a net population increase of 3,012."

In addition to DC, Frederick and Loudoun counties both saw notable population increases. 

The report attributes population losses to worsening domestic out-migration which accelerated during the beginning of the pandemic and then continued between July 2021 and June 2022. An uptick in international migration has helped pare these losses in the last year. 

"Off-setting the worsening domestic out-migration has been a recent surge in net international migration, which reached +44,680 for the period from July 1^st 2021 to June 30^th 2022. This level of international migration takes the region back to long run trends that were disrupted by the pandemic and policy decisions during the previous administration."

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dc-up-prince-georges-down-a-look-at-dc-area-population-changes-in-2022/20895.