These are the 15 fastest-growing small towns and cities in Missouri
(NEXSTAR) – A small Midwestern community once dubbed the “Raccoon Capital of the World” is now the fastest-growing town in Missouri, the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows.
Rogersville is nestled in the southern part of the Show Me State near Springfield, and is home to about 5,087 people. Its population grew by 30% between July 2020 and July 2023, the highest growth rate of any other town or city in Missouri during that period.
Fourteen other municipalities in Missouri, with at least 5,000 residents, saw their populations boom by 7% or more within those three years.
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Although St. Louis experienced a 6% decline in its population (dipping to 281,754 from 300,496), some of its smaller neighboring towns and cities grew at higher rates, including Troy, Herculaneum, Eureka, Lake St. Louis, Wright City, Warrenton, and Dardenne Prairie.
Meanwhile, in the Kansas City metropolitan area, five suburbs were also among the 15 fast-growing cities in the state: North Kansas City, Parkville, Raymore, Oak Grove, and Peculiar. KCMO’s population grew slightly by 0.49%, from 508,220 to 510,704.
Even still, its metro area is the second-largest in Missouri, behind the greater St. Louis region.
It’s also worth mentioning that while Rogersville is Missouri’s fastest-growing town, its population ranked as the smallest among the top 15. (You can view the population totals by clicking the drop-down menu in the chart below.)
According to the Census Bureau, small towns in the Midwest and Northeast experienced slower rates of decline overall in 2023 compared to the year prior.
Smaller communities have seemingly become more appealing to Americans in recent years. A Gallup poll conducted in late 2020 found that 48% of U.S. adults would prefer to live in a town or rural area instead of a city or suburb if they could live anywhere they wanted. This marked a notable change from 2018, when 39% expressed a preference for small-town or rural living.
Gallup noted that it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of the shift, but the COVID-19 pandemic likely influenced Americans’ lifestyle preferences.
The overall population in Missouri, which has nearly 100 rural counties, is just under 6.2 million, according to latest census estimates. That’s up 0.68% from 2020.
If you want to see how much the population has changed in your Missouri city, town or village, check out the table below.
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