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While Virginia’s population increased overall by 7.9% between the Census of 2010 and the newly released number for 2020, Prince Edward, Buckingham and Cumberland counties all saw decreases in population.

Charlotte County’s population went along with that trend as well, falling by 8.6%.

The 2020 Census numbers released Thursday afternoon told the most troubling story for Prince Edward County which saw its population fall by more than 1,500, or 6.5%.

The county is now the 78th most populated municipality in Virginia with a population listed at 21,849.

The Town of Farmville actually fared worse than the county. The town’s population fell 9% from 8,216 in the 2010 census to 7,473 in the 2020 census.

Lunenburg County’s population fell 7.6%.

Buckingham County’s total was down by 1.9% to a total 16,824. Cumberland County shrank to less than 10,000 residents at 9,675, a drop of 3.8%. Cumberland County is 116th in population out of 133 counties and independent cities in Virginia. Buckingham is ranked 89th.

Fairfax County is the most populous municipality in Virginia with a total population of 1,150,309. Prince William County is a very distant second at 482,204 people. Highland County, home of the town of Monterey, the annual Maple Festival and the award-winning Highland Recorder, is the smallest populated municipality in Virginia with only 2,232 people.

Other counties in the region performed much better than Prince Edward. Appomattox County grew by 7.7%. Amelia County grew by 4.5%. Nottoway County was down by 1.3%. Albemarle County grew by a whopping 13.6%.

Loudoun County was the fastest growing county in the state, adding more than 108,000 people, or 34.8%.