Census: SW Virginia population still declining

Jeff Keeling
·2 min read

WASHINGTON (WJHL) — Southwest Virginia’s population is still decreasing, but not as fast as it did last decade.

Recently released U.S. Census Bureau data shows the nine-county, two-city region’s population fell to 279,241 as of July 1, 2023. That’s a drop of 1,321 people from the previous year’s estimate and it’s the smallest decline in years.

Washington County, the region’s largest by population, experienced its second straight annual population gain in 2023. The county added an estimated 315 people between 2021 and 2023. The region’s population dropped by nearly 6,000 people, or 2.1%, in the first three years since the 2020 census.

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The numbers contrast sharply with those in Northeast Tennessee. The seven-county region has seen a population jump of nearly 15,000 people since the 2020 census, with the vast majority of those being added in the two years between 2021 and 2023.

The Virginia portion of News Channel 11’s viewing area now has almost 11% fewer people than it did in 2010. Those declines have been attributed largely to challenges to the primary economic bases of coal and tobacco.

The population decline of 5,963 since 2020 equates to a 10-year trend of just under 20,000 people. The region’s population declined 8.9%, by 27,860 between 2010 and 2020, from 313,069 to 285,209. In 1980 the region was home to nearly 340,000 people.

The biggest percentage declines since 2020 have come in Buchanan (6.2%) Dickenson (3.5%) and Tazewell (3.3%) counties. Buchanan’s population decreased 15.5% from 2010 to 2020, and the county’s 2023 population of 19,087 is barely more than half the 1980 population of 37,989.

The only county showing a population increase since 2020, Washington, turned into positive territory by adding an estimated 195 people in 2022-23, a 0.4% increase that matched Virginia’s commonwealth-wide total.

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Washington County’s population has grown 0.2% over the three-year period

The county and independent cities’ 2023 populations and the percentage change since 2020 are:

  • Washington: 54,050 (+0.2%)

  • Tazewell: 39,120 (-3.3%)

  • Wise: 35,174 (-2.6%)

  • Smyth: 29,216 (-2.0%)

  • Russell: 25,477 (-1.2%)

  • Lee: 21,847 (-1.9%)

  • Scott: 21,433 (-0.6%)

  • Dickenson: 13,640 (-3.5%)

  • City of Bristol: 16,807 (-2.4%)

  • City of Norton: 3,492 (-5.5%)

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