Latest population estimates show St. Louis metro area losing ground, the city

ST. LOUIS — The number of people who live in the city of St. Louis fell below 300,000 in 2021 and the metropolitan area also saw a decline in population as the region for the first time recorded more deaths than births. That puts it among just a handful of large urban areas hit by outmigration and a negative birth rate. 

The numbers, though estimates, reinforce concerns about stagnant growth in a region that appears poised to be overtaken in the coming years by fast-growing metro areas such as Orlando, Florida, and Charlotte, North Carolina.

As of July 1, the Census Bureau estimated that just 293,310 people resided in the region’s core city of St. Louis, down from the 301,578 people counted in the 2020 census. 

The entire metro area, meanwhile, had about 2.81 million people as of July 1. That was a drop of about 10,000 people in a little more than a year: the 2020 census counted 2.82 million in the region.

And in an unexpected and worrying sign, the region entered a “demographic winter,” said St. Louis University sociologist Ness Sandoval. That is, the number of deaths outpaced births here — long one of the factors blunting the trend of people moving away from the St. Louis region.