Officials with the US Census Bureau and the State Office of Administration say Missouri’s population grew by six-tenths of a percent since the last census in April of 2000 to 5,629,707. The national average growth was 1.2 percent. State Demographer Ryan Burson says, however, the state is not too far behind the rest of the nation. Burson believes the troubles the state economy has experienced has led to the slow growth. He says the biggest decreases are in the cities, but surrounding suburban counties have shown the biggest growth.
