Loudoun County, Virginia


Loudoun County is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. The county seat is Leesburg. Loudoun County is part of the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV Metropolitan Statistical Area.
As of 2023, Loudoun County had a median household income of $156,821, the highest of any county or county equivalent in the nation.

History

18th century

Loudoun County was established in 1757 from Fairfax County. The county is named for John Campbell, Fourth Earl of Loudoun and governor general of Virginia from 1756 to 1759. Western settlement began in the 1720s and 1730s with Quakers, Scots-Irish, Germans and others moving south from Pennsylvania and Maryland, and also by English and enslaved Africans moving upriver from Tidewater.
At the time of the American Revolution, Loudoun County was Virginia's most populous county. It was also rich in agriculture, and the county's contributions of grain to George Washington's Continental Army earned it the nickname "Breadbasket of the Revolution."

19th century

War of 1812

During the War of 1812, important federal documents and government archives were evacuated from Washington and stored at Leesburg. Local tradition holds that these documents were stored at Rokeby House.
U.S. president James Monroe treated Oak Hill Plantation as a primary residence from 1823 until his death on July 4, 1831. The Loudoun County coat of arms and flag, granted by the English College of Arms, memorialize the special relationship between Britain and the United States that developed through his Monroe Doctrine.

American Civil War

The American Civil War divided the county, which saw fighting because of its strategic location. In April 1861, both of Loudoun County's representatives to the Virginia Secession Convention of 1861 favored the Union. Delegates elected John Janney, a former Quaker and slave owner, presided over that assembly, which ultimately voted to secede. Loudoun voters also voted to secede. In addition to Confederate cavalry and infantry units formed within the county, other Loudoun residents traveled to Maryland to join Union army cavalry and border guard units. On October 21, 1861, in the Battle of Ball's Bluff along the Potomac River near Leesburg, future jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. was critically wounded.
In the spring of 1862, Leesburg was occupied by Union troops and later recaptured by the Confederate Army after Union troops withdrew. Confederate partisan John S. Mosby based his operations in Loudoun and adjoining Fauquier County.
In June 1863, during the Gettysburg campaign, Confederate major general J.E.B. Stuart and Union cavalry clashed in the battles of Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville. By December 1863, Loudoun was held by Union forces, and was among the nine counties which elected delegates to the Virginia General Assembly at Alexandria.
Loudoun voters elected and reelected John J. Henshaw and J. Madison Downey as their representatives to that body, and fellow delegates elected Downey as their Speaker. Loudoun voters elected and reelected William F. Mercer to the upper body of that version of the Virginia General Assembly, and elected him to the Virginia Senate in the 1865–1867 session. They elected former delegates R.M. Bentley and William Hill Gray as their part-time delegates in the lower house in that session.

20th century

During World War I, Loudoun County was a major breadbasket for supplying provisions to soldiers in Europe. Loudoun farmers implemented new agricultural innovations such as vaccination of livestock, seed inoculations and ensilage. The county experienced a boom in agricultural output, outputting an annual wheat output of 1.04 million bushels in 1917, the largest of any county in Virginia that year. 1.2 million units of home produce were produced at home, much of which went to training sites across the state such as Camp Lee. The Smith–Lever Act of 1914 established increased agricultural education in Virginia counties, increasing agricultural yields. After the war, a plaque was dedicated to the "30 glorious dead" from the county who died in the Great War. Five of the thirty died on the front, while the other twenty five died while in training or in other locations inside the United States.
In 1962, Dulles International Airport was built in southeastern Loudoun County in Sterling. Since then, Loudoun County has experienced a high-tech boom and rapid growth. Accordingly, many have moved to eastern Loudoun and become residents of planned communities such as Sterling Park, Sugarland Run, Cascades, Ashburn Village, and Ashburn Farm, making that section a veritable part of the Washington suburbs. Others have moved to the county seat or to the small towns and rural communities of the Loudoun Valley, which makes up the majority of the county's area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Loudoun County has a total area of, of which is land and is water. It is bounded on the north by the Potomac River; across the river are Frederick, Washington and Montgomery counties in Maryland; it is bounded on the south by Prince William and Fauquier counties, on the west by the watershed of the Blue Ridge Mountain across which are Jefferson County, West Virginia and Clarke County, and on the east by Fairfax County. The Bull Run Mountains and Catoctin Mountain bisect the county. To the west of the range is the Loudoun Valley. Bisecting the Loudoun Valley from Hillsboro to the Potomac River is Short Hill Mountain.

Adjacent counties

National protected area

From 1890 to 1940, the county had a decline in population as people moved to cities for more opportunities. The decline was likely highest among African Americans, who had worked in an agricultural economy that was becoming increasingly mechanized. During the first half of the 20th century, African Americans moved out of rural areas to cities in the Great Migration. In the 21st century, African Americans now form a proportionally much smaller portion of the county's population than they once did, and the Hispanic and Asian populations of the county outnumber them significantly.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 420,959. The median age was 37.0 years. 28.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 9.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 96.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 94.3 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 53.7% White, 7.3% Black or African American, 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 21.3% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 6.7% from some other race, and 10.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 14.2% of the population.
88.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 11.9% lived in rural areas.
There were 137,442 households in the county, of which 46.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 18.4% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 16.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 142,074 housing units, of which 3.3% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 76.4% were owner-occupied and 23.6% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.7% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.6%.

Racial and ethnic composition

2000 to 2019

As of the census of 2010, there were 312,311 people, 104,583 households, and 80,494 families residing in the county. The population density was. There were 109,442 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was:
According to the 2010 census, 10.5% of residents reported being of German ancestry, while 9.1% reported Irish, 7.7% English, 5.4% Italian and 5.2% American ancestry.
The most spoken languages other than English in Loudoun County in 2018 were Spanish, spoken by 10.8% of the population, and Telugu, spoken by 2.8% of the population. Almost 25% of Loudoun County residents were born outside of the United States, with the largest number of foreign-born residents being from El Salvador, India, and Mexico.
As of 2000, there were 59,900 households, out of which 43.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.30% were married couples living together, 7.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.80% were non-families. 18.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.82, and the average family size was 3.24.
In the county, 29.80% of the population was under the age of 18, 5.70% was from 18 to 24, 38.90% from 25 to 44, 20.00% from 45 to 64, and 5.60% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.50 males.
In 2011, census survey data concluded that Loudoun County had the highest median income in the country at $119,134.
From 1980 to 2014, deaths from cancer in Loudoun County decreased by 46 percent, the largest such decrease of any county in the United States.
From 2017 to 2018, Loudoun County saw an increase of 18.5% of households experiencing homelessness, a 21% increase for single adults, and a 36% increase for families. Homelessness for veterans in the county decreased by 16% from 2017 to 2018.