Jefferson County has grown by 8,006 people over the past 10 years, according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau after the federal count of the nation’s population taken last year.
The official 2020 figures show that 226,739 people live in the county, compared with 218,733 in 2010.
That’s a growth rate of 3.66 percent, which is modest compared with the double-digit percentage increases posted in the county every decade since the 1940 Census.
In 2010, the county grew by 10.4 percent. Much more dramatic increases were posted from 1950 to 1960 (74.6 percent) and from 1960 to 1970 (58.6 percent), when at 105,248, the county population topped six figures for the first time.
Despite the more modest growth over the past decade, County Executive Dennis Gannon said he’s happy with the increase.
“We grew, not a lot, but we grew,” Gannon said. “If you look at the five-county metro region, St. Louis city and county lost population. St. Charles County still is experiencing some (more rapid) growth, but Jefferson County is still growing. We’re above average for our region.”
The balance between people who live in the county’s unincorporated area and those who live in one of the county’s cities changed a little bit over the last 10 years. In 2010, 27.45 percent of the county’s residents were city dwellers; that grew to 28.14 percent in 2020.
“There has been some building in the incorporated areas over the last decade, and that’s probably accounted for most of that,” Gannon said. “Still, I’d say the difference is miniscule. I wouldn’t be surprised if that gets flipped over the next 10 years, with a lot of new developments possible in unincorporated areas. I would guess that number goes back and forth through the years.”
The Census figures also show that Jefferson County is growing more racially diverse, as 90.42 percent of respondents in the county identified themselves as white, compared with 95.4 percent in 2010.
Those who identify as Black make up 1.03 percent of the county’s population (2,344 people) while Asians comprise .82 percent (1,859 people). There are 14,445 people who identified themselves on the Census form as having two or more races, for 6.37 percent.
“I really think that’s significant,” Gannon said of the racial diversification of the county. “I grew up and went to school in De Soto, which was racially integrated, so I never gave it much thought growing up. It was just how things were. But we want Jefferson County to be inviting to everybody. I think Jefferson County has qualities that are appealing to everyone. It’s a wonderful place to raise a family.”
Larger cities post gains, smaller towns losses
Of Jefferson County’s eight cities with a population of 1,000 or more, seven posted gains from 2010 to 2020 – Arnold, Herculaneum, Hillsboro, Byrnes Mill, Pevely, De Soto and Festus.
Crystal City, on the other hand, saw its population decrease by more than 120 residents.
Six of the county’s seven smaller municipalities – those with fewer than 1,000 people (and most of them significantly under that mark) – saw declines in population over the past 10 years – Kimmswick, Cedar Hill Lakes, Lake Tekikwitha, Olympian Village, Parkdale and Scotsdale each experienced population declines between 15 and 55 residents.
The one exception was Peaceful Village, a relatively new city on Antire Road in High Ridge, which saw a significant increase over the past decade.
Neighboring cities,
different stories
Crystal City, which lost 121 residents, slipped from 4,855 in 2010 to 4,734 in 2020.
City Administrator Jason Eisenbeis said he hasn’t yet seen final, official figures.
“I’ve seen a figure that showed we were down by 100 to 150 people, but I kind of find that number hard to believe,” he said. “While we haven’t built a ton of new houses, some of our generational people who have been around forever have passed on and their houses have sold and new families have moved in. I believe the school district is up 40 to 50 kids, so I think that (Census) number might be a little skewed. We’ll see when I get the final numbers from the Census.”
At the other side of the spectrum is Herculaneum, which grew by 33.91 percent in population over the last 10 years, picking up 1,176 residents, both figures that outpace the county’s other cities.
“That’s a little bit larger than we had thought, but I’m not really surprised,” City Administrator Jim Kasten said.
He pointed to two subdivisions in the western part of the city, Stonewater and Providence, as being main drivers of that growth.
“We’ve been building at 50-plus homes a year, so over 10 years, that’s 500 or 600 homes, which have two or three people. We’re really pleased with it.”
Kasten said he expects the growth to continue into the next decade. He said the Board of Aldermen approved a friendly annexation and rezoning for a KAB Construction development on McNutt School Road. Of the development’s planned 200 homes, about 160 will be in the annexed area.
“There’s also homes in Stormwater, and they’re planning a new phase of 30 or more homes. So we’ve still got more growth to come,” he said. “Herculaneum is a great place to live. We’ve got a great playground (Kade’s Playground) and park and several great school districts. We believe the next few years will be even better for us.”
Arnold posts modest gain
Arnold, the city’s largest municipality by far, boasted a less dramatic increase, adding 96 residents to its ranks over the last decade, for a .46 percent gain.
City Administrator Bryan Richison said those statistics didn’t give him any reason for concern.
“I didn’t think the city was in for a lot of residential growth,” he said. “We were already fairly built out as far as homes go. We’ve seen some single houses built over the last 10 years, but there’s not really any room for large subdivisions.”
Richison said the city has, however, seen a lot of commercial growth over the decade.
Festus officials happy
with increase
The county’s second-largest municipality, Festus, saw a 9.31 percent gain, adding 1,080 people to reach a 2020 count of 12,682.
“We’re absolutely happy with that,” City Administrator Greg Camp said. “I’m anxious for when they release to us the block (by block) data, so we can really drill down into it. I might have thought we’d be a little higher, but a 10 percent growth rate is awesome.”
He said new developments going up on West Main Street and Horine Road should boost the city’s population for the 2030 Census.
“Most of our development is on the west side of town, and the west boundary is open to us, but it’s a balancing act. If we expand further to the west, we have to provide utilities and services. Police and fire protection are no problem, but we have to weigh the cost of running water and sewer lines with the benefit of adding to the city.”
While conceding that Festus hasn’t experienced the go-go growth of neighbors Herculaneum and Hillsboro, Camp said officials in his city see a wider picture.
“We take more of a wider regional view,” he said. “We’re outpacing Cape Girardeau and Perryville and we’re right there with places like Ste. Genevieve and Farmington.”
Byrnes Mill also up
Byrnes Mill, which is the smallest of the county’s municipalities with more than 1,000 people, grew by 14.06 percent over the past decade, making it over the 3,000 population threshold by adding 391 people.
“This does not surprise me at all,” City Administrator Debbie LaVenture said. “We’ve had a lot of new construction in the city. We’ve also had new pads poured in the Byrnes Mill Mobile Home Park. I’d say it’s been a steady growth.”
She said the Silverstone and Walnut Ridge subdivisions, which were planned before 2010, were completed over the last 10 years.
“We expect that once the housing market levels off, and home builders start finding it economical to build new homes, we’ll see increased growth over the next decade,” she said.
Hillsboro also on the rise
Right behind Herculaneum is the county seat, which grew by 23.61 percent, adding 666 residents to easily push past the 3,000 mark at 3,487.
City Administrator Jesse Wallis said he was not surprised by the numbers.
“While I haven’t seen anything from the Census yet, I don’t know that it’s really surprising,” he said. “Since 2017, there has been quite a bit of construction.”
He said the Brickyard, Hawks Point and Eagle Ridge developments have fueled the city’s growth.
“And they’re not done yet,” he said. “They still have some room for more homes.”
Peaceful Village has
largest gain
Peaceful Village was the sole smaller city to experience a gain over the decade.
The original 78-acre city was founded by Jack Walters, who asked the county in 2008 to incorporate the two-home village and the All God’s Children camp and church.
By the 2010 Census, the city had grown to include nine people.
However, by the time the 2020 Census was counted, Peaceful Village had grown to include 89 people, marking a phenomenal increase of almost 889 percent.
Mayor David Ross III said the friendly annexation of a 20-pad mobile home park owned by Walters had a lot to do with the growth spurt.
“You take 20 pads, and an average of three people, say, per mobile home, and you’ve accounted for a lot of it right here,” Ross said.
Over the decade, he said, other homes have asked to join the city, one by one,
“I think they’re attracted by the lack of regulations we have compared with the county, which I understand is why Mr. Walters wanted to incorporate,” Ross said.
He said the city would take in other homes that want to join.
“We’re not going door-to-door to solicit them, but if they ask, and they’re contiguous to our city limits, we’ll consider them,” he said.
Despite the rapid growth, Ross said Peaceful Village still lives up to its name.
“It’s still pretty peaceful around here,” he said.
Kimmswick
The loss of 34 people led to a 21.66 percent decrease for Kimmswick, which started the decade with 157 people and ended it with 123.
Mayor Phil Stang said he’s not sure about the veracity of the count.
“It doesn’t seem quite right,” he said. “There are a number of rental properties in the city that have been in flux, so maybe they weren’t counted.
“I’ve always figured we had around 160 people. But the problem we’ve had is getting people to fill out the Census form.”
According to Census figures, only 58.1 percent of Kimmswick residents filled out their Census form by computer or mail, compared with 75.3 percent around the county.
However, the Census Bureau reports that once Census takers started contacting people who didn’t report, 99.9 percent of the county was accounted for, but final counts for individual areas were not available.