By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

A new study says KC's population has shot past 500,000. In fact, because of Census undercounting, the city supposedly has about 70,000 more people than the Census Bureau and city officials have long thought. Frankly, it's hard to believe.

City officials will be closely looking at this study in the next few weeks.

If the report is correct, the city could get a lot more federal money for all kinds of programs with a higher population.

But this 70,000-plus number looks unrealistic. And remember, the city's own officials have said the city has stayed in the range of 441,000 and 450,000 over the last decade.

The study was done by the Bloch School’s Cookingham Institute for Urban Affairs at UMKC and many other community partners.

A UMKC press release says the "Drilldown" study "uses a multitude of city, state and commercial data records to create a more accurate picture of demographic and economic information in urban core neighborhoods."

The U.S. Census said KC had 441,545 people in 2000. If the new study's figures are accurate, the city actually has close to 510,000 people right now.

The Drilldown study deserves further review in the coming days. It appears to contain some equally upbeat news about the average household income of KC residents, as well as the economic strength of the 3rd District.

Robyne Turner of the Bloch School was quoted in the press release as saying, "Kansas City's DrillDown results reveal a strong market for retail in the urban core by virtue of the density of households. Density in a small area yields purchasing power, despite modest levels of average household income. In that small trade area, there is demand, income, and geographic access for a retailer or service provider such as a bank, small business, or builder to capitalize on.