According to estimates released by the U.S. Census, three local cities are among 10 in Illinois and Missouri that gained the most people between 2015 and 2016. The numbers are estimates of the population for cities and towns across the United States.
Wentzville, in St. Charles County, grew by more than 1,800 people, second only to Kansas City. O'Fallon, Missouri was 4th on the list, gaining about 1,400, and Clayton, in St. Louis County came in 8th, with an increase of around 750.
On the shrinking end, the city of St. Louis lost nearly 3,500, only behind Chicago. There were no other local cities in the bottom 10.
Here are a few more takeaways from the new Census numbers:
Five Missouri cities gained more than 1,000 people, while none in Illinois did.
Kansas City, Wentzville, Columbia, O'Fallon and Lee's Summit each added more than 1,000 people to their populations. Champaign, Illinois, home of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, almost joined the group, adding 995.
Chicago and St. Louis were the only cities to have lost more than 1,000 people.
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The largest cities in our area had a mix of gains and losses.
Of the 20 largest cities in our area, 12 lost population and eight gained. Taken together, the 20 largest cities lost about 1,750 people.
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Who's growing locally?
Wentzville has added more than 1,000 people in five of the past six years. O'Fallon, Missouri, also hit that mark this year, as well in two of the previous five years.
Cottleville, in St. Charles County, estimated at 5,151 people in 2016, grew by almost 9 percent. It's grown by at least 4 percent each of the past six years. Along with Cottleville, only O'Fallon, Missouri, and Wentzville have grown by 1 percent or more each year since 2011.
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Some cities are reversing trends.
Clayton had the third-largest increase in our area, adding 756 people. Before 2016, it had lost population each year going back to 2010.
On the other side of the coin, a number of cities had been growing since 2010 before shrinking in this year's estimates. Chesterfield lost about 123 residents, which accounts for 0.3 percent of its population. Wildwood also had been gaining, but lost 82 residents this year.
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