ST. LOUIS — New U.S. Census Bureau estimates show ºüÀêÊÓƵ continuing a decades-long population slide while St. Charles County and other outer suburban areas keep growing.
But the gains in outer-rim areas weren’t enough to keep the overall metro area from losing an estimated 11,000-plus residents from July 2021 to July 2022, the period covered by the report released late Wednesday.
According to the new estimates, the city’s population dropped 2.38%, to 286,578 from 293,562. ºüÀêÊÓƵ County’s total went down by 0.78%, to 990,414 from 998,227.
Farther west, St. Charles County increased by 0.8%, to 413,803. Jefferson, Franklin, Lincoln and Warren counties also gained, with Lincoln showing the biggest percentage increase, 2.43%.
But the total for the overall area, including 14 counties and the city of ºüÀêÊÓƵ, was down 0.4%, to 2,801,319.
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Jason Hall, the CEO of Greater ºüÀêÊÓƵ Inc. — the area’s main business group — said “these numbers give a clear indication of the challenge our region faces and underscore why growth and expanded opportunity†need to be the major goal.
“We must do this work now, with a sense of urgency, in order to win this decade and reverse these trends by 2030.â€
Ness Sandoval, a sociologist at ºüÀêÊÓƵ University, said the estimates came as no surprise, given recent trends.
“I think it’s about what we expected,†Sandoval said. “There’s nothing inconsistent in these estimates†and what’s happened the past few years.
He said he expects further details will show that the number of deaths will again outpace births here, as they did for the first time in the most recent previous population estimates released a year ago. “That’s going to tell us the larger story,†he said.
Jim Wild, executive director of the regional East-West Gateway Council of Governments, said the size of the losses in the city and ºüÀêÊÓƵ County were larger than he expected but that the area-wide data tracked with previous information.
“Over the last couple of decades, we’ve been a slow-growth region,†Wild said.
Scott Drachnik, president and CEO of the Economic Development Council of St. Charles County, said while the new estimates showed his county doing well, the entire region needs to prosper.
“As a region, we’ve got to find a way to turn this around,†he said. “We welcome anyone who wants to come to St. Charles County but we want to see growth around the region and across the state.â€
The new estimates indicated Missouri’s population essentially was static, growing by just 8,134 people to about 6.18 million.
Going in the other direction was Illinois, which the Census Bureau said had a net loss of more than 104,000 residents last year, to 12.58 million.
The two biggest Metro East counties, St. Clair and Madison, both lost population, by 0.92% and 0.39% respectively.
2022 POPULATION ESTIMATES
COUNTY | 2021 | 2022 | Change |
---|---|---|---|
Bond County, Ill. | 16,633 | 16,566 | -0.40% |
Calhoun County, Ill. | 4,385 | 4,360 | -0.57% |
Clinton County, Ill. | 36,886 | 36,909 | 0.06% |
Franklin County, Mo. | 105,328 | 105,879 | 0.52% |
Jefferson County, Mo. | 227,934 | 229,336 | 0.62% |
Jersey County, Ill. | 21,370 | 21,246 | -0.58% |
Lincoln County, Mo. | 61,654 | 63,155 | 2.43% |
Macoupin County, Ill. | 44,545 | 44,245 | -0.67% |
Madison County, Ill. | 264,898 | 263,864 | -0.39% |
Monroe County, Ill. | 34,993 | 35,033 | 0.11% |
St. Charles County, Mo. | 410,511 | 413,803 | 0.80% |
St. Clair County, Ill. | 255,022 | 252,671 | -0.92% |
ºüÀêÊÓƵ City, Mo. | 293,562 | 286,578 | -2.38% |
ºüÀêÊÓƵ County, Mo. | 998,227 | 990,414 | -0.78% |
Warren County, Mo. | 36,529 | 37,260 | 2.00% |
ºüÀêÊÓƵ MSA | 2,812,477 | 2,801,319 | -0.40% |