County No. 23 in Hispanic Growth

6 Others in N.Va. Rank in Top 25

Of the 25 counties with the fastest-growing Hispanic populations in the United States, seven are in Northern Virginia, according to a new report by the Pew Hispanic Center. The study compared recent census data from the 1,362 U.S. counties that had at least 1,000 Hispanic residents last year.

At the top of the list of percentage gains was Frederick County, Va., where the Hispanic population shot up 335 percent from 2000 to 2007. It was followed by Culpeper County, which had a 312 percent increase. The other Northern Virginia counties that made the list are Fauquier (6), Spotsylvania (10), Stafford (11), Loudoun (13) and Prince William (23).

Conversely, two of the jurisdictions in the nation whose Hispanic populations have decreased the most, based on the raw number lost, were also in Northern Virginia: third-ranked Arlington County, which lost 2,857 Hispanic residents during that period, and 10th-ranked Alexandria, which lost 906.

The numbers are further evidence that affordable housing and job growth helped create a major demographic shift to the region's outer suburbs during the first part of the decade, said Richard Fry, the study's author.

"Hispanics left the inner suburbs to pursue lower-cost living and cheaper housing," said Fry, who also noted that many counties on the list, such as Prince William and Loudoun, had rapid growth in their overall populations.

"It's not just Hispanics. It's the non-Hispanic population that has been growing as well," he said. "The counties that attract Latinos are also attracting non-Latinos."

In Loudoun, the Hispanic population grew 183 percent to 28,529, and in Fauquier, a 240 percent increase brought the county's Hispanic population to 3,791.

Meanwhile, as Arlington and Alexandria grew more urban, lower-cost housing was torn down and replaced by condominiums and other development, Fry said, citing one factor for the decline in those areas.

Those who have witnessed the rapid demographic change and political battles that have resulted in Prince William, Manassas and other communities are not likely to be surprised by the findings in the report, dated Oct. 23. In Culpeper County, which had 3,533 Hispanic residents in 2007 after counting barely any in 2000, it's been a difficult adjustment for many.

"The change hasn't been a good one in my mind," said county Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Chase (I-Stevensburg). "Seems like half the grocery store's in Spanish."

Chase, a retired farmer and Army major, said he wasn't speaking on behalf of the county but as a private citizen who worries the newcomers don't do enough to learn English and "meld in."

"I don't even know where they come from," he said. "In the past two or three years, it's just bloomed."

In Prince William, where the Hispanic population increased 153 percent, to 69,222, from 2000 to 2007, Supervisor Martin E. Nohe (R-Coles) said he viewed the change as "part of a success story," while acknowledging the growing pains.

"As the population changes, there are struggles that come with those changes," he said, noting that spending on English language education in the county has soared.

"I went to Woodbridge High School 20 years ago, and there were just a handful of minority students," he said. "Now it looks like a different school. It looks like the community as a whole, like the country as a whole. And that's a positive thing.

"It's important that students of every race be exposed to students of other races and cultures," Nohe continued, "because that's what they'll be dealing with as adults in broader society."