West Falls Church is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, West Falls Church had a population of 30,243.
Before 2010, West Falls Church was officially named Jefferson (from Thomas Jefferson). Outside of the Jefferson Village neighborhood, "Jefferson" generally is not used locally to refer to the area bounding Falls Church city to the south and southwest that comprises the CDP. Likewise, "West Falls Church" is rarely used to describe the area but is usually applied to areas west of Falls Church city or near West Falls Church metro station. The bulk of it is made of subdivisions built in the 1940s and early 1950s, including Jefferson Village, Westlawn, Hillwood, Sleepy Hollow, Woodley, Raymondale and Broyhill Park.
History
Following the American Civil War, local African-Americans established prosperous communities in an area then called South Falls Church, along Tinner's Hill and elsewhere. In 1887, white Falls Church residents gerrymandered heavily black South Falls Church out of the town limits and shrank the area of the town by one third. It is speculated that the reason for the shrinking of the town limits was a fear of black power to swing local elections. This was never reversed, and caused the boundary of the future City of Falls Church to follow South Washington Street. The name South Falls Church subsequently fell out of use.
Before 2010, the West Falls Church CDP was officially named Jefferson but that name was rarely used for the area. As the CDP does not lie to the immediate west of Falls Church city, "West Falls Church" is also an uncommon designation for the area and more often refers to the area around West Falls Church station several miles away in the Idylwood CDP.
Geography
West Falls Church is located at (38.8655595, −77.1876993).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 5.03 square miles (13.0 km), of which 4.99 square miles (12.9 km) is land and 0.04 square mile (0.1 km) (0.77%) is water.
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|+West Falls Church CDP, Virginia – Racial and ethnic composition<br><small></small>
!Race / Ethnicity <small>(NH = Non-Hispanic)</small>
!Pop 2000
!Pop 2010
!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |Pop 2020
!% 2000
!% 2010
!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020
|-
|White alone (NH)
|13,981
|11,918
|style='background: #ffffe6; |11,728
|50.98%
|40.81%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |38.78%
|-
|Black or African American alone (NH)
|1,180
|1,317
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,282
|4.30%
|4.51%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |4.24%
|-
|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)
|55
|41
|style='background: #ffffe6; |40
|0.20%
|0.14%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.13%
|-
|Asian alone (NH)
|5,228
|5,521
|style='background: #ffffe6; |5,517
|19.06%
|18.90%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |18.24%
|-
|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)
|7
|4
|style='background: #ffffe6; |12
|0.03%
|0.01%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.04%
|-
|Other race alone (NH)
|48
|83
|style='background: #ffffe6; |220
|0.18%
|0.28%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.73%
|-
|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)
|572
|644
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,104
|2.09%
|2.20%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.65%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino (any race)
|6,351
|9,679
|style='background: #ffffe6; |10,340
|23.16%
|33.14%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |34.19%
|-
|Total
|27,422
|29,207
|style='background: #ffffe6; |30,243
|100.00%
|100.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%
|}
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, West Falls Church had a population of 30,243. The median age was 36.2 years. 22.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 12.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 100.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 99.1 males age 18 and over.
There were 10,464 households in West Falls Church, of which 34.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 51.2% were married-couple households, 17.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 24.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 22.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
! Race !! Number !! Percent
|-
| White || 12,874 || 42.6%
|-
| Black or African American || 1,326 || 4.4%
|-
| American Indian and Alaska Native || 359 || 1.2%
|-
| Asian || 5,544 || 18.3%
|-
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 12 || 0.0%
|-
| Some other race || 6,165 || 20.4%
|-
| Two or more races || 3,963 || 13.1%
|-
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 10,340 || 34.2%
|}
2000 census
At the 2000 census there were 27,422 people, 10,016 households, and 6,470 families in the CDP. The population density was . There were 10,227 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 61.35% White, 4.54% African American, 0.34% Native American, 19.16% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 10.56% from other races, and 4.03% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 23.16%.). Males had a median income of $42,776 versus $37,416 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $28,705. About 3.5% of families and 4.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.3% of those under age 18 and 3.1% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
HITT Contracting and Northrop Grumman have their corporate headquarters in West Falls Church.
The Defense Health Agency is headquartered in West Falls Church.
Education
thumb|[[Falls Church High School]]
thumb|Thomas Jefferson community library
Fairfax County Public Schools operates public schools.
Falls Church High School is located in West Falls Church CDP.
Fairfax County Public Library operates the Thomas Jefferson Library in the CDP.