Regional Demographic Profile

An important facet of the Environmental Justice Analysis is understanding the demographic makeup of the region in order to compare the geographic location of minority and disadvantaged population groups with the location of major transportation improvements from the 2010 CLRP.  This allows us to understand how major transportation improvements over the next 30 years will affect these population groups.

The 1983 Washington, DC Metropolitan Statistical Area boundaries were used as the geographic limitations.  This includes The District of Columbia, Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George’s Counties in Maryland, Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, and Stafford Counties in Virginia, and the independent cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, Manassas, and Manassas Park in Virginia. 

The analysis looks at the following population groups:

  • African American – a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.
  • Asian American – a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent.
  • Hispanic/Latino – a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.
  • Low-Income – a person whose household income is less than one-and-a-half times the federal government’s official poverty threshold.  The official poverty threshold depends on family size.  For instance, for a family of four, the poverty threshold is an annual income of $17,000.  In the current analysis, a family of four with an annual income of less than $25,500 is considered low income.
  • Disabled – a person with any form of disability, including sensory, physical, mental, self-care, going outside the home, and employment disability.
  • Older Adult – a person over the age of 65 years old.
  • Limited English Proficiency – a person with limited ability to communicate in the English language.

*The American Indian and Alaskan Native population was not considered in the current analysis, because 2010 U.S. Census data shows that this population represents less than 1% of the Washington region.

The Washington, DC Metropolitan region is growing and changing.  In the ten year period between 2000 and 2010 the region saw a 16% increase in population, and was home to just over 5.25 million people in 2010. The ‘Demographic Profile’ graph below shows how the select population groups were represented throughout the region using the most current geographically complete data for each group.  Basic race and age characteristics were compiled using U.S. Census 2010 data, income and linguistic characteristics come from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year aggregate averages from 2005-2009, and disability data comes from the U.S. Census 2000. The ‘Change in Regional Demographics’ graph shows how these populations have changed since 2000.  The varying data sources and survey methodologies used make it impossible to make perfect comparisons over time, however the data paints a picture of how the region has been changing in recent years. 

 

 

According to the 2010 Census estimates, there were approximately 1.4 million Black and African American residents in the metropolitan Washington region in 201o, which is approximately 27% of the total regional population. Though the actual population of Black and African Americans increased 13% since 2000, the regional proportion did not change significantly over this period of time.   The Asian Population group made up 10% of the 2010 regional population with 512,000 residents.  This population group increased by 57% since 2000, and the regional proportion increased by 3 percentage points.  There were roughly 750,000 Hispanic and Latino residents in the region in 2010, which made up 14% of the total regional population.  The number of Hispanic and Latino residents increased by 77% since 2000, and their regional proportion increased by 5 percentage points.  There were 522,000 persons over the age of 65 living in the region in 2010, which was roughly 10% of the regional population.  The population of older adults increased by 29% since 2000, and the proportion of the regional population increase by 1 percentage point.

The American Community Survey’s 2005-2009 5 year aggregates indicated that there were 567,000 people in the low-income population group in the Washington region, which was approximately 12% of the total population.  This population group increased by 6% since 2000, and the regional proportion of low-income residents dropped by 0.5 percentage points. There were approximately 404,000 persons with limited English proficiency according to the 5-year averages, which is about 10% of the total regional population above the age of 5.  The number of residents with limited English proficiency increased by 18% since 2000, and regional proportion of this population group increased by about 1 percentage point over the same period of time.   Finally, according to the 2000 Census, nearly 630,000 persons with disabilities lived in the region, which is 15% percent of the total population above age 5.  Since more recent data is not available for this population group, comparison over time was not possible. 

The maps found in links below illustrate how these population groups were geographically dispersed throughout the region.  Color thresholds were set using the regional proportion of each population group.  According to these distributions, the African American and Black population group lived predominantly in the eastern half of the region in 2010.  In contrast, the Asian population group lived predominantly in the western half of the region.   The Hispanic and Latino population group lived primarily along transportation corridors throughout the region in 2010.  And the older adult population was dispersed throughout the region, though there was some concentration along the I-270 corridor and in lower density areas on the west side of the region.  According to 2005-2009 ASC estimates, the low-income population was located predominantly in the eastern half of the central core of the region, and the Limited English Speaking population lived predominantly along major transportation corridors in Maryland and Virginia.  Finally, the disabled population was widely dispersed throughout the region in 2000, though there was some concentration in the eastern portion of the region. 

For maps detailing the geographic distributions of each population group relative to major highway, HOV, and transit improvements from the 2010 CLRP, please see below:

Regional Poverty Rates

The federal government’s official poverty threshold is calculated based on assumptions regarding the dietary needs of families on austere budgets and the proportion of family income spent on food.  According to the 2005-2009 American Community Survey averages, 7% of the region’s population lived below the poverty threshold.  However, it is clear that poverty rates are higher for minority population groups and for individuals with disabilities.  Persons with disabilities had the highest poverty rate (15%),

 

Summary of Analysis Results

  • The region’s largest minority group is the African American population (27% of the population)
  • The Hispanic and Latino population group is the fastest growing group in the region (77% increase since 2000)
  • The geographic distributions of each of the minority and disadvantaged groups vary significantly
  • Minority individuals and persons with disabilities are more likely to live below the federal government’s official poverty threshold compared to the general population