Growth Spurt

Release Date: Friday, December 30th 2011

Good news right before Christmas and the New Year: From April 1, 2010, through July 1, 2011, DC’s population grew 2.7%--the first time it outpaced all US states and equivalents in growth in more than 70 years, according to new US Census Bureau population estimates. DC experienced a 16,273-person increase—from 601,723 to 617,996—since the 2010 Census. The city is ecstatic, and so is the DowntownDC BID. 

What this means:

• The population increase will spur demand for DC and Downtown retail.

• More existing and future DC and Downtown employers will find their target workforce in the city.

• Demand will rise for Downtown and DC cultural and entertainment venues and restaurants.

• New residential service jobs, such as those in new supermarkets, will be created.

• New income tax revenues will allow for needed economic and social development and infrastructure investment.

Previously, the BID was disappointed with the Census' April 2010 population increase estimate of approximately 30,000 for DC, given that more than 35,000 new housing units were constructed in DC from 2000 through 2010.  The new estimate appears to be correcting for this recent construction and the city’s lower apartment vacancy rate.

Note: 30,500 multifamily units were built in Central DC during this time frame; and 5,500 such units are now under construction--up from 2,500 last year.  The BID estimates another 1,000 to 2,000 units will break ground in DC in the first half of 2012.

With 100 million SF of development potential in the Center City—St. Elizabeths, Poplar Point, Skyland, Hill East, McMillan Reservoir, Walter Reed, and many much smaller sites—the BID expects DC's population will grow by 3,000 to 5,000 residents per year over the next 10 to 15 years, not including the natural population increase resulting from more births than deaths.

By the way, in addition to DC, only Texas’ population grew more than 2% in the new Census. It climbed 2.1%.