Perryville’s population grows by 4 percent

The 2020 U.S. Census count is in and the city of Perryville showed a slight increase. Perryville had a population of 8,555 as of April 2020, which was an increase of 330 individuals, or about 4 percent from the reported count of 8,225 in April 2010.
Perry County, as a whole, dropped slightly, going from 18,971 in April 2010 to 18,956, a decrease of 15 residents or about 0.1 percent.
“While Perry County’s 2020 decennial census count came back 15 folks less than in 2010, I think once we receive the more detailed information such as age of those counted, household and demographic data, a better picture and finer understanding will come to light,” said Perry County Clerk Jared Kutz. “Growth in population is not the only determinant of growth. While the released data are statistically identical to 10 years ago, the progress of our community is obvious to anyone by taking a drive around the community.
“Our community has made much progress in many areas the past 10 years we will continue to invest in our community to continue on a path that keeps Perry County to be a safe and wonderful place to live, work and raise a family.”
A total of 51.6 percent of city residents are female while this figure drops slightly to 50.2 percent for all of Perry County.
In terms of race, Perry County reported a white only total of 96.5 percent. The next highest tally was Hispanic or Latino, at 2.5 percent, followed by two or more races at 1.1 percent.
For the city of Perryville, the reported race breakdown was 94.3 percent for white alone, 2.8 percent Hispanic, 2.7 percent as Asian alone, 2.7 percent listed as African American or Black and the two races present option at 1.1 percent.
Statewide, Missouri reported a count of 6,154,913 residents, which is up 165,986 people, or about 2.77 percent from the 2010 census report of 5,988,927 residents.
Altenburg’s 2020 population estimate showed a slight decrease, at 335, down from 352 in 2010
For Frohna, the 2020 April estimate was 241, which was down 13 residents from the 2010 census count of 254.
The county’s only other incorporated area, Longtown, showed a drop of just two residents. It went from a population of 102 in 2010 to 100 in 2020.
In terms of nearby counties, four of the adjacent counties to Perry showed increases above the 2020 count.

Cape Girardeau County went up the most in terms of both number of residents and percent of increase. It gained 6,036 residents, increasing from 75,674 in 2010 to 81,710 as of April 2020. This marked a net gain of 7.97 percent.
Madison County grew by 400 individuals, reporting 12,626 in April 2020 which was up 3.27 percent from the 2010 count of 12,226. Fredericktown saw a slight increase, going from 3,985 in 2010 to 3,998 in the April 2020 estimate.
St. Francois County saw an increase of 1,563 residents this cycle, going from 65,359 to 66,922, a net gain of about 2.39 percent. Park Hills decreased slightly, going from 8,759 in 2010 down to 8,520 in the 2020 count, a drop of 239 people, or about 2.72 percent.
To the north of Perry County, Ste. Genevieve County reported a 2020 population of 18,479, which was up 334 residents, or about 1.84 percent, from the 2010 figure of 18,145 people. The city of Ste. Genevieve had the same exact number of residents in both years, with a count of 4,410 in both 2010 and 2020.
The only nearby county dropping in the past decade was Bollinger, which went from 12,363 in 2010 to 10,567 in 2020, a decrease of 1,796 residents, or about 14.52 percent.
Scott Sattler, executive director of the Perry County Economic Development Authority, and Perryville city administrator Brent Buerck addressed the census at Tuesday’s Board of Aldermen meeting.
“Some of the census numbers are out,” Sattler said. “Perry County actually declined by 15 residents and Perryville grew by 4 percent, it went from 8,225 to 8,555, so from our census numbers it’s not where we want it to be, but that’s what it is.”

REDISTRICTING OF WARDS
“The big thing I wanted to mention is that this triggers every 10 years we have to do a ward adjustment,” Buerck said. “Normally, we would have had this information several months ago. We’re not even guaranteed to get the minute details until Sept. 20 I believe.”
Between mid-September and the filing date for municipal elections, redistricting within the city will need completed, Buerck said.
“We’re going to have a lot of would to do guys in a very short timeframe,” he said. “...We have to have pretty balanced wards. We know we’ve grown toward the bypass, out west toward Sycamore Road is where we’ve seen some growth so my anticipated analysis is that we’re going to have some adjustments.”
Buerck noted that Southeast Missouri Regional Planning will be contracting with the city to assist with an analysis of the population data.