Prince William County, Virginia Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Prince William County, Virginia, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Prince William County, Virginia. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Prince William County, Virginia. The estimated population of Prince William County, Virginia is 477,224 people, with a median age of 35.7.

We can look at the total population in Prince William County over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
477,224
+2.23%
+5.87%
2020
466,834
+1.17%
-
2019
461,423
+1.02%
-
2018
456,749
+1.33%
-
2017
450,763
 - -

Population of Prince William County, Virginia by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
40.8%
44.6%
 -8.52%
Black/African American
20.3%
20.2%
 +0.50%
Native
0.2%
0.2%
 0.00%
Hispanic
24.5%
22.4%
 +9.38%
Asian
9.4%
8%
 +17.50%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0.1%
0.1%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
4.3%
4.1%
 +4.88%
Other
0.4%
0.3%
 +33.33%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Prince William County, Virginia by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 35.7 +0.85% 35 +1.16% 36.3 0%
2020 35.4 +0.57% 34.6 +0.58% 36.3 +0.83%
2019 35.2 +0.86% 34.4 +0.58% 36 +0.84%
2018 34.9 +0.58% 34.2 +0.59% 35.7 +0.85%
2017 34.7 - 34 - 35.4 -

The median age of Prince William County, Virginia gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 36,029 -1.96% 34,869 -3.18% 35,321 33,761
10 to 19 33,675 +10.54% 31,130 +10.07% 37,362 34,384
20 to 29 29,551 +4.98% 28,401 +3.64% 31,052 29,449
30 to 39 33,826 +1.01% 35,095 +0.48% 34,169 35,255
40 to 49 34,313 +4.59% 34,214 +1.19% 35,872 34,622
50 to 59 29,891 +8.58% 29,030 +7.98% 32,528 31,409
60 to 69 17,496 +13.96% 19,306 +8.77% 20,059 21,049
70+ 10,062 +31.31% 13,875 +22.99% 13,593 17,339

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Prince William County, Virginia is $113,831.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Prince William County.

  • Under 25
    $57,000.00
  • 25 to 44
    $108,466.00
  • 45 to 64
    $134,967.00
  • 65 and over
    $88,685.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Prince William County, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Prince William County, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Prince William County, Virginia is currently $138,545.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

19.86% of households in Prince William County are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Prince William County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    5.96%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    10.28%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    12.61%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    14.60%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    21.56%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    15.12%
  • $200,000 or more
    19.86%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Prince William County is $45,240.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Prince William County by the total population of Prince William County.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Prince William County, Virginia, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Prince William County to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    22.06%
  • Bachelor's degree
    38.68%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    9.22%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    27.09%
  • Less than high school diploma
    2.96%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Prince William County that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Prince William County over the age of 16 is 363,139.

Of those people, a total of 72.90% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Prince William County is 67.60%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 26,743 38.50% 14.40%
20 to 24 years 30,148 79.70% 10.90%
25 to 29 years 30,353 86.50% 6.30%
30 to 34 years 32,454 86.70% 3.80%
35 to 44 years 72,542 87.60% 3.30%
45 to 54 years 68,285 88.00% 3.20%
55 to 59 years 30,574 82.10% 3.90%
60 to 64 years 24,093 65.70% 4.50%
65 to 74 years 30,923 31.90% 5.40%
75 years and over 17,024 10.10% 6.40%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Prince William County. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 194,348 70.90% 4.10%
Black or African American 76,202 77.40% 5.50%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1,879 76.10% 1.40%
Asian 35,385 68.80% 5.20%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 306 71.60% 0.00%
Other 25,817 76.10% 5.70%
Two or more races 29,202 76.90% 7.60%
Hispanic or Latino 83,077 77.50% 5.90%
Not Hispanic or Latino 155,487 69.30% 3.90%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Prince William County as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Prince William County is 245,616, with median earnings of $53,973.00.

Women in Prince William County, Virginia earning approximately 68.20% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 245,616 $53,973.00
Male 131,826 $64,042.00
Female 113,790 $43,699.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 32,264 $101,333.00
Business and Financial 18,866 $87,479.00
Computer and Mathematical 19,296 $106,457.00
Architecture and Engineering 5,053 $105,625.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 1,835 $81,157.00
Community and Social Service 4,307 $56,539.00
Legal 2,973 $105,689.00
Educational and Library 14,063 $52,765.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 4,270 $67,310.00
Healthcare Practitioners 10,800 $65,768.00
Healthcare Support 5,866 $28,445.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 5,931 $63,416.00
Law Enforcement 4,147 $103,020.00
Food Preparation and Serving 11,272 $17,933.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 8,830 $26,819.00
Personal Care and Service 6,527 $20,057.00
Sales 21,829 $31,625.00
Office and Administrative Support 25,416 $43,003.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 254 $35,417.00
Construction and Extraction 14,942 $44,480.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 6,636 $51,291.00
Production 6,033 $44,671.00
Transportation and Material Moving 8,520 $40,445.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 19,485 $112,691.00 12,779 $82,147.00
Business and Financial 8,473 $100,954.00 10,393 $81,691.00
Computer and Mathematical 14,205 $110,780.00 5,091 $94,346.00
Architecture and Engineering 4,319 $106,634.00 734 $73,423.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 1,078 $91,447.00 757 $63,491.00
Community and Social Service 1,219 $63,328.00 3,088 $47,247.00
Legal 1,206 $135,644.00 1,767 $81,631.00
Educational and Library 2,951 $61,022.00 11,112 $47,940.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 2,135 $76,363.00 2,135 $55,044.00
Healthcare Practitioners 2,617 $69,726.00 8,183 $64,170.00
Healthcare Support 845 $31,350.00 5,021 $28,063.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 4,254 $70,181.00 1,677 $50,268.00
Law Enforcement 3,323 $102,834.00 824 $104,583.00
Food Preparation and Serving 4,896 $19,820.00 6,376 $16,156.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 4,628 $32,716.00 4,202 $20,482.00
Personal Care and Service 1,220 $21,880.00 5,307 $19,077.00
Sales 11,373 $41,570.00 10,456 $24,638.00
Office and Administrative Support 7,483 $49,636.00 17,933 $41,065.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 195 $35,444.00 59 $35,393.00
Construction and Extraction 14,478 $44,267.00 464 $55,709.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 6,407 $51,350.00 229 $49,732.00
Production 4,343 $52,987.00 1,690 $30,179.00
Transportation and Material Moving 6,782 $42,275.00 1,738 $28,853.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 150,488 households in Prince William County, with an average household size of 3.14 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 115,914 families in Prince William County with an average family size of 3.57 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 90,433 8,352 17,129 34,574
Average Household Size 3.68 3.82 3.69 1.31
Total Families 90,433 8,352 17,129 0
Average Household Size 3.63 3.29 3.43 0

Poverty

Of the 115,914 families in Prince William County, 4.10% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Prince William County:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 156,845 housing units in Prince William County, Virginia.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 150,488 95.95%
Vacant 6,357 4.05%

24.20% of the total 156,845 housing units in Prince William County are rental units. This is approximately 37,964 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 111,213 are occupied by the owner - or 70.91% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Prince William County is $1,806.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Prince William County that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    1,311
  • Less than $500
    417
  • $500 to $999
    1,641
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    6,840
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    16,473
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    8,455
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    2,570
  • $3,000 or more
    1,568

Property Value

The median value of a property in Prince William County is $408,900.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Prince William County that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    2,717
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    525
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    912
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    2,195
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    17,481
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    53,076
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    32,676
  • $1,000,000 or more
    1,631

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Prince William County. The chart below shows the number of properties in Prince William County that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    1,899
  • 1940 to 1949
    1,016
  • 1950 to 1959
    4,217
  • 1960 to 1969
    11,209
  • 1970 to 1979
    21,537
  • 1980 to 1989
    29,301
  • 1990 to 1999
    28,483
  • 2000 to 2009
    41,221
  • 2010 to 2013
    17,700
  • 2014 or later
    262

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Prince William County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    3,387
  • 1 vehicle available
    36,186
  • 2 vehicles available
    64,173
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    46,742

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Prince William County get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Prince William County that commute to work in a particular way.

39.2 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Prince William County.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    2,634
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    8,480
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    15,204
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    22,623
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    17,249
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    8,439
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    30,927
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    7,516
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    13,283
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    41,871
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    37,555
  • 90 or more minutes
    13,134

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Prince William County, Virginia in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Places in Prince William County, Virginia

We have data for 30 places in Prince William County, Virginia. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.