Population Shift

SLU professor Ness Sándoval says that Detroit has been able to stem the tide of population loss by prioritizing families with kids — and that St. Louis would do well to follow its lead.

The district has over $200 million in reserves, but Superintendent Millicent Borishade said the increased expenditures are “unsustainable.”

A report recommends St. Louis Public Schools close 37 of its 68 buildings for the 2026-27 school year due to declining student enrollment and aging infrastructure.

The district will have to redraw boundaries to better distribute students across its remaining buildings before the 2026-27 school year.

The number of Black residents in the St. Louis region has slightly increased over the past year. New U.S. Census data shows there are about 2,900 more African Americans in the area. Despite that rise, St. Louis city’s Black population is declining.

The region bucks the norm in most other major metropolitan areas: people from India make up the largest share of foreign-born people in the St. Louis region over people from Mexico.

A recent study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that the population in rural areas is on the rise after a decade of decline.

New census data shows the St. Louis metropolitan region lost around 19,000 people between April 2020 and July 2022. St. Louis and St. Louis County led the declines while suburban and exurban counties, like St. Charles, Lincoln and Jefferson, posted gains as they have in the past.

An annual report by the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the St. Louis metropolitan region saw a population drop of about half of one percent last year. Much of the estimated decrease came from the City of St. Louis.

Demographers say after years of a declining birth rate, the student population declines aren’t a surprise. Still, they have a big impact on the operations of schools.