Population MICA contains population detail for Missouri, its 115 counties (114 counties plus the City of St. Louis, which is an independent city) and a few different regionalized geographies. For state and county data, population by sex, race and ethnicity are available for a variety of age groups including single year (through age 84) and the option to custom create a user-defined age group. In addition, population data is available for a small number of city geographies including Independence, Joplin and Kansas City. Population data is also available for Eastern Jackson County (Jackson County with the populations of Kansas City and Independence removed). Data for the cities and Eastern Jackson County are available by sex for selected age groups. However, note that there is no single age population nor the ability to custom create population based age groups for these geographies.

For the decennial census years (i.e. 2000 and 2010) the April 1 census counts are used. All other years use a July 1 mid-year point as their date of reference. Population for non-census years comes from the US Census Bureau in partnership with the Federal State Cooperative Program for Population Estimates and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

The race estimates for the state, all 115 counties, and Kansas City use the bridged-race method whereby each person in a county is assigned to one of four race groups (White, African-American, Asian/Pacific Islander, or American Indian). The race estimates for the state and county are taken directly from NCHS. The Kansas City race estimates are developed internally by DHSS staff using census data as controls.

ZIP code and census tract data are available for decennial census years only. Single year and custom age groupings are available, but neither race nor ethnicity data is included in these geographies.

Exceptions

For 2000, DHSS added in the population from a prison in DeKalb County which was erroneously missed in the original 2000 Census. Also, the under 1 population count for all years and geographies except the ZIP and census tract files comes from resident live births in Missouri using the Missouri Vital Records system. Adjustments to the 1 to 4 age population have been made to ensure the overall population estimate remains consistent with Census Bureau estimates.