Cook PVI R+10 | Population (2010) 757,917 Median income 64,751 | |
Ethnicity 74.3% White; 17.1% Black; 3.9% Asian; 4.9% Hispanic; 0.3% Native American; 2.1% other | ||
Virginia's 7th congressional district is a United States congressional district in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The district is currently represented by Republican Congressman Dave Brat, first elected in 2014.
Contents
2016 Redistricting
The Virginia Legislature's 2012 redistricting of the adjacent 3rd district was found unconstitutional and replaced with a court-ordered redistricting on January 16 2016 for the 2016 elections.
Geography
The district stretches from the west end of Richmond and its suburbs in Henrico and portions of Chesterfield Counties, through Orange, Culpeper and northward to Page and Rappahannock Counties. Its current configuration dates from 1993, when Virginia was forced to create a majority-minority district by a Justice Department directive. At that time, most of Richmond, which had been entirely in the old 3rd District for over a century, was shifted to a newly created 3rd District. The remaining territory in the old 3rd was combined with some more rural areas to the north to form the new 7th District.
Prior to 1993, the 7th District stretched from the fringes of the Washington, D.C. suburbs to Charlottesville. It included the far northern portion of the Shenandoah Valley, as well as Manassas and Fredericksburg.
Demographics
According to the United States Census Bureau's 2010 data for the 111th Congress, the total population of the district is 757,917. Median age for the district is 39.2 years. 74.3% of the district is White, 17.1% Black, 3.9% Asian, 0.3% Native American or Alaskan, and 2.1% some other race with 4.9% Hispanic or Latino. Owner-occupied housing is 72.0% and renter-occupied housing is 28.0%. The median value of single-family owner-occupied homes is $188,400. 88.1% of the district population has at least a high school diploma, 36.7% at least a bachelor's degree or higher. 9.9% of the district are civilian veterans. 12.7% are foreign born and 20.1% speak a language other than English at home. 9.9% are of disability status. 68.2% of the district is in the labor force, which consists of those 16 years and older. Mean travel time to work is 26.2 minutes. Median household income is $64,751. Per capita income is $33,628. 5.3% of the population account for families living below the poverty level, and 7.6% of individuals live below the poverty level.