Missouri

Summary Demographic State Data (and Source)
Population(2009 CB est.)	5,987,580
Population (2000 Census)	5,595,211
Foreign-Born Population (2009 FAIR est.)	212,900
Foreign-Born Population (2000 Census)	151,196
Share Foreign-Born (2009 FAIR est.)	3.6%
Share Foreign-Born (2000)	2.7%
Naturalized U.S. Citizens (2009 CB est.)	90,594
Share Naturalized (2009)	42.6%
Legal Immigrant Admission (DHS 2000-2009)	71,520
Refugee Admission (HHS 2000-2009)	12,079
Illegal Alien Population (2008 FAIR est.)	50,000
Costs of Illegal Aliens (2010 est.)	$338,400,000
Projected 2050 Population - (2006 FAIR)	7,073,000

Missouri: Extended Immigration Data

STATE POPULATION

Using the American Community Survey (ACS), the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that in July 2009 Missouri’s population had increased to 5,987,580 residents, i.e., an increase of 392,369 residents since 2000. That is a rate of increase of about 0.8 percent per year. The comparable national annual rate of increase was 1.0 percent.

The 2000 Census found 5,595,211 persons resident in Missouri. This was an increase of 478,138 persons above the 1990 Census. The annual average increase of 0.8 percent was lower than the national annual average of 1.2 percent population increase.

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 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.

Between the 1980 and 1990 Censuses, the population of Missouri grew by 4.1 percent (from 4,916,766 to 5,117,073). That was an annual rate of increase of 0.5 percent. The national rate of change was 1.0 percent.

FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION

Based on the American Community Survey (ACS), the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the foreign-born population of Missouri was 212,900 persons in 2009. This meant a foreign-born population share of 3.6 percent.

NET INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION (NIM)

Based on the Current Population Survey (CPS), the Census Bureau estimated that between the 2000 Census and July 2009 the state’s population increased by about 63,420 residents from net international migration (more foreign-born arriving than leaving). That was an annual average increase of about 6,820 residents, i.e., about one-seventh (14.4%) of the total increase (not including the children born to the immigrants after their arrival in the United States).

FOREIGN-BORN CHANGE

In the ACS estimate, the amount of change since the 2000 Census indicates an average annual rate of increase in the foreign-born population of about 6,635 people, which is more than one-seventh (15.7%) of the state’s annual average population increase. Since 2000, the foreign-born population has increased by 40.8 percent compared to a 6.1 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 7.2 percent share of the state’s current births is large enough to account for about 5,555 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may account for about 12,185 persons added to the state’s population annually, i.e., about three-tenths (28.9%) of the state’s overall population increase.

The 2000 Census found that more than half (52.4%) of Missouri's foreign-born population had arrived in the state since 1990. This demonstrates the effects of the current mass immigration, and it is a higher share than the national average (43.7%). In the 2009 CPS estimate, more than two-fifths (42.2%) had arrived since 2000. That is still higher than the 31.6 percent share of new arrivals nationally.

FOREIGN-BORN CHARACTERISTICS

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 chart above shows the foreign-born population increasing by 40.8 percent since 2000 and the share of that population from Latin America and the Caribbean increasing by 64.3 percent. That region’s share of the state’s immigrant population grew from 25.8 percent to 30.1 percent in 2009.

NATURALIZATION

Data from the 2009 ACS indicate that 90,594 residents, or 42.6 percent, of the foreign-born population in Missouri were U.S. citizens, compared to 61,786 residents, or 40.9 percent, in 2000.

Nationally, 40.3 percent of the foreign-born were U.S. citizens in 2000, and 43.7 percent in 2009.

REFUGEES

Missouri received 12,079 refugees over the most recent ten fiscal years (FY'00-'09).

LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY STUDENTS

FOREIGN STUDENTS

The 2009/2010 annual report of the Institute of International Education (IIE) lists the number of foreign students attending post-secondary school in Missouri as 13,360. Five schools in the state are listed as having a major concentration of these students:

U. Missouri-Columbia – 1,831.
Washington U. – 1,720
U. Missouri-Kansas City – 1,178
Missouri State U. – 1,072
Missouri U. S&T. – 989

Those schools represented about half (50.8%) of the total foreign students in the state.

For information on foreign student issues see: Foreign Students in the United States

ILLEGAL ALIENS

FAIR Estimate- FAIR estimated the state’s illegal alien population as of 2010 was as many as 60,000 persons. This is part of an overall estimate of the U.S. illegal alien population of about 12 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. That was 6,000 higher than the INS' 1996 estimate.

Other Estimates - The Pew Hispanic Center estimated the illegal alien population of the state at 60,000 as of 2010.

COST OF ILLEGAL ALIENS

FAIR’s 2010 fiscal cost study, “The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on United States Taxpayers” estimated the following cost outlays and tax receipts:

Missouri Fiscal Costs In 2009
Due to Illegal Aliens ($M)		(Pct.)
K-12 educ.	$133.6	39.5%
LEP educ.	$26.9	7.9%
Medicaid	$25.6	7.6%
SCHIP	$8.3	2.5%
Justice	$21.2	6.3%
Welfare+	$44.0	13.0%
General	$78.8	23.3%
Total	$338.4
Tax Receipts	$12.9
Net Cost	$325.5

POPULATION PROJECTION

We projected Missouri’s population in 2050 likely would be between 6.96 million and 7.07 million depending on what happens with immigration policy. See “Projecting the U.S. Population to 2050: Four Immigration Scenarios,” FAIR 2006.

Missouri: Immigrant Admissions

Missouri Immigrant Admissions by Fiscal Year
2000	6,053
2001	7,616
2002	8,610
2003	6,179
2004	6,782
2005	8,744
2006	6,857
2007	6,459
2008	7,078
2009	7,142
Total	71,520

Recent immigrant admissions are at 345 percent of admissions just after adoption of the current immigration system in 1965. During the 1965-'69 period, annual admissions averaged about 2,105 immigrants. During the most recent five years, admissions averaged about 7,255 persons.

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 2009 was about 175,115 immigrants.

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).

Immigrant Admissions by Fiscal Year
Country	FY'93	FY'94	FY'95	FY'96	FY'97	FY'98	FY'99	FY'00	FY'01	FY'02	Total
Bangladesh	-	-	-	35	19	16	18	30	-	32	150
Canada	122	153	107	131	99	77	96	169	207	189	1,350
China *	901	575	330	451	418	261	267	487	655	637	4,982
Colombia	21	20	31	29	26	16	28	37	57	70	335
Cuba	19	32	23	56	100	23	73	51	54	54	485
Dom. Rep.	7	6	5	3	12	7	16	13	14	16	99
Ecuador	7	-	17	5	7	20	10	15	13	10	104
El Salvador	12	18	9	10	12	10	15	43	38	62	229
Germany	92	99	67	-	57	63	73	103	161	206	921
Guatemala	17	13	25	39	38	38	57	85	85	165	562
Guyana	9	5	4	4	2	2	2	3	-	5	36
Haiti	6	32	119	173	13	5	8	15	28	33	432
Honduras	26	-	-	-	27	29	14	17	-	46	159
India	271	295	248	397	241	271	199	359	543	484	3,308
Iran	74	69	51	19	64	55	60	60	85	75	612
Ireland	41	74	-	-	5	11	5	12	-	3	151
Jamaica	37	22	25	21	24	16	14	30	31	40	260
Japan	-	40	-	-	26	38	37	52	49	46	288
Korea	78	77	75	129	95	67	55	82	105	112	875
Mexico	182	195	270	451	311	491	491	636	419	838	4,284
Nicaragua	-	-	-	-	6	4	3	18	18	10	59
Nigeria	-	-	53	136	64	67	78	96	-	103	597
Pakistan	67	51	52	92	67	65	54	100	152	134	834
Peru	35	20	18	23	14	13	20	24	37	37	241
Philippines	274	243	167	261	210	139	155	227	270	271	2,217
Poland	41	29	31	39	23	17	14	24	22	39	279
Sov. Un. *	497	554	406	345	336	345	395	542	402	591	4,413
Trin.& Tob.	-	8	-	-	8	9	4	11	-	8	48
U. Kingdom	131	123	78	138	75	66	78	117	153	141	1,100
Vietnam	810	601	449	710	402	184	214	331	474	339	4,514
Yugo. *	-	-	368	447	423	197	549	608	1,494	2,094	6,180
Other	867	1,008	962	1,546	966	966	1,069	1,656	2,050	1,720	12,810
Total	4,644	4,362	3,990	5,690	4,190	3,588	4,171	6,053	7,616	8,610	52,914

A dash (-) indicates that the data for that year were not published for that country in the INS Statistical Yearbook.
* China data include Hong Kong and Taiwan. Former USSR data continued since break-up (except FY'96-'97 and ‘01 include only Russia and Ukraine). Former Yugoslavia data continued since break-up.

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.

Missouri : Poll Data

Rasmussen Poll: Arizona Law SB 1070
July 2010

Suppose the new Arizona immigration law was being considered for your state. Would you favor or oppose passage of that law in your state?

The U.S. Justice Department has decided to challenge the legality of Arizona’s new immigration law in federal court. Do you agree or disagree with the decision to challenge the legality of Arizona’s new immigration law?

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

Missouri: Immigration Impact

POPULATION PROFILE

A marker of the impact of immigration on the Missouri's population size: The state's Hispanic population nearly doubled during the 1990s, to 118,592. Fifty-six Missouri counties had Hispanic population growth exceeding 100 percent.¹ While the Hispanic population includes many native-born residents, it is an indicator of the dramatic contribution immigration has made to population growth in the area.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND QUALITY OF LIFE PROFILE

Water: Between 2000 and 2006 the population of foreign-born persons increased in Missouri by 28.1 percent.² In 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.³ Missouri has a per-capita, water demand of nearly 156 gallons per day.⁴ By 2050, if current growth trends continue Missouri's population will have topped 7 million, more than a 21 percent increase from 2006 estimates.⁵

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. ^6,7 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. ⁸

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. ⁹ 12 percent of commuters in Missouri experience a commute that is 45 minutes or more. ¹⁰

In Jefferson County, traffic counts on most highways doubled between 1985 and 1995. ¹¹

Disappearing Open Space: Each year, Missouri loses 44,800 acres due to development.¹²

Crowded Housing: In 2005 over 31,000 Missouri households are defined as crowded or severely crowded by housing authorities. ¹³ Studies show that a rise in crowded housing often correlates with an increase in the number of foreign-born.^{14, 15}

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.¹⁶ 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.¹⁷

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. ¹⁸

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 percent.¹⁹

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. ²⁰

Solid Waste: Missouri generates 1.28 tons of solid waste per capita. ²¹

Schools: Between 1990 and 2000, Missouri's elementary and high school enrollment increased 14 percent, ²² and increased by almost 3,600 students from 2000 and 2006 ^{23, 24} , and is projected to increase by an additional 9,000 students by 2015. ²⁵

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. ²⁶

Endnotes:

Scott Charton, "Missouri Growth During '90s Beats Baby Boom," Associated Press, December 27, 2001.
U.S. Census Bureau 2006
Jack Martin. Issue Brief: Estimation of Foreign Born Birthrate. FAIR. 2008.
U.S. Geological Survey 2000.
Jack Martin and Stanley Fogel, "Projecting the U.S. Population to 2050," FAIR, March 2006
"Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000," Census 2000, U.S. Census Bureau.
"Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 1990," 1990 Census, U.S. Census Bureau.
Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers.
"The 2005 Urban Mobility Report", Texas Transportation Institute.
"U.S. Population 2007 Data Sheet," Population Reference Bureau.
Jeremy Kohler, "Jefferson County's Explosive Growth Produces Challenges, Complications," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 22, 2001.
"State Rankings by Acreage and Rate of Non-federal Land Developed," Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
Selected Housing Characteristics: 2005Data Set - 2005 American Community Survey, American Fact Finder, U.S. Census Bureau.
Haya El Nasser, "U.S. Neighborhoods Grow More Crowded," USA Today, July 7, 2002.
Randy Capps, "Hardship Among Children of Immigrants: Findings from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families," Urban Institute, 2001.
Jeffrey Spivak, op. cit.
Bill Draper, "Fixing Missouri's Growth Patterns Comes Down to Leadership," Associated Press, December 9, 2002.
Beck, Roy and Leon Kolankiewicz, "Weighing Sprawl Factors in Large U.S. Cities," NumbersUSA, March 2001.
"Missouri State Factsheet," Migration Information Source, Migration Policy Institute.
"State of the Air 2005: Missouri", American Lung Association.
Report Card for America's Infrastructure 2005," American Society of Civil Engineers.
Table DP-1-4, Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 1990 and 2000, Census 2000, U.S. Census Bureau.
"Overview of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools and Districts: School Year 1999-2000," National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education.
"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.
Projections of Education Statistics to 2015, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education.
Sterling Levy, "River View Schools Are Gearing Up to Seek Bond Issue Next Year as Enrollment Grows," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 28, 2002.

Other Resources

State Local Reform Organizations

State Representatives Voting Record

Updated December 2011

Page Tools