Villa Rica is the birthplace of Thomas A. Dorsey, the father of gospel music - a festival is held in his honor each year. The following important figures were also born in Villa Rica: Coca-cola business tycoon and former mayor of Atlanta Asa Griggs Candler, former Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and tenth president of Emory University Warren Akin Candler, former baseball star Fred "Dixie" Walker, former University of Georgia offensive tackle Ken Shackleford, and former NFL punter Herman "Thunderfoot" Weaver. Current residents include Musician Sean Deegan and former POW and reality show contestant Ron Young.
As of the census of 2000, there were 4,134 people, 1,550 households, and 1,114 families residing in the city. The population density was 329.2 people per square mile (127.1/km²). There were 1,769 housing units at an average density of 140.9/sq mi (54.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 79.32% White, 17.90% African American, 0.80% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.06% from other races, and 0.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.18% of the population.
There were 1,550 households out of which 35.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.9% were married couples living together, 17.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.1% were non-families. 22.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.14.
In the city the population was spread out with 28.0% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 31.1% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $31,161, and the median income for a family was $37,138. Males had a median income of $31,103 versus $21,516 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,310. About 11.4% of families and 13.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.1% of those under age 18 and 29.6% of those age 65 or over.
Over most of its 180 year history, Villa Rica was a small rural railroad and factory town with a fairly stable population of around 4,000 people. This is in spite of the fact it's located only half an hour from downtown Atlanta. However, throughout the 1990s, a 2,000-acre (8.1 km) tract of land surrounding a 210-acre (0.85 km) lake known as both Val-Da-Mar Lake and Stockmar Lake got lots of interest from developers. One group proposed the creation of a Gone With the Wind theme park while others considered more standard ideas such as building homes and businesses.
What finally occurred was the creation of a subdivision named Mirror Lake which supplied the oft named lake with a third name. At the time the subdivision was proposed, Villa Rica had approximately 1,500 homes. The Mirror Lake subdivision added over 2,000 homes in its original proposal and subsequent changes and additions have increased that number so that there will be almost 3,000 residences by the time the project is fully completed.
In addition, the substantial investment in Mirror Lake inspired other developers to begin proposing other projects around Villa Rica. Though the other developments were on a much smaller scale, all of the other building projects combined almost matched the Mirror Lake project in total number of residences. Villa Rica's population projections are as follows:
While such substantial growth cannot be sustained, some growth will continue for years. The 2025 population projection is estimated to be 34,784.