Missouri and the Nation Missouri continues overall slow population growth between 2000 and 2006 Recently released population estimates for 2006 from the U.S. Census Bureau show that Missouri’s population is continuing a slow rate of growth—up 4.4 percent since 2000. The U.S. grew by 6.4 percent. Western and southern states are growing more rapidly than the Midwest (see US Maps below). There has been a large out-migration of population from Louisiana in the aftermath of the storm and flooding that rocked New Orleans. Map 1 click map for larger version Within Missouri, 35 counties lost and 80 counties gained population between 2000 and 2006 (see Map 1). Many northern Missouri counties and the Bootheel continue to decline in population. Since 2000, St. Louis County’s population has declined somewhat (nearly 16,000 persons) to just over a million in 2006. Growth counties in Missouri are located on the fringes of metropolitan areas and especially along Interstate corridors including I-70, I-44 and I-35. The Branson area and Lake of the Ozarks also reported relatively strong growth. The Census Bureau has released new population estimates at the state and county level for the entire U.S. The estimates include components of population change for each year from 2000 to 2006. (See US Maps)You can access these data from the Census Bureau's Population Estimates page. For Missouri-only data you can see the new numbers in the Counties sheet within an excel spreadsheet prepared by the Missouri Census Data Center (Curmoests.xls). US Maps