In spite of a uniquely thriving culture, Charlottesville’s population tallies run closer to those of the rest of Virginia than expected.
Charlottesville met the requirements for study by the U.S. Census Bureau thanks to the agency’s decision to publish findings for populations of 65,000 or more.
A few unique academic, family, and language statistics, culled from a 2005 population survey, set the area apart.
The academic culture of Charlottesville is paying off with big numbers. Forty-five percent of Charlottesville residents over the age of 25 attained an associate’s degree or higher academic ranking, comparable to less than 40 percent statewide.
Stats from birth rates to numbers of households speak well of the thriving Charlottesville family dynamic.
In the past year, 2.7 percent of Charlottesville women over the age of 15 gave birth. Of those, only 11 percent of these new mothers were unwed, however. Statewide, 3.5 percent of women over the age of 15 gave birth, and nearly one in four was unwed.
Florida, take notice: Folks aged 65 years or more make up more than 13 percent of the Charlottesville population. The state’s elderly population percentage lags behind at 11 percent.
The number of residents that primarily speak a language other than English is smaller in Charlottesville than in the rest of the state, a comparison of 7 percent to nearly 13 percent, respectively. But Spanish is as prevalent in Charlottesville as throughout the state—more than 40 percent of dual-language speakers here and in the rest of Virginia.
It is in the other languages that Charlottesville sports a peculiarity. Twenty-three percent of Virginians that speak a language besides English claim to speak an “Asian and Pacific Islander” language. The percentage of Charlottesville residents that speak such languages jumps to nearly 29 percent.
The Census Bureau plans to release data for smaller localities in 2007, which will allow for a more meticulous study of the broadly titled “Charlottesville Metropolitan Statistical Area.”
The next round of Charlottesville statistics, documenting economic statistics, will be released on August 29.
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