ST. LOUIS–While many U.S. Metropolitan areas are increasing in population again since the pandemic, that’s not the case for St. Louis City and many of the largest cities in the area, according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau Thursday. 

St. Louis City saw nearly a 5% drop in population between April 2020 and July 2022, according to the data. Eureka, with a 9% increase in population, was the only St. Louis County municipality with a population over 5,000 that saw growth during that time.

St. Charles County saw quite the opposite, with its major municipalities seeing growth during that time. Lake St. Louis saw the biggest increase at 10% population growth.  Here is a breakdown of the others: Wentzville had 6%, Cottleville had 3%, O’Fallon saw 2.5%, St. Peters had 1.37% and St. Charles with 0.9%.

The data also shows that Kansas City, Springfield and Columbia all experienced growth during that time period.

Nationwide, the population shift looked different during that time period. During the first full year of the pandemic in 2021, more than half of the 20 largest U.S. metro areas lost residents, and all U.S. metro areas grew by just 0.1%, as fear of the virus sent residents fleeing the most densely-populated urban areas and the popularity of remote work allowed people to live far from their workplaces.

By comparison, only eight of the 20 largest metro areas decreased in 2022, and the growth rate for all U.S. metros was 0.4%. Among the largest U.S. metros that had gains in 2022 after experiencing losses in 2021 were Washington, Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Seattle, Minneapolis and San Diego, according to 2022 population estimates released Thursday by the Census Bureau.