Thedemographics of Virginia are the various elements used to describe the population of theCommonwealth of Virginia and are studied by various government and non-government organizations. Virginia is the 12th-most populous state in theUnited States with over8 million residents^[3] and is the 35th largest in area.^[4]

As of the2010 United States census, Virginia has a reported populationof 8,001,024, which is an increaseof 288,933, or 3.6%, from a previous estimate in 2007 and an increaseof 922,509, or 13.0%, since the year 2000. This includes an increase from net migration of314,832 people into the Commonwealth from 2000 to 2007. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of159,627 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of155,205 people.^[5] Also in 2009, 6.7% of Virginia's population were reported as under five years old, 23.4% under eighteen, and 12.1% were senior citizens-65+.^[6] Thecenter of population of Virginia is located inGoochland County outside ofRichmond.^[7]

Note: Births in table don't add up, because Hispanics are counted both by their ethnicity and by their race, giving a higher overall number.

• Since 2016, data for births ofWhite Hispanic origin are not collected, but included in oneHispanic group; persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.

The five largest reportedancestry groups in Virginia are:African American (19.6%),German (11.7%),American (11.4%),English (11.1%), andIrish (9.8%).^[23] Most of those claiming to be of "American" ancestry are actually of English descent, but have family that has been in the country for so long, in many cases since the early seventeenth century, that they choose to identify simply as "American".^{[24][25][26][27][28]} Most of Virginia's Black population are descended from enslaved Africans who worked itstobacco,cotton, andhemp plantations. Initially, these slaves came from west central Africa, primarilyAngola. During the eighteenth century, however, about half of them were derived from various ethnicities located in theNiger Delta region of modern-dayNigeria.^[29] With continued immigration to Virginia of other European groups and the 19th-century sales of tens of thousands of enslaved Africans from Virginia to the Deep South, the percent of enslaved Africans fell from once being half of the total population. By 1860 slaves comprised 31% of the state's population of1.6 million.^[30]

Incolonial Virginia the majority of free people of color were descended from marriages or relationships of white men (servants or free) and black women (slave, servant or free), reflecting the fluid relationships among working people. Many free black families were well-established and headed by landowners by the Revolution.^[31] From 1782 to 1818, a wave of slaveholders inspired by the Revolutionary ideals of equality freed slaves, until the legislature mademanumissions more difficult. Some African Americans freed were those whose fathers were white masters, while others were freed for service.^[32] By 1860 there were58,042 free people of color (black ormulatto, as classified in the census) in Virginia.^[30] Over the decades, many had gathered in the cities of Richmond andPetersburg where there were more job opportunities. Others were landowners who had working farms, or found acceptance from neighbors in the frontier areas of Virginia.^[31]

The twentieth-centuryGreat Migration of blacks from the rural South to the urban North reduced Virginia's black population to about 20%.^[6] Today, African-Americans are concentrated in the eastern and southern Tidewater and Piedmont regions where plantation agriculture was the most dominant.^[33] The western mountains were settled primarily by people of heavilyScots-Irish ancestry.^[34] There are also sizable numbers of people of German descent in the northwestern mountains and Shenandoah Valley.^[35]

Because of recent immigration in the late 20th century and early 21st century, there are rapidly growing populations from Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean, especially inNorthern Virginia. Northern Virginia, which is a part of the DC metropolitan area, is one of the most diverse regions in the country.^{[citation needed]} Virginia has one of the largestSalvadoran populations in the US, the vast majority of which is concentrated in Northern Virginia. Northern Virginia also has the largestVietnamese population on the East Coast, with about 48,000 Vietnamese statewide as of 2007,^[36] their major wave of immigration followed theVietnam War.^[37] TheHampton Roads area in southeastern Virginia, though it lags far behind Northern Virginia in diversity,^{[citation needed]} is the second most populous in the state compared to other metro areas; aside from 'native' blacks and whites, Hampton Roads only has large populations ofFilipinos,Mexicans, andPuerto Ricans. The Hampton Roads area has the highest percentage of Puerto Ricans of any metropolitan area in the Southern US outside Florida, and also has a sizable Filipino population with about 45,000 in the area, many of whom have ties to theU.S. Navy.^[38] As of 2005, 6.1% of Virginians areHispanic and 5.2% areAsian.^[6] Virginia also continues to be home to eightNative American tribes recognized by the state, though all lack federal recognition status. Most Native American groups are located in theTidewater region.^[39]

Romani people are present in Virginia.^[40]

ThePiedmont region is known for its dialect's strong influence onSouthern American English. While a more homogenizedAmerican English is found in urban areas, various accents are also used, including theTidewater accent, theOld Virginia accent,Appalachian English, and the anachronisticElizabethan ofTangier Island.^[41][42]

Spanish, French, German and Korean are also spoken in the state.^[43]

Native American tribes spoke dialects of Algic, Iroquoian or Siouan.^[44]

Virginia is predominantly Christian andProtestant;Baptists are the largest single group with 27% of the population as of 2008.^[45] Baptist denominational groups in Virginia include theBaptist General Association of Virginia, with about 1,400 member churches, which supports both theSouthern Baptist Convention and the moderateCooperative Baptist Fellowship; and theSouthern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia with more than 500 affiliated churches, which supports the Southern Baptist Convention.^[46][47]

Roman Catholics are the second-largest religious group, and the group which grew the most in the 1990s.^[48][49] TheRoman Catholic Diocese of Arlington includes most of Northern Virginia's Catholic churches, while theDiocese of Richmond covers the rest. The Virginia Conference is theregional body of theUnited Methodist Church. TheVirginia Synod is responsible for the congregations of theLutheran Church. TheEpiscopal Diocese of Virginia,Southern Virginia, andSouthwestern Virginia support the variousEpiscopal churches. In November 2006, 15 conservative Episcopal churches voted to split from the Diocese of Virginia over its ordination of openlygay bishops and clergy; these churches continue to claim affiliation with the largerAnglican Communion throughother bodies outside the United States. Though Virginia law allows parishioners to determine their church's affiliation, the diocese claims the secessionist churches' properties. The resulting property law case is a test for Episcopal churches nationwide.^[50]

Presbyterians,Pentecostals,Congregationalists, and Episcopalians each composed 1–3% of the population as of 2001.^[51] Among other religions, adherents ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints constitute 1.1% of the population, with 204congregations in Virginia as of 2020.Making Virginia the state with the highest percentage of Mormons east of the Mississippi.^[52][53]Fairfax Station is home to theEkoji Buddhist Temple, of theJodo Shinshu school, the Sikh Foundation of Virginia a Sikh Gurdwara, and the HinduDurga Temple.Chesapeake, Virginia is home to the Guru Nanak Foundation of TidewaterSikhGurdwara. While a small population in terms of the state overall, organized Jewish sites date to 1789 withCongregation Beth Ahabah.^[54] Muslims are a rapidly growing religious group throughout the state through immigration.^[55]Megachurches in the state includeThomas Road Baptist Church,Immanuel Bible Church, andMcLean Bible Church.^[56]

• 
  Population density of Virginia by census tract in 2020.
• 
  Virginia counties and cities by population density (population/ square mile) in 2015.
• 
  Virginia counties and cities by population in 2010.
• 
  Virginia counties and cities by population change from 2000 to 2010, in percentage.
• 
  Top 10 most populated cities in Virginia (2010).

• Virginia census statistical areas
• Native American tribes in Virginia

• "§ 1-511. English designated the official language of the Commonwealth".law.lis.virginia.gov.

• Demographics of Virginia
• Demographics of the United States by state

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