This story is Part 3 of WTOP’s three-part series “On the Move: The D.C. region’s population trends.”
This video is no longer available.
Families are increasingly moving away from the D.C. region, a trend that’s especially true in one of the wealthiest Virginia suburbs.
Loudoun County is the only D.C. area suburb that didn’t add to its 25-44 age group population, according to a WTOP analysis of census data from 2024. It lost 101 people in that age bracket from 2023 to 2024, and also experienced a decline from 2022 to 2023.
Remote work flexibility, opportunity and cost of living could be contributing to that trend, two experts said.
Younger adults are starting to begin families later than previous generations, and “if you get to the point where a two-bedroom condo doesn’t cut it anymore, you really need a three bedroom. We don’t build that many three-bedroom houses or apartments,” Terry Clower, director at George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis, said.
If two young professionals are searching for a house they can afford, Clower said they’re increasingly considering places such as Charlotte, Nashville, Atlanta or Dallas.
“Land is cheaper out further and of course, it’s a supply and demand issue,” Clower said. “We haven’t been building many houses in the core.”
The result, Clower said, is a “persistent challenge” in retaining young family households across the D.C. region. In the case of Loudoun County, Clower described it as one of the wealthiest counties in the area. The cost of housing is higher, he said, and while “more modest housing has been built,” there isn’t enough to meet the demand.
Instead of considering the closest immediate suburbs, families are looking to buy homes in Frederick, Maryland, Jefferson County, West Virginia, and Stafford and Spotsylvania counties in Virginia.
Peter Leonard-Morgan, president of the Dulles Area Association of Realtors, said Loudoun County hasn’t been attracting younger people because there’s “a bit of a crisis of affordability.” From August 2024 to August 2025, prices went up 2.4%, closed sales increased by 12% and pending sales rose 50%, he said.
“The balance is not there,” Leonard-Morgan said. “It’s becoming very difficult for folks who are certainly getting on the income ladder, on the work ladder, to buy anything in Loudoun County.”
Some families have been moving to Winchester, Leonard-Morgan said, because there have been a lot of new homes getting built. Others have been leaving Loudoun County because the opportunity presents itself.
If kids have left home for college or work, families have started downsizing.
“I see that dynamic of a lot of folks moving out of Northern Virginia,” Leonard-Morgan said. “They’re either retiring or they’re empty nesters, and they can buy an amazing property over in Delaware where the prices are a lot less, and there’s a lot of construction going on of very nice homes.”
Inflation and cost of living are motivating factors to move away, too.
“I do know people who have either thought or moved much further afield to places, maybe the Carolinas, for example, where you can have a great lifestyle for less money,” Leonard-Morgan said. “That is a concern.”
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
