State's population climbs above 6 million

There were nearly 166,000 more Missourians living in the Show Me State in 2020 than there were in 2010, according to data released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The state's population, the Census Bureau reported, went from 5,988,927 as measured in the 2010 census count to 6,154,913 as of April 1, 2020, the nation's most recent "Census Day."

The additional 165,986 Missouri residents represented a population increase of 2.8% over the past decade, the state's lowest population percentage growth in more than a century. Between 1990 and 2010, Missouri's population grew by 16.3% (9.3% from 1990 to 2000 and another 7% between 2000 and 2010) and in no 10-year period in more than 100 years did Missouri's population grow less than 3% until the most recent decade.

Although the state's population grew slightly, the increase was not enough to add a ninth member to Missouri's delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Census Bureau is scheduled to release county and municipal census data later this summer, which will be used by state officials to adjust congressional districts to account for any statewide population shifts.

Nearby states

Of the four states within 100 miles of Cape Girardeau — Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee — all but Illinois had population growth between 2010 and 2020. Illinois' population fell by 0.1% in the last decade, from 12,830,632 to 12,812,508, marking the first time in at least a century the state's population has declined. As a result, the number of congressional districts in Illinois will be reduced from 18 to 17.

Meanwhile, the Census Bureau reported 3.3% population growth in Arkansas, from 2,915,918 in 2010 to 3,011,524 last year; a 3.8% increase in Kentucky, from 4,339,367 to 4,505,836; and an 8.9% jump in Tennessee, from 6,346,105 to 6,910,840.

Winners and losers

Illinois is among seven states that will lose one representative in Congress because their populations either declined or did not increase enough to retain their current representation. The other states losing congressional members are California, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

States that will gain seats in Congress because of significant population growth are Texas, which will gain two seats, and Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina and Montana, which will add one congressional district in each state.

Overall, the Census Bureau says the U.S. population as of April 1, 2020, was 331,449,281, a 7.4% increase over the nation's population of 308,745,538 10 years earlier. That growth rate was the lowest since the 1930s when the U.S. population grew by 7.3%.

In 1790, when the nation's first census was conducted, each member of the U.S. House represented approximately 34,000 people. By 2010, that number had grown to 710,767. Today, each of the nation's 435 members of Congress represent approximately 761,169 Americans.

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