March 2, 2011 — The latest census brief from the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service highlights census data on people of Asian origin living in Virginia.

The center continues its efforts to make 2010 U.S. Census results, released last month, more accessible and user-friendly.
 
•    As of April 1, 2010, almost 440,000 Virginia residents were Asian, accounting for 5.5 percent of the total population. This constitutes a 69 percent increase since 2000.
•    Nine out of every 10 Asians lived in Virginia's three major metropolitan areas: Northern Virginia (71 percent), Hampton Roads (13 percent) and Richmond (9 percent). High concentrations of Asians were also found in college and university communities such as Charlottesville, Williamsburg, Harrisonburg and Lynchburg cities and York, Montgomery, Albemarle and Roanoke counties.
•    More than two-thirds of Virginia's Asians were U.S. citizens: 28 percent were native citizens; 40 percent were born outside of the U.S. and naturalized; and 32 percent were foreign-born non-citizens.
•    The top five birth countries of Virginia's foreign-born Asians were India, Korea, Philippines, Vietnam and China.

Localities with the largest number of Asian residents include: Fairfax County (189,661), Loudoun (46,033), Prince William (30,317), Virginia Beach (26,769), and Henrico (20,052).  Localities with the largest percentage of Asian residents include: Fairfax County (17.5 percent), Fairfax city (15 percent), Loudoun (14.7 percent), Arlington (9.6 percent), and Falls Church (9.4 percent).

This is one of a series of Census Briefs prepared by the Demographics & Workforce Group of the Cooper Center. For information, a map, and related data tables, visit its website.

REPORTERS: Qian Cai (pronounced "Chien Tsai") can answer questions and provide comments for your stories. She can be reached at 434-982-5581 or qian.cai@virginia.edu.