KANSAS CITY - New population estimates released from the U.S. Census Bureau show significant growth in Asian and Latino populations in the 15 county St. Louis area. "This is what's going to happen probably over the next two decades as these populations continue to grow," says Ness Sandoval, Professor of Sociology and Demography, Saint Louis University, "they're going to be the two populations that will make up the majority of the growth."
Sandoval adds, the growth comes from international migration. "The data that's released shows that the international migration numbers are immigrants who come directly to St. Louis as their first stop. In September, we will get data that shows immigrants who are moving from other cities to St. Louis. And so we get a fair amount of immigrants from the East Coast who find the East Coast to be very expensive, places like New York and Washington, D.C. and Boston. And so those immigrant groups tend to move to St. Louis, but then we have immigrants also who are leaving. And so a lot of our immigrants are moving to Dallas, to Columbus, Ohio."
He points to declining numbers in the Black and White populations as cause for concern. "So this is going to be a challenge for the future, right? These losses, the projected losses from the white population in terms of the natural decline, deaths over births, are going to be pretty significant over the next two decades." And Sandoval says what's cause for concerns is the population shifts in St. Louis City. "The city has experienced the largest population decline in our 15-county MSA, and it's coming from the Black population and the White population. And so to offset that, it needs more Asians and Latinos to move in. And it simply was not able to do that."
Sandoval notes, St. Louis City is second in the country in terms of Black population loss. "And it's now number one in terms of large cities in terms of total population loss. And so what's happening in St. Louis City, it's pretty remarkable in terms of the decline in population since 2020."
The region is also aging. A prime example is St. Charles. "St. Charles is an interesting place to study because it is the fastest growing county in the region. But about 77 percent of that growth is from residents 60 and over."
Sandoval says the region has fewer families with children than just 15 years ago. He says we need younger people, having families, to come to St. Louis, to offset population losses and make gains.
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