Greater St. Louis is the 23rd-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States with an MSA population of more than 2.8 million, and a CSA population of almost 3 million. It has the largest metro population in Missouri, and the second-largest in Illinois. Its core city—St. Louis, Missouri—sits in the geographic center of the metro area, on the west bank of the Mississippi River. The river bisects the metro area geographically between Illinois and Missouri, although the latter portion is much more populous. The MSA includes St. Louis County, which is independent of the City of St. Louis; their two populations are generally tabulated separately.
The St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan statistical area (MSA) includes the City of St. Louis; the Illinois counties of Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair (known collectively as the Metro East); and the Missouri counties of Crawford (only the City of Sullivan),OMB BULLETIN NO. 15-01 https://www.bls.gov/bls/omb-bulletin-15-01-revised-delineations-of-metropolitan-statistical-areas.pdf Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis (separate from and not inclusive of the city of St. Louis), and Warren.
The larger St. Louis–St. Charles–Farmington, MO–IL combined statistical area (CSA) includes all of the aforementioned MSA, plus the Farmington, MO micropolitan statistical area, which includes St. Francois County, Missouri, and the Centralia, IL micropolitan statistical area, which includes Marion County, Illinois.
In 2020, the St. Louis MSA was the 21st-largest in the nation with a population of 2,820,253. The larger CSA is ranked 20th largest in the United States, with a population of 2,909,003. It fell out of the country's top 20 largest MSAs in 2017 for the first time since 1840.
As of 2021, Greater St. Louis is home to the headquarters of 10 of Missouri's 11 Fortune 500 companies, six Fortune 1,000 companies, and four of the top 50 largest private companies in America, as ranked by Forbes. The metropolitan area received the All-America City Award in 2008.
History
The Illini Confederacy once dominated what is today the St. Louis area. During the 17th century, the population of indigenous peoples in the area was well over tens of thousands, including 20,000 in the Grand Village of Illinois. Indigenous peoples in the area built earthwork mounds on both sides of the Mississippi River, with the Cahokia Mounds as the regional center. St. Louis would later receive the nickname of "Mound City".
Pierre Laclede Liguest and his 13-year-old grandson, Auguste Chouteau, selected St. Louis as the site for a French fur trading post in 1764 because it was a rarely flooded area at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. In 1770, ownership of St. Louis was transferred to Spain, and then returned to France during a secret treaty (Treaty of San Ildefonso).
The area became part of the United States in the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, and steadily grew thereafter. It was the starting point for Lewis and Clark. St. Louis was incorporated as a city in 1823. Between 1840 and 1860, the population exploded, particularly because of the arrival of German and Irish immigrants. St. Louis's current boundaries were established in 1876. After the American Civil War, St. Louis continued to grow into a major manufacturing center due to its access to rail and water transportation. By the 1890s, St. Louis was the 4th-largest city in the United States.
In 1904, St. Louis hosted the world's fair in Forest Park and the Olympics at Washington University's Francis Field. More than 20 million people visited the city during the fair's seven-month long run. St. Louis was seen as a city of industrialization with ties to the automobile industry. The Great Migration between World War I and World War II brought thousands of African Americans to the city, boosting St. Louis's population to 800,000 by 1940. The population peaked in 1950 at 856,000. There was no more room for expansion within city boundaries and earlier immigrant generations started moving to suburbs that could not be annexed.
During the mid-1960s, construction began on the Gateway Arch and Busch Stadium, in part to help revitalize the central business district. A 30-year downtown building boom followed. Today, there is a continued population decline although revitalization efforts are under way.
Political divisions in Greater St. Louis
County or equivalentStateSeat2025 estimate2020 censusChangeAreaDensitySt. LouisMissouriClaytonSt. CharlesMissouriSt. CharlesSt. Louis CityMissouri —MadisonIllinoisEdwardsville St. ClairIllinoisBelleville JeffersonMissouriHillsboroFranklinMissouriUnionLincolnMissouriTroyMacoupinIllinoisCarlinville WarrenMissouriWarrentonClintonIllinoisCarlyle MonroeIllinoisWaterloo JerseyIllinoisJerseyville BondIllinoisGreenville CalhounIllinoisHardin Total
Missouri
Crawford County: Sullivan (partial) Franklin County: Berger, Charmwood, Gerald, Leslie, Miramiguoa Park, New Haven, Oak Grove Village, Pacific (partially), Parkway, St. Clair, Sullivan (partially), Union, Washington Jefferson County: Arnold, Barnhart, Byrnes Mill, Cedar Hill Lakes, Crystal City, De Soto, Festus, Herculaneum, Hillsboro, Imperial, Kimmswick, Lake Tekakwitha, Olympian Village, Parkdale, Peaceful Village, Pevely, Scotsdale Lincoln County: Cave, Chain of Rocks, Elsberry, Foley, Fountain N' Lakes, Hawk Point, Moscow Mills, Old Monroe, Silex, Troy, Truxton, Whiteside, Winfield St. Charles County: Augusta, Cottleville, Dardenne Prairie, Defiance, Foristell, Flint Hill, Josephville, Lake St. Louis, New Melle, O'Fallon, Portage des Sioux, St. Charles, St. Paul, St. Peters, Weldon Spring, Weldon Spring Heights, Wentzville, West Alton St. Louis (Independent City): City of St. Louis St. Louis County:"St. Louis County Communities ." St. Louis County. St. Louis County Government and St. Louis County Municipal League. Accessed April 16, 2012. Ballwin, Bel-Nor, Bel-Ridge, Bella Villa, Bellefontaine Neighbors, Bellerive, Berkeley, Beverly Hills, Black Jack, Breckenridge Hills, Brentwood, Bridgeton, Calverton Park, Champ, Charlack, Chesterfield, Clarkson Valley, Clayton, Cool Valley, Country Club Hills, Country Life Acres, Crestwood, Creve Coeur, Crystal Lake Park, Dellwood, Des Peres, Edmundson, Ellisville, Eureka, Fenton, Ferguson, Flordell Hills, Florissant, Frontenac, Glen Echo Park, Glendale, Grantwood Village, Green Park, Greendale, Hanley Hills, Hazelwood, Hillsdale, Huntleigh, Kinloch, Kirkwood, Jennings, Ladue, Lakeshire, Manchester, Maplewood, Marlborough, Maryland Heights, Moline Acres, Normandy, Northwoods, Norwood Court, Oakland, Olivette, Overland, Pacific (partially), Pagedale, Pasadena Hills, Pasadena Park, Pine Lawn, Richmond Heights, Riverview, Rock Hill, St. Ann, St. John, Shrewsbury, Sunset Hills, Sycamore Hills, Town and Country, Twin Oaks, University City, Uplands Park, Valley Park, Velda City, Velda Village Hills, Vinita Park, Warson Woods, Webster Groves, Wellston, Westwood, Wilbur Park, Wildwood, Winchester, Woodson Terrace Warren County: Foristell, Innsbrook, Marthasville, Pendleton, Three Creeks, Truesdale, Warrenton, Wright City
Illinois Bond County: Donnellson, Greenville, Keyesport (partially), Mulberry Grove, Old Ripley, Panama, Pierron, Pocahontas, Smithboro, Sorento Calhoun County: Batchtown, Brussels, Hamburg, Hardin, Kampsville Clinton County: Albers, Aviston, Bartelso, Beckemeyer, Breese, Carlyle, Centralia (partially), Damiansville, Germantown, Hoffman, Huey, Keyesport (partially), New Baden, St. Rose, Shattuc, Trenton, Wamac (partially) Jersey County: Brighton (partially), Elsah, Fidelity, Fieldon, Grafton, Jerseyville, Otterville Macoupin County: Benld, Brighton (mostly), Bunker Hill, Carlinville, Chesterfield, Dorchester, East Gillespie, Eagarville, Gillespie, Girard, Hettick, Lake Ka-ho, Mt. Olive, Medora, Modesto, Mount Clare, Nilwood, Palmyra, Royal Lakes, Sawyerville, Scottville, Shipman, Standard City, Staunton, Virden (partially), White City, Wilsonville Madison County: Alhambra, Alton, Bethalto, Collinsville (mostly), East Alton, Edwardsville, Fairmont City (partially), Godfrey, Glen Carbon, Granite City, Grantfork, Hamel, Hartford, Highland, Livingston, Madison, Marine, Maryville, New Douglas, Pontoon Beach, Pierron, Roxana, South Roxana, St. Jacob, Troy, Venice, Williamson, Wood River, Worden Monroe County: Columbia, Fults, Hecker, Maeystown, Valmeyer, Waterloo St. Clair County: Belleville, Brooklyn, Cahokia Heights, Caseyville, Collinsville (partially), Columbia, Dupo, East Carondelet, East St. Louis, Fairmont City (partially), Fairview Heights, Fayetteville, Freeburg, Hecker, Lebanon, Lenzburg, Madison, Marissa, Mascoutah, Millstadt, New Athens, New Baden, O'Fallon, Sauget, Shiloh, Smithton, St. Libory, Summerfield, Swansea, Washington Park
As noted above, the Greater St. Louis area includes two municipalities named O'Fallon (in St. Charles County, Missouri and St. Clair County, Illinois), two municipalities named Troy (in Lincoln County, Missouri and Madison County, Illinois), and two municipalities named Chesterfield (in St. Louis County, Missouri and Macoupin County, Illinois).
Greater St. Louis contains several separately-chartered, county-level governmental units that exist independently of the hierarchical municipality-county-state structure. These span multiple counties, and even cross state lines. Generally, their jurisdiction is focused on providing specific services that otherwise would be inadequately funded or inefficiently provided. They include the Bi-State Development Agency, the Great Rivers Greenway District, the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, the Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District, and the Special School District of St. Louis County. The East-West Gateway Council of Governments is the federally-designated metropolitan planning organization for the region's transportation infrastructure.
The nearby Hannibal–Quincy micropolitan area, Columbia–Jefferson City, Missouri Combined Statistical Area and Springfield, Illinois statistical areas are not located within the metropolitan area as defined by the Office of Management and Budget, but are regionally associated due to their proximity and accessibility to Greater St. Louis. Demographics According to the 2010 United States census, in Greater St. Louis there were 2,787,701 people living in 1,143,001 households, of which 748,892 households were families.
Race In 2010, 98.2% of the population of Greater St. Louis considered themselves of one race, while 1.8% considered themselves of two or more races. Of those of one race, 76.9% (2,214,298) were white, 18% (519,221) were African American, 2.1% (60,316) were Asian American, and 1.1% (32,542) were American Indian, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander American, or some other race. 2.5% (72,797) were Hispanic or Latino Americans of any race.
Religion
According to a Pew Research study conducted in 2014, 75% of St. Louis metro area residents identify with Christianity and its various denominations, and 4% are adherents of non-Christian religions. 21% have no religion. Of those, about 3% specifically identify as atheists, about 3% identify as agnostics, and about 16% identify as "Nothing in particular".
The religious demographics of the St. Louis metro area are as follows: Christianity 75% Protestantism 47% Evangelical Protestant 20% Mainline Protestant 17% Historically Black Protestant 10% Catholicism 25% Mormonism 2% Other Christian 1% Non-Christian Faiths 4% Judaism 1% Islam 1% Hinduism 1% Other religion 1% Unaffiliated 21%
Age and gender As of 2010, the median age for Greater St. Louis is 38.2, and 47.4% of the population was male while 52.6% was female.