U.Va. demographers say one in 10 here foreign-born

By News in Brief
Published: July 7, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE—Demographers at the University of Virginia say that one in 10 Virginians is foreign-born.
The latest study by U.Va.’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service notes that new arrivals account for one-fourth of Virginia’s population growth since 2000.

In 2006, the top five countries of birth for Virginia’s foreign-born were El Salvador, Mexico, Korea, the Philippines and India.
Almost three-fourths of foreign-born Virginians are between the ages of 25 and 64. The center said that suggests that employment is the attraction.

The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria metropolitan region tops the state in terms of foreign born. One of every five residents in that area is foreign born.