St. Louis Five-Year Consolidated Plan Strategy

St. Louis Five Year Consolidated Plan Strategy

Chapter 2

A SNAPSHOT LOOK AT ST. LOUIS

The St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes the City of St. Louis, and 12 surrounding counties in Missouri and Illinois. Many of the problems which have plagued the City in recent years are now beginning to affect St. Louis County and other inner suburban areas. These problems include outmigration, job loss, and concentration of poverty.

Between 1990 and 1998, the population of the City of St. Louis is estimated to have dropped from 396,685 to 337,350. By 2003, that total is expected to drop to 310,007, a loss of 21.8% from the 1990 census.
1999 census estimates show that there were 138,471 households in the City of St. Louis; a household constituting one or more persons, usually related, but not always, occupying a dwelling unit. This represents a loss of 26,460 households since 1990 or a decline of 16 percent in the nine-year period.
The City lost more than 40,000 persons through net domestic migration. At the same time, the in-migration of immigrants has partially offset the loss of locally born population.
The racial composition of the City's population includes 175,446 African Americans (52%) and 156,886 whites (46%). Other racial groups are estimated to make up about 1.5 percent of the population.
The City's poverty rate has risen from 24.6% in 1990 to 29.5% in 1996. The number of persons in poverty has risen from 95,000 to 102,000, while the number of children has risen from 39,000 to 44,000. Nearly one out of every two children in St. Louis is living below the poverty line.
In January 1999, the TANF (welfare) caseload for the City of St. Louis was 39,791 individuals. The caseload has decreased by 33.7% since January 1993, when the caseload was 60,030 individuals. Statewide, the TANF caseload fell 47.2% in the same time period. Nationwide, the caseload has fallen by over 40%.
The City has approximately 10,000 businesses. However, it has had limited growth in jobs and new businesses between 1990 and 1996.
Unemployment in the City of St. Louis has generally declined each year since 1994, although the City unemployment rate, at 6.9% in 1998, was still twice as high as the state unemployment rate of 3.3%.
Per capita income in the City of St. Louis grew between 1994 and 1996 to a high of $23,570. This is still lower, however, than per capita income of $25,638 in the state's urbanized counties as a whole.
Enrollment in the public school system increased for three years beginning in the 1995-1996 school year and then leveled off at approximately 45,000 students, with an annual dropout rate of 16.2 percent and a graduation rate of only 38.6 percent. This compares to statewide averages of 5.5 percent and 76.3 percent, respectively.
St. Louis was ranked as one of the worst cities for raising children according to Zero Population Growth. Factors considered included the population decrease, teen births, crime, the number of children living in poverty, and air quality.

These statistics provide a brief glimpse into the realities and challenges facing the City of St. Louis. The rest of this chapter will provide more detailed analysis of these numbers, along with their implications for the City's future priorities.