Fredericksburg is moving up in the world!

Or, well, the world is moving into Fredericksburg.

According to data compiled by the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, the city of Fredericksburg is, and has been for the last four years, the fastest growing municipality in the Commonwealth of Virginia: Its population increased 16.2 percent between the April 2010 census and July 1, 2014. A total of nearly four thousand people moved to Fredericksburg in 2014 alone, an accomplishment city Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw called “a mixed blessing.”

She went on to say, “We have always benefited from our growth in our educated and involved citizenry that brings us a variety of outlooks and a variety of interests.” — while also noting that such an increase in population growth brings with it added strain on, and a heightened demand for the city’s resources.

It’s clear what she’s trying to get at. As more people move into Fredericksburg and the surrounding counties (Of those, Stafford County grew the most, with an increase of 7.2 percent.), more industry comes along, and with it, more traffic, more air pollution, more noise. It’s a real double-edged sword. But it’s one we’re going to have to learn to live with.

(And hey, as a moving company based in Northern Virginia, we’re not complaining!)

The Washington, DC-based Urban Institute recently released a peek into future population forecasts, and what they found is pretty astonishing: By the year 2030, Fredericksburg is expected to be one of the top growth areas — not in Virginia, but — in the country, with an anticipated population increase of more than 220,000. For a city that is, at present, home to just shy of 30,000: Predictions like these get Craig Van Lines to thinking that it may be time to buy another moving truck or 200.

What about the rest of northern Virginia?

The Weldon Cooper Center found that more people are moving into more cities. Six of the top 10 localities with the highest population growth rates are classified as such, five of which can be found in our very own backyards: Alexandria (10.9 percent), Manassas (10.6 percent), Falls Church (9.6 percent), and Fairfax (also 9.6 percent). But that’s not to say Virginians — natives and transplants alike — aren’t choosing, more and more, to call our counties home, too: Loudoun County saw its population increase at a rate of 15.8 percent, while Arlington, New Kent, and Prince William Counties saw growth rathes of 10.4, 9.4, and 8.9 percent, respectively.

(The Cooper Center’s estimates are based on changes in births, deaths, housing stock, school enrollment, and driver’s license issuances. That data is gathered annually and provides the official figures used by state and local governments for planning, budgeting, allocating state tax money and other purposes.)

The City of Fredericksburg Is Expected to Experience 67.5% Population Growth by 2030