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Missouri

Summary Demographic State Data (and Source)
Population(2008 CB est.)	5,911,605
Population (2000 Census)	5,595,211
Foreign-Born Population (2008 FAIR est.)	218,640
Foreign-Born Population (2000 Census)	151,196
Share Foreign-Born (2008 FAIR est.)	3.7%
Share Foreign-Born (2000)	2.7%
Immigrant Stock (2000 CB est.)	335,000
Share Immigrant Stock (2000 est.)	6.0%
Naturalized U.S. Citizens (2006 CB est.)	86,405
Share Naturalized (2006)	44.6%
Legal Immigrant Admission (DHS 1997-2006)	62,771
Refugee Admission (DHS 1997-2006)	16,113
Illegal Alien Population (2008 FAIR est.)	50,000
Projected 2050 Population - (2006 FAIR)	7,263,865

Missouri: Extended Immigration Data

STATE POPULATION

Using the Current Population Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that in July 2008 Missouri’s population had increased to 5,911,605 residents, i.e., an annual average increase of about 38,120 residents since 2000. That is a rate of increase of about 0.7 percent per year.

NET INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION (NIM)

Based on the Current Population Survey, the Census Bureau estimated that between the 2000 Census and July 2008 the state’s population increased by about 52,565 residents from net international migration (more foreign-born arriving than leaving). That was an annual average increase of about 6,335 residents, i.e., about one-sixth (16.6%) of the total increase (not including the children born to the immigrants after their arrival in the United States).

The 2000 Census found 5,595,211 persons resident in Missouri. This was an increase of 478,138 persons above the 1990 Census (9.3%). The rate of increase (4.7%) was less than the national average of 9.9 percent. However, the amount of increase was the 23^rd highest in the country.

The 2000 population is about 55,000 more persons than the Census Bureau had expected to find in the state in 2000 when it issued its most recent state population projections in 1996. The significance of this is that the Census Bureau has concluded that much of the shortfall in their population estimates during the 1990s was due to an underestimation of the illegal alien population.

Missouri had the 37th greatest rate of population increase in the country between 1960-2000.
During the 1980-1990 decade, the population of the state increased by 4.1 percent (from 4,916,766 to 5,117,073 residents.

FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION

Based on the American Community Survey (ACS), the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the foreign-born population of Missouri was 201,778 persons in 2006. The ACS is a large-scale, continuous sampling process designed to replace the need for a long-form in the 2010 Census. However, because the ACS does not have the same follow-up procedures as the Census to include non-respondents, it may underestimate the foreign-born population.

FAIR estimates that the foreign-born population of Missouri was about 218,640 residents in July 2008. This meant a foreign-born population share of 3.7 percent. The amount of change since the 2000 Census indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 8,125 people, which is about one-seventh (14.6%) of the state’s annual average population increase. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 44.6 percent compared to a 4.6 percent increase in the native-born population.

Immigration also contributes to population growth through the children born to immigrants in this country. Nationally the share of births to the foreign-born is about double their share of the population. A 7.4 percent share of the state’s current births is large enough to account for about 5,765 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may account for about 13,900 persons added to the state’s population annually, i.e., more than one-third (36.4%) of the state’s overall population increase.

The 2000 Census found that 52.4 percent of Missouri's foreign-born population had arrived in the state since 1990. This demonstrates the effects of the current mass immigration, although it was a much higher share than the national average (43.7%).

An indicator of the change in the immigrant population may be seen in data on the share of the population that speaks a language other than English at home. Between 1990 and 2000 the share of non-English speakers at home in Missouri increased by nearly two-fifths, from 3.8 percent to 5.3 percent. Less than two-fifths (39%) of those who said they spoke a language other than English at home in 2000 also said they spoke English less than very well.

Speakers of Foreign Languages (at home in Missouri in the 2000 Census)
Spanish	110,750
German	30,680
French	19,410
Vietnamese	9,420
Chinese	9,260
Serbocroation	6,960
Italian	5,710
Russian	5,470
Arabic	5,135
Korean	4,755
(Source: Census Bureau report: Language Spoken at Home for the Population 5 Years and Over, April 2004)

The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey found that in 2006, the state’s foreign born population was 193,690 residents, an increase of 28.1 percent since 2000. In comparison, the foreign-born population changed from 83,633 to 151,196 residents between 1990 and 2000, an increase of 80.8 percent.

 The ten countries below constituted 50.3% of the foreign-born population in Missouri in 2006. Mexico accounted for nearly one fifth alone (18.9%) alone.

   

Foreign-Born Change Since 1980: Top Ten Countries 1980-2000
Rank	Country	1990		Country	2000		Country	2006
1	Germany	9,258		Mexico	25,191		Mexico	36,522
2	U.K.	5,170		Germany	9,886		India	11,274
3	Mexico	4,763		China	9,514		China	10,694
4	Canada	4,418		Vietnam	8,780		Germany	8,908
5	Philip.	3,702		Yugoslavia	8,424		Philippines	8,430
6	Vietnam	3,438		India	7,578		Korea	7,428
7	Korea	3,330		Canada	6,215		Canada	5,048
8	Italy	2,934		Philip.	5,708		Russia	4,398
9	India	2,821		Korea	5,506		Taiwan	2,555
10	Japan	2,454		U.K.	5,263		El Salvador	2,204
	All Other	41,345		All Others	59,131		All Others	96,229
	Total	83,633		Total	151,196		Total	97,461

THE IMMIGRANT STOCK

The Census Bureau estimated that there were about 335,000 people in Missouri in 2000 who were "immigrant stock." That is a term that refers to immigrants and their children born here after their arrival. Based on that estimate, and the population of 5,595,211, the immigrant stock share of the state's population was six percent.

As the graph below shows, the amount of Missouri’s population change due to the increase in the foreign stock is rising rapidly. Over the past 34 years the new immigrants and children born to them have added about 204,100 people to the population. Over this period, the increase in the foreign stock has accounted for 19.2 percent of the state’s population increase.

NATURALIZATION

Data from the 2006 American Community Survey indicate that 86,405 residents, or 44.6 percent, of the foreign-born population in Missouri were citizens, compared to 61,786 residents, or 40.9 percent, in 2000.

Nationally, 40.3 percent of the foreign-born population was citizens in 2000 and 42.0 percent were citizens in 2006.

REFUGEE SETTLEMENT

Missouri has received 16,113 refugees over the most recent ten fiscal years (FY'97-'06) including 726 persons in FY’06.

Under the Office of Refugee Resettlement's (HHS/ORR) assistance funding for FY'02 $1,960,359 is available for refugee employment training and other services programs in Missouri based on a three-year refugee settlement program covering 7,811 refugees (an average of $251 per refugee). This allocation does not include a larger share (55%) of funding programs for communities heavily affected by recent Cuban and Haitian entrants, communities with refugees whose cultural differences make assimilation especially difficult, communities impacted by federal welfare reform changes, educational support to schools with significant refugee students, and discretionary grants. ORR grants for FY’05 and FY’06 respectively were $3,484,996 and $3,088,991.

LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY STUDENTS

Data are not available nationally on immigrant students (either legally or illegally resident in the United States) who are enrolled in primary and secondary schools (K-12). However, many of these students are enrolled in Limited English Proficiency/English Language Learning (LEP/ELL) instruction programs. Many may be U.S.-born, but the majority of these students may be assumed to be either immigrants or the children of immigrants, with the exception being areas with native Americans who speak a native language other than English.

In Missouri, overall enrollment in 2002 (892,582) was 7.1 percent below enrollment in 1993. By contrast, LEP enrollment (11,047 - 1.3% of all enrollment) was 164 percent higher than a decade earlier.

Data on enrollment in LEP/ELL programs are collected by the federal government from school systems that receive Title VII funds for these special instruction programs. The data on LEP/ELL enrollment are understated because data from private schools that do not apply for Title VII assistance are sketchy.

FOREIGN STUDENTS

The 2006/07 annual report of the Institute of International Education (IIE) lists the number of foreign students attending post-secondary school in Missouri as 9,805. Two schools in Missouri are listed as having a major concentration of these students:

• University of Missouri-Columba had enrollment of 1,651 foreign students, 5.9% of total enrollment.
• Washington Univeristy-St. Louis had enrollment of 1,567 foreign students, 11.6% of total enrollment.

Below, a chart illustrates the sharp increase of foreign students attending school in Missouri from 1960-2007.

ILLEGAL ALIENS

FAIR Estimate - FAIR estimates the state’s illegal alien population as of 2008 is as many as 50,000 persons. This is part of an overall estimate of the U.S. illegal alien population of about 13 million persons.

INS/DHS Estimate - The INS (now dissolved into the Dept. of Homeland Security) estimated in February 2003 that the resident illegal population in Missouri  was 22,000 as of January 2000. This number 6,000 higher than the INS' 1996 estimate.

Other Estimates - The Pew Hispanic Center estimates the illegal alien population of the state at 35,000 to 65,000 as of 2005.

COST OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

Incarceration Costs - The INS estimated in February 2003 that the illegal alien population of Missouri was about 22,000 residents. That represented a 6,000 increase from the last previous INS estimate that the illegal alien population was about 16,000 residents as of October 1996. That was up from the 12,000 that the INS estimated the illegal alien population to be in October 1992.

Missouri has received partial compensation under the federal State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) that was established in 1994 to compensate the states and local jurisdictions for incarceration of "undocumented," aliens who are serving time for a felony conviction or at least two misdemeanors.

The recent SCAAP amounts that Missouri has received were:

The amount of SCAAP awards has been declining in both total distributions and even more as a share of the state’s expenses. In FY’99 the state received 38.6% of its costs for 181 prisoner years of detention. By FY’02, the state’s reported illegal alien detention rose by 85 percent to 334 prisoner years, while compensation increased by two percent but then fell steeply.

Medical Costs- Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, hospitals with emergency rooms are required to treat and stabilize patients with emergency medical needs regardless whether or not they are in the country legally or whether they are able to pay for the treatment. Congress in 2003 enacted an appropriation of $250 million per year (for 4 years) to help offset some of the costs due to use of this service by illegal aliens. This amount has been allocated among the states based upon estimates of the illegal alien population and data on the apprehension of illegal aliens in each state. This amount compensates only a fraction of the medical outlays. For Missouri, the proposed payment in fiscal year 2004 is $524,632.

Educational Costs - In our study Breaking the Piggy Bank: How Illegal Immigration is Sending Schools into the Red, we estimated based on 2004 data that educational expenditures for illegal immigration were costing the Missouri taxpayer $88.3 million dollars annually. This cost was partially for educating students who were themselves illegally in the country ($36.8 million) and in part for the education of their siblings born in the United States to illegal residents ($51.5 million).

Project Fiscal Costs - In 2006 we estimated that Missouri taxpayers are currently burdened with annual costs of about $116 million because of illegal aliens residing in the state. That estimate was based on only expenditures for education, emergency medical care and incarceration. We projected that those costs will rise unless we gain control over our borders and our worksites. If a new amnesty and increases in immigrants and guest workers were enacted, as proposed by business and ethnic advocacy groups, we project that the cost to the state’s taxpayers for those same programs would rise to $194 million per year in 2010 and to $330 million per year in 2020.

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

You can view a listing of local immigration reform groups here.

STATE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION VOTING RECORD

You can view the voting record of your representatives in Congress regarding immigration issues in our voting report section.

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Missouri: Immigrant Admissions

Missouri Immigrant Admissions by Fiscal Year
1997	4,190
1998	3,588
1999	4,171
2000	6,053
2001	7,616
2002	8,610
2003	6,160
2004	6,782
2005	8,744
2006	6,857
Total	62,771

Recent immigrant admissions have slightly increased by 253 percent since adoption of the current immigration system in 1965. During the 1965-'69 period, annual admissions averaged about 2,105 immigrants. During the 2002-'06 period, admissions averaged about 7,430 immigrants.

The charts below show recent immigrant admissions and the cumulative immigrant admissions data since 1965. The number of annual admissions has ranged from 1,895 in FY'66 to 8,744 in FY'05. The cumulative total of admissions to Missouri between fiscal years 1965 and 2002 was 161,560 immigrants.

The data for fiscal years 1989-91 were artificially raised by the inclusion of former illegal aliens who were amnestied in 1986. According to INS data (1991) the number of amnesty applicants from Missouri was 2,210 (1,294 pre-1982 residents and 916 agricultural workers).

The data for FY'95 and FY'97-'99 were artificially low because the INS did not issue green cards to all the eligible applicants for adjustment of status who were already in the United States. In those four years, new immigration could have registered as much as 30 percent higher, if the INS had kept up with its workload.

Beginning with FY'01, the INS began to increase admissions as a result of reducing the size of the backlog of Section 245(i) adjustment of status cases, i.e., amnesty, for illegal aliens.

INS DATA BY NATIONALITY: FY'93 - FY'02

The INS data below are furnished for nationals of the countries with the largest number of immigrants admitted or adjusted to legal residence each year since 1993. The absence of data means that the total number of admissions to the United States by nationals of that country was not enough to merit detailed reporting in that year.

The nationalities may change each year, so the totals in some cases will not reflect all the immigrants of that nationality who have become legal immigrants in Wyoming during this period.

The Department of Homeland Security website has detailed data on immigrant admissions since FY’03 by year and by country. (See http://www.dhs.gov/ximgtn/statistics/data/dslpr.shtm).

The 31 nationalities above represent more than three-quarters (75.8%) of all immigrant settlement and adjustment in Missouri during this ten-year period. Immigrants from former Yugoslavia accounted for nearly 12 percent of all immigrant admissions during the period. When immigrants from Vietnam, former Soviet Union, China, Mexico and India are added to those from former Yugoslavia, they account for more than half (52.3%) of all immigrant settlement in the state since 1993. 

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Missouri : Poll Data

A Post-Dispatch and KMOV-TV (Channel 4) phone poll taken from November 12-15, 2007 of 800 likely voters found:

• 81% favor more border patrols.
• 78% favor deporting illegal aliens caught in the United States.
• 74% favor imposing stricter penalties on employees who knowingly hire illegal aliens.
• 55% favor building a fence along the Mexican border to curb illegal immigration.

A Rasmussen Report in partnership with FOX Television Stations, Inc. conducted on October 10th, 2007 of 500 likely voters found:

• 79% say that if Missouri State Highway Patrol Officers pull someone over for a traffic violation, they should automatically check to see if that person is in the country legally.
• 73% believe that any illegal aliens discovered should be deported

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Missouri: Immigration Impact

State Population (2006 CB estimate)	5,842,713
State Population in 2000	5,606,532
Average Annual Change 2000-2006	0.7%
Foreign Born Population 2006 1	194,490
Foreign Born Share 2006	3.3%
Foreign Born Population 2000	151,196
Foreign Born Share 2000	2.7%
Average Annual Change 2000-2006	4.5%
Population Projection 2010	5.9 million
Population Projection 2025	6.3 million
Population Projection 2050 (FAIR)	7.1 million

All numbers are from the U.S.Census Bureau unless otherwise noted. Additional Census Bureau, INS, and other immigration-related data are available for Missouri.

POPULATION CHANGE

Missouri’s population increased by 9.6 percent between 1990 and 2000, and by 4.21 percent between 2000 and 2006, bringing Missouri’s total population to approximately 5.8 million. 

Approximately 18.3 percent of the total population increase between 2000 and 2006 in Missouri was directly attributable to immigrants.

FAIR estimates the illegal alien population in 2005 at 50,000. This number is 127% above the U.S.government estimate of 22,000 in 2000, and 525% above the 1990 estimate of 8,000.

According to an estimate of the Pew Hispanic Center, in 2005 there were an estimated 35,000 to 65,000 illegal aliens living in Missouri.²

FAIR estimates in 2004 that the taxpayers of Missouri spent $88.3 million per year on illegal aliens and their children in public schools.³

FAIR’s projected annual fiscal costs to Missouri taxpayers for emergency medical care, education and incarceration resulting if an amnesty is adopted for illegal residents.
Current	2010	2020
$116,000,000	$194,000,000	$330,000,000

POPULATION PROFILE

FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION

ENVIRONMENTAL AND QUALITY OF LIFE PROFILE

Water: Between 2000 and 2006 the population of foreign-born persons increased in Missouri by 28.1 percent.⁵In contrast, the native-born population increased by 3.8 percent and that included the children born to immigrants. When the U.S.born children of these immigrants are included, immigrants account for nearly 30 percent of the state’s over all population growth.⁶ Missouri has a per-capita, water demand of nearly 156 gallons per day.⁷By 2050, if current growth trends continue Missouri’s population will have topped 7 million, more than a 21 percent increase from 2006 estimates.⁸

Traffic: As population growth put more traffic on the roads, the average commute for Missouri residents increased ten percent during the 1990s, from 22 minutes to 24 minutes in 2000. ^{9, 10} 30% of Missouri's major urban roads are congested and 46% of Missouri's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition. Vehicle travel on Missouri's highways increased 34% from 1990 to 2003. Driving on roads in need of repair costs Missouri motorists $1.5 billion a year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs --- $383 per motorist. Congestion in the Kansas City metropolitan area costs commuters $503 per person in excess fuel and lost time, and congestion in the St. Louis metropolitan area costs commuters $647 per person per year in excess fuel and lost time. ¹¹

Travelers in the St. Louis, MO-IL area experience an annual delay of 35 hours, and travelers in the Kansas City, MO- Kansas area experience an annual delay of 17 hours. ¹² 12 percent of commuters in Missouri experience a commute that is 45 minutes or more. ¹³

In Jefferson County, traffic counts on most highways doubled between 1985 and 1995. ¹⁴

Disappearing Open Space: Each year, Missouri loses 44,800 acres due to development.¹⁵

Crowded Housing: In 2005 over 31,000 Missouri households are defined as crowded or severely crowded by housing authorities. ¹⁶ Studies show that a rise in crowded housing often correlates with an increase in the number of foreign-born.^{17, 18}

Sprawl: Population growth in Missouri is threatening the state’s natural areas and rural character, according to a study from the Brookings Institution. Development is encroaching upon treasures like the Lone Jack battlefield and Philips Farm and Rock Bridge Memorial State Park.¹⁹ Many of the of the state’s forests and streams are threatened, and twelve of its 29 battlefields are listed as either threatened or highly threatened by the population shift.²⁰

A study of urban sprawl between 1970 and 1990 that calculated the impact of population increase and per capita land use found that 267.6 square miles of additional land were consumed by urban sprawl in the St. Louis, MO metropolitan area, with crosses into Illinois, and 7.3 percent of that sprawl was attributable to population increase. In the Kansas City metro area, which crosses into Kansas, sprawl consumed an additional 268.6 square miles and population increase accounted for 33.6 percent of the increase. ²¹

Poverty: In 2005 16.6 percent of the state’s immigrant residents had incomes below poverty level, and increase of 19.6. Among foreign-born non-citizens, the poverty rate climbs to 22.4.²²

Air Quality: Clay, Jefferson, Saint Charles, St. Louis, St. Louis City, and Sainte Genevieve counties all received a grade of “F” from the American Lung Associations “State of the Air 2005” report. ²³

Solid Waste: Missouri generates 1.28 tons of solid waste per capita. ²⁴

Schools: Between 1990 and 2000, Missouri’s elementary and high school enrollment increased 14 percent, ²⁵ and increased by almost 3,600 students from 2000 and 2006 ^{26, 27}, and is projected to increase by an additional 9,000 students by 2015. ²⁸

Across the state, communities are struggling with overcrowded classrooms and are holding classes in temporary trailers. In some areas, the problem is particularly pronounced; for instance, in north St. Louis County, the Riverview Gardens School District enrollment has jumped by 46 percent in ten years, with an additional eight percent increase expected by 2005. ²⁹

 

Endnotes:

1. FAIR estimate based on the 2006 Current Population Survey.
2. "Estimates of the Unauthorized Migrant Population for States based on the March 2005 CPS", Pew Hispanic Center.
3. Martin, Jack. “Breaking the Piggy Bank: How Illegal Immigration is Sending Schools into the Red,” A Report by the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
4. Scott Charton, “Missouri Growth During ‘90s Beats Baby Boom,” Associated Press, December 27, 2001.
5. U.S. Census Bureau 2006
6. Jack Martin. Issue Brief: Estimation of Foreign Born Birthrate. FAIR.  2008.
7. U.S. Geological Survey 2000.  
8. Jack Martin and Stanley Fogel, “Projecting the U.S. Population to 2050,” FAIR, March 2006
9. “Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000,” Census 2000, U.S. Census Bureau.
10. “Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 1990,” 1990 Census, U.S. Census Bureau.
11. Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers.
12. "The 2005 Urban Mobility Report", Texas Transportation Institute.
13. “U.S. Population 2007 Data Sheet,” Population Reference Bureau.
14. Jeremy Kohler, “Jefferson County’s Explosive Growth Produces Challenges, Complications,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 22, 2001.
15. “State Rankings by Acreage and Rate of Non-federal Land Developed,” Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
16. Selected Housing Characteristics: 2005 Data Set - 2005 American Community Survey, American Fact Finder, U.S. Census Bureau.
17. Haya El Nasser, “U.S. Neighborhoods Grow More Crowded,” USA Today, July 7, 2002.
18. Randy Capps, “Hardship Among Children of Immigrants: Findings from the 1999 National Survey of America’s Families,” Urban Institute, 2001.
19. Jeffrey Spivak, op. cit.
20. Bill Draper, “Fixing Missouri’s Growth Patterns Comes Down to Leadership,” Associated Press, December 9, 2002.
21. Beck, Roy and Leon Kolankiewicz, “Weighing Sprawl Factors in Large U.S. Cities,” NumbersUSA, March 2001.
22. “Missouri State Factsheet,” Migration Information Source, Migration Policy Institute.
23. “State of the Air 2005: Missouri”, American Lung Association.
24. Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers.
25. Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 1990 and 2000, Census 2000, U.S. Census Bureau.
26. "Overview of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools and Districts: School Year 1999-2000," National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education.
27. "Public Elementary and Secondary School Student Enrollment, High School Completions, and Staff From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2005-06', National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, June 2007.
28. Projections of Education Statistics to 2015, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education.
29. Sterling Levy, “River View Schools Are Gearing Up to Seek Bond Issue Next Year as Enrollment Grows,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 28, 2002.

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