Prince William County

Prince William County

In 1608, Captain John Smith and his band of frontiersmen rode a barge along the Potomac River, the first white men to touch the unnamed wilderness that is now known as Prince William County. The county was formed in 1731 and was named for William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, second son of King George II. The territory, which included Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria, Loudon and Fauquier, was reduced to its present size in 1759.

Today, Prince William County encompasses 348 square miles and includes the independent cities of Manassas and Manassas Park. With these cities, the area is 360 square miles. The current estimated county population as of  2015 was 451,721.

Prince William County is part of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 2012 Prince William County had the seventh highest income of any county in the United States.

According to the 2009 American Community Survey, the 2009 median household income in Prince William County was $89,785. The per capita income for the county was $35,890. The same survey reported that in 2009, 6.0% of Prince William County’s population was living below the poverty line, including 7.7% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.