If you have lived and/or worked in St. Charles County over the past 10 years, it's clear that our community has grown—and now we have the numbers to prove it! Recently released data from the 2020 U.S. Census shows St. Charles County's population at 405,262, an increase of 12.4 percent in the past 10 years. This places St. Charles County as the third largest county in Missouri behind St. Louis and Jackson counties, a position held since the 2010 Census.
In comparison, St. Louis County grew 0.5 percent in total population (1,004,125), St. Louis City lost 5.5 percent (301,578), and Missouri overall grew 2.8 percent (6,154,913). St. Charles County’s growth is even more remarkable considering more than half of the nation’s 3,143 counties or equivalents lost population from 2010-2020.
"Our safe and award-winning neighborhoods and schools, low unemployment, and business development keeps people moving to St. Charles County," County Executive Steve Ehlmann says. "The growth isn’t stopping, either. Already our statistics show that commercial building permits have grown 17 percent over 2020, and single-family new construction is outpacing 2020 numbers by five percent."
States will use the Census population data in redistricting, or redrawing of congressional and state legislative district boundaries. St. Charles County’s Redistricting Commission will use the data to re-establish the seven County Council districts, making certain that each district does not vary more than five percent from the average population for all the districts. The plan will then go before the County Council at a public hearing for approval before Dec. 31 of this year.
Other notable Census data released:
- St. Charles County continues to become more diverse. The percentage of Black (+1 percent), Asian (+0.5 percent), and Hispanic (+2.8 percent) residents increased, and the percentage of White residents decreased (-6.2 percent) over 10 years. Comparatively, the most prevalent racial or ethnic group in the U.S. is the White, non-Hispanic population at 57.8 percent, but which decreased from 63.7 percent in 2010. Overall, the racial and ethnic diversity of the U.S. has increased since 2010.
- St. Charles County’s population over 18 years of age rose from 74.2 percent in 2010 to 76.6 percent in 2020, while the under 18 population declined from 25.8 percent to 23.4 percent. The U.S.’s adult population over 18 years of age increased faster than the under-age-18 population.
- The number of housing units in St. Charles County grew 14.3 percent in 10 years from 141,016 to 161,144, with a housing vacancy rate of 3.9 percent in 2020. Housing units across the country grew 6.7 percent in 10 years to 140,498,736. The country’s housing vacancy rate declined from 11.4 percent in 2010 to 9.7 percent in 2020.
- The average number of people occupying a home in St. Charles County rose slightly over 10 years from 2.4 to 2.5 percent. The percentage of two-person occupied housing units declined slightly to 36 percent from 37 percent, and the percentage of single-person occupied housing units remained steady at 28 percent.