The District’s population stayed nearly level during 2007, in contrast to suburbs in the region that experienced more dramatic change, according to census data.

Overall, the region’s population rose about 1 percent last year, with D.C.’s population climbing to 588,292, an increase of 0.5 percent.

Earlier this month, the Brookings Institution released a book on migration that characterized D.C. as being at a point of population resurgence for the first time in nearly a half-century.

Recent gains in residents have been far from dramatic, though. According to census data, population increases since 2004 have been below 1 percent.

This story continues below
Advertisement

“What you have is a story of young people moving in and then young people moving out. But those numbers have stayed relatively the same,” said William Frey, a senior research fellow for the institution.

In Maryland, Prince George’s County lost close to 2,000 residents last year, while Montgomery County experienced population gains at about the same rate as D.C.

Growth was much more pronounced in the region’s Virginia suburbs, according to the census.

Families tended to stay in the region’s inner core rather than venturing out to counties such as Prince William, paying off for Fairfax in particular.

The affluent county lost residents in 2006, but about 8,000 people moved in last year, ranking Fairfax County ninth nationally in terms of numeric gains.

In Arlington, the population grew 1.7 percent compared with less than 1 percent the year before. And Alexandria increased by 1.3 percent, up from 0.5 percent in 2006, according to the census.

In Loudoun, the number of residents continued to surge, rising 4.9 percent over 2006, ranking the wealthy county second in the nation in terms of the percentage increase.

The growth is just slightly higher than 2006 but far lower than previous years, when population figures jumped about 10 percent from year to year and Loudoun ranked as the nation’s fastest-growing county.

The suffering housing market is the major factor keeping population gains nationwide modest at best, said William Frey, senior research fellow for the Brookings Institution.

dlevitz@dcexaminer.com