Census: Quincy lost nearly 1,200 people over past decade; Hannibal loses 800 residents

The 2020 Census numbers are in and, as expected, the news wasn’t great for most of the Muddy River News region running from the Illinois River, over the Mississippi River and to Mark Twain Lake.

According to the data, Quincy’s population fell to 39,463 in 2020, down from 40,633 in 2010 for a loss of 1,170 people. Adams County as a whole dropped 1,366 to 65,737 residents, or by 2.5 percent.

Hannibal, Mo. lost 808 residents to fall to 17,108, but Marion County as a whole only lost 256 people, or 0.9 percent. The county had 28,525 residents in 2020.

Ralls County, Mo. was the only county in the region to gain population over the last decade, going up 1.3 percent to 10,355.

Pike County, Illinois dropped 5.3 percent to 14,739, or a loss of 1,691 people, while its Missouri twin dropped 1.1 percent to 17,587, or a loss of 974 residents.

Of any county within an hour’s drive of Quincy, McDonough County, Ill. was the hardest hit, losing more than 5,000 people. A massive enrollment drop at Western Illinois University has contributed to that decline as college students are counted in the Census data.

On a percentage basis, Schuyler County, Ill. lost more than 10 percent of its population over the last decade, falling to 6,902 residents.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: An earlier version of this report had some incorrect data or, more accurately, bad math by the publisher. We regret the error. JRG