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A sign welcomes people to Morgan City but Census Bureau estimates say out-migration from St. Mary is leading to an overall population loss.

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One result has been the closure of M.D. Shannon Elementary because of declining enrollment.

Census estimate: St. Mary population declines

The latest estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau says St. Mary Parish’s population shrank by 761 between 2015 and 2016.
That means the parish has now lost about 4.7 percent of its population since the 2010 Census. The 2016 census estimate says St. Mary’s population was 52,093.
The major cause of the population drop was domestic migration — people moving out of the parish — according to the 2016 estimate.
Natural growth — the number of births compared to the number of deaths — has added 1,375 people to the parish’s population since 2010. But net domestic migration has taken away more than 3,800 St. Mary residents since the last complete census.
Population figures here have historically depended in large measure on the health of the oil and gas industry. Depressed oil prices over the last 2½ years has cost the parish about a fifth of its jobs since fall 2014 and have reduced local government tax collections by millions of dollars.
The population decline has already had a major impact on the parish. The St. Mary School Board, citing declining enrollment, voted last year to close M.D. Shannon Elementary in Morgan City and Hernandez Elementary in Franklin.

ST. MARY NOW

Franklin Banner-Tribune
P.O. Box 566, Franklin, LA 70538
Phone: 337-828-3706
Fax: 337-828-2874

Morgan City Review
1014 Front Street, Morgan City, LA 70380
Phone: 985-384-8370
Fax: 985-384-4255