ST. LOUIS – Newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that efforts to increase the St. Louis metro’s immigrant population are succeeding, as the 15-county bi-state St. Louis metropolitan area recorded the highest percentage increase in foreign-born population among the 30 largest metro areas in the United States from 2022-2023. 

“These numbers show that the focused and intentional work taking place to make our metro a destination for immigrants is paying major dividends,” said Jason Hall, CEO of Greater St. Louis, Inc. “Winning this decade means getting our population increasing and shifting the trajectory of our metro into growth mode, and this data shows that the hard work led for years by partners like the International Institute of St. Louis and the Mosaic Project is paying off. But so much work is still to be done, and we must strengthen our support for them to make sure that this growth is sustained for years to come.” 

“Global talent makes a positive local economic impact on workforce and neighborhood vitality when we see increases like this coming to the St. Louis region from international students, transferred business leaders, families being reunited, and increased refugees,” said Betsy Cohen, Executive Director of the St. Louis Mosaic Project, which was launched in 2012 to transform St. Louis into the fastest growing major metropolitan area for immigration by 2025.