The nation's population grew by nearly 2.77 million people, or 0.9 percent between July 1, 2007 and July 1, 2008, according to recently released estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. This brings the total U.S. population to over 304.0 million.
Utah experienced the fastest growth among states over this period as its population grew by 2.5 percent. Rounding out the list of the five most rapidly growing states is Arizona (2.3 percent), Texas (2.0 percent), North Carolina (2.0 percent), and Colorado (2.0 percent). Population totals decreased in Michigan (-0.5 percent) and Rhode Island (-0.2 percent).
Missouri's population increased by 33,206, or 0.6 percent, between July 1, 2007 and July 1, 2008. With 5,911,605 people, Missouri has the 18th largest population among the states and the District of Columbia. Since the 2000 Census, population in the state has increased by 316,394 (5.7 percent) compared to the national average of 8.0 percent growth.
Of the surrounding states, Missouri has the third largest population, following Illinois (12.9 million) and Tennessee (6.2 million). Tennessee had the fastest rate of growth among these states from 2007 to 2008 at 1.1 percent.
| Missouri and Surrounding States Population Estimates | ||||||||
| State | Population Rank | July 1, 2008 | July 1, 2007 | Population Change | Percent Change from 2007 to 2008 | 2000 Census | Percent change from 2000 to 2008 | Population change from 2000 to 2008 |
| .Illinois | 6 | 12,901,563 | 12,825,809 | 75,754 | 0.6% | 12,419,293 | 3.9% | 482,270 |
| .Tennessee | 17 | 6,214,888 | 6,149,116 | 65,772 | 1.1% | 5,689,283 | 9.2% | 525,605 |
| .Missouri | 18 | 5,911,605 | 5,878,399 | 33,206 | 0.6% | 5,595,211 | 5.7% | 316,394 |
| .Kentucky | 26 | 4,269,245 | 4,236,308 | 32,937 | 0.8% | 4,041,769 | 5.6% | 227,476 |
| .Oklahoma | 28 | 3,642,361 | 3,608,123 | 34,238 | 0.9% | 3,450,654 | 5.6% | 191,707 |
| .Iowa | 30 | 3,002,555 | 2,983,360 | 19,195 | 0.6% | 2,926,324 | 2.6% | 76,231 |
| .Arkansas | 32 | 2,855,390 | 2,830,557 | 24,833 | 0.9% | 2,673,400 | 6.8% | 181,990 |
| .Kansas | 33 | 2,802,134 | 2,777,382 | 24,752 | 0.9% | 2,688,418 | 4.2% | 113,716 |
| .Nebraska | 39 | 1,783,432 | 1,769,473 | 13,959 | 0.8% | 1,711,263 | 4.2% | 72,169 |
United States |
***** | 304,059,724 | 301,290,332 | 2,769,392 | 0.9% | 281,421,906 | 8.0% | 22,637,818 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau Population Division
Other interesting details:
- Nevada, which had been among the four fastest-growing states each of the last 24 years, grew 1.8 percent and ranked eighth over the most recent period.
- California remained the most populous state, with about 36.8 million people on July 1, 2008. Rounding out the top five states were Texas (24.3 million), New York (19.5 million), Florida (18.3 million) and Illinois (12.9 million).
- On the whole, the Northeastern states have gained population at an increasing rate since 2005, a turnaround from their declining growth rates from 2000 to 2005.
- Six of the 10 fastest-growing states from 2007 to 2008 were Rocky Mountain states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. Three others lined the South Atlantic coast: Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
- The West was the fastest-growing region (1.4 percent) between 2007 and 2008, but the South added the highest number of people over the period (1.4 million).
Portions of this report were taken from the U.S. Census Bureau Population Press Release from December 22, 2008.
