Leesburg, VA is a historic town located in beautiful Loudoun County. Once considered rural horse country, Loudoun now consistently ranks at or near the top of Forbes' annual list of richest counties in the United States. And many of those well-off Loudoun County residents live in and around Leesburg, which means that this small town is now bursting at the seams and spreading out over the surrounding countryside. Not surprisingly, numerous businesses, including trendy restaurants, unique boutiques, breweries and wineries have sprung up in Leesburg to meet the needs of its growing population, which was estimated to be 45,000 in 2014.
Between 2000 and 2014, the population of Leesburg grew an astronomical 62.23 percent. Once a sleepy historic town, Leesburg is now surrounded by numerous new neighborhoods filled with large homes and townhomes.
Leesburg's popularity stems in part to its excellent location. It lies on the border between the rural western and northern parts of Loudoun County and the much more populous southern and eastern sections. So Leesburg can offer residents the best of both worlds. For example, if you were to drive five or ten miles to the north and west, you would be in the country, where you could pick your own berries and apples at local farms. But drive in the opposite direction for 20 to 30 miles and you would find yourself in bustling Tysons Corner or Washington, DC.
Another reason for Leesburg's explosive growth was the construction of the Dulles Greenway. Up until about 20 years ago, Leesburg was considered a far-off exurb of Washington, DC, even though it is only about 33 miles from Washington, DC. One of the main reasons why Leesburg grew so slowly was that the two major routes leading into and out of Leesburg -- Routes 15 and 7 -- were perpetually bogged down with heavy traffic during the morning and afternoon rush hours. To address the problem, the Dulles Greenway, a toll road that extends from the Dulles Toll Road to Leesburg, was opened in 1995. Although traffic during rush hour can still be trying, this road did make life somewhat easier on commuters, and it didn't take long for new suburbs to spring up around the road and also around Leesburg.
In some ways, Leesburg could be considered a walkable town, especially if you should choose to live in the downtown area, which boasts plenty of restaurants and bars. Access to shopping is also easy since Leesburg provides a free trolley service from the Historic District to the large Leesburg Corner Premium Outlet Mall, where you can find such names as Coach, Polo Ralph Lauren and OshKosh B'gosh. Unfortunately, there are few large employers in Leesburg, so most residents have a car in order to commute to their jobs. Other residents take advantage of the commuter lots in the Leesburg area where they can pick up buses to DC and other points to the east of town.
As for the future, there are plans for the Washington Metro's Silver Line to eventually end in the community of Ashburn, which is located about 8 miles to the east of Leesburg. Although it is believed that the Ashburn terminal will be finished in 2020, the project has hit a number of hiccups along the way, which has caused it to fall behind schedule several times.
Of course, as with most communities, you'll find low-, medium- and high-income residents in Leesburg. But as mentioned before, Loudoun and Leesburg have become very attractive to those in the latter category. And so it probably shouldn't be surprising that the median household income for Leesburg is $101,719, which is double the national median. Many of these high-income families are especially attracted to the large executive-style homes with park-like lots that can be found on the outskirts of the town.
Leesburg residents also tend to be highly educated. For example, more than 49 percent have earned a bachelor's degree and another 18.3 percent have a graduate or a professional degree.
This town has attracted a lot of young families who want to enjoy the slower pace of a suburban lifestyle but who still want to be reasonably close to the many employers that are located in the Dulles area, Washington, DC, Tysons Corner and Reston. So it's probably not surprising that the average age of Leesburg residents is 33.8 and that 30.7 percent of the town's population is under 20 years of age. Leesburg is also attractive to those who want to get more bang for their housing buck than they could in pricier Fairfax County.
However, Leesburg -- and Loudoun County, in general -- is not a popular place for young, single Millennials to settle down. While there are numerous bars, wineries and breweries in Leesburg, its nightlife scene is not nearly as exciting as what can be found in, say, Arlington or Washington, DC.
As Leesburg has grown, so has its diversity. In 2000, whites made up 83 percent of the population, Hispanics were 5.88 percent, Asians were 2.61 percent, and blacks were at 9.21 percent. Today, the population is now approximately 61 percent white, 19 percent Hispanic, almost 9 percent Asian and 7 percent black. In addition, approximately 22 percent of Leesburg's population was born in a foreign country.
