COUNTY POPULATION
The population of Volusia County was estimated by the Census Bureau at 500,413 residents as of July 2007. That was an increase of 0.8 percent from a year earlier and 12.9 percent since the 2000 Census.
According to the 2007 Census Bureau estimate, Volusia County's population had increased since July 2000 despite a loss from natural change (an annual average of about 1,110 fewer births than deaths). That was offset by net domestic migration (an annual average of about 8,355 more native-born residents arriving than leaving) and international migration (about 785 more foreign-born residents arriving than leaving). Therefore, immigration was the smallest component of population change, and it accounted directly for 8.6 percent of the County’s population increase over this period.
The 2000 Census recorded 443,343 residents in the county, an increase of 19.6 percent over the 370,712 residents in 1990. During the previous decade, the population rose by 43.3 percent.
[Note: these population data record the children born to immigrants
as part of the natural change rather than part of the increase from immigration.]
FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION
FAIR estimates the foreign-born population in the county in mid-year 2007 to be about 38,070 persons (7.6% of the population). This represents an increase of 34.3 percent from the 2000 Census and compares with an 11.4 percent increase in the native-born population.
Immigration also contributes to population growth through the children born to immigrants in this country. Nationally the share of births to the foreign-born is about double their share of the population. A 15.2 percent share of the county’s current births is large enough to account for about 735 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may be adding as many as 1,520 persons to the metro area’s population annually, i.e. about one-sixth (16.8%) of the County’s annual average population change.
The 2000 Census recorded 28,353 foreign-born residents in Volusia County. That was a 6.4 percent share of the overall population, which was lower than for the state (16.7%). The 2000 data showed an increase of 31.9 percent in the immigrant population since 1990, which compared with a 18.8 percent increase in the native-born population (which includes children born to immigrants) over the same period. That meant that immigration accounted directly for 9.4 percent of the overall population increase of the County.
In 2000, the Census recorded that more than one-quarter (30%) of the County's foreign-born population had entered since 1990. This was lower than the rate for the state overall (38.6%). More than half (52.7%) of the foreign-born residents had become naturalized U.S. citizens. This was a higher rate than for the state overall (45.2%).
Another indicator of the impact of the foreign-born population may be seen in data on residents who speak a language other than English at home. In the County in 2000, the share of other-than-English speakers at home (age 5 and older) was 10.8 percent. More than one-third (37%) of those persons admitted to speaking English less than very well.
In 1990, the number of foreign-born residents was about 21,340. That constituted a population share of 5.8 percent. By comparison, the foreign-born population shares of the country and the state in 1990 were, respectively, 7.9 percent and 12.9 percent.
LEGAL IMMIGRATION
A study released by the Center for Immigration Studies in October 2001 indicated that there were 3,177 legal immigrants who indicated that they intended to settle in Volusia County between FY'91-'98. This number did not include persons granted legal immigrant status as a result of the 1986 amnesty for illegal aliens. The ten countries that supplied the largest number of these new immigrants are shown below.
