EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – The city of Eau Claire is growing and has now passed Waukesha to become the 7th largest city in the state. City leaders say Eau Claire has seen the population rise almost 3 percent since 2020.

Compared to the 2020 census, Eau Claire gained almost 2000 people, making it second to Madison in numerical gain and percentage increase in cities over 40,000 people in Wisconsin. The Department of Administration determined the population estimate as of January 1st but didn’t release the results until October 10th of this year.

Despite what the population signs say, the recent estimate has put Eau Claire’s population to 71,304.