Louisiana Population 2024

Situated in the deep south of the United States, Louisiana is known chiefly for the history and culture of its largest city, New Orleans. In fact, its capital city is Baton Rouge, even if its larger neighbor has dominated the headlines ever since the state came into existence. Louisiana has shown steady growth over the years.

There is a wide and diverse mix of people that make up the Louisiana population, which grew to 4,670,724 by the end of 2016. This reflects a modest rise over the previous year. Louisiana currently has a population growth rate of 0.75% annually, which ranks 27th in the country.

The last official census in the United States took place in 2010 and at the time, it was revealed that 4,533,372 people lived in Louisiana, which represented a modest growth of 1.4% on the figures from 2000. Sadly, the effects of Hurricane Katrina played something of a part in restricting the population and as a result of the disaster, some 1,500 people lost their lives.

In 2012, an estimate put the population of Louisiana at 4,601,893, a further increase from the 2010 Census, which has since increased to over 4.6 million. In terms of population, Louisiana is the 25th largest state within the US.

Louisiana Population Density and Area

With a surface area of 51,839 square miles, Louisiana is the 31st largest state in terms of pure land mass. In regards to population density, the figures are fairly modest. For every square mile of land, there is an average of around 105 people (40.5 per square kilometer).

Despite the low population density, there are several "hotspot" areas of population, mostly grouped around major cities. New Orleans is the largest city in the state, and its metropolitan area has an estimated population of 1.285 million in 2016 with a population density of 1,965 people per square mile in the city proper.

Overall, these statistics combine to make Louisiana the 24th most densely populated state in the entire USA.

The largest parish in Louisiana is the East Baton Rouge Parish, with over 446,000 individuals residing within its boundaries.

Louisiana Gender and Religion Statistics

The median age in Louisiana is 36.2 years of age, and the state also features a majority of females at 51.1% of the population and 48.9% males in the population.

In terms of religious preferences, Lousiana strongly leans towards Christianity with 84% of the population affiliated with a Christian based faith, while 2% are involved with non-Christian based faiths, which leaves 13% of the population unaffiliated with any particular religion.

Louisiana Boundary, Census, and Statehood History

Louisiana west of the Mississippi River was mostly part of the Louisiana Territory, which was ceded by Spain to France in 1803 and then sold by France to the United States. In 1804 much of the present State was included in the newly established Orleans Territory; the rest of the Louisiana Purchase became Louisiana Territory, renamed Missouri Territory in 1812. Louisiana was admitted as a State on April 30, 1812 and immediately added the Florida Parishes east of the Mississippi and north of Lake Pontchartrain, although these still were claimed by Spain until 1819. Also in 1819, the boundary with Mexico (Texas) was settled by treaty, bringing the State to essentially its present limits.

In 1810 the census covered most of the settled parts of what is now Louisiana, except for the Florida Parishes east of the Mississippi River. By 1820 census coverage extended to virtually all of the present State. Louisiana's primary subdivisions have long been termed parishes instead of counties; both terms appear in early censuses.

Louisiana has an interesting diversity of races at any given time. The percentage of African Americans and blacks in the state is the second-highest in the nation, only trailing behind Mississippi. A high percentage of Cajuns and Creoles live in the southern portion of the state. There are also a significant number of Hispanics in the state, including the third largest Honduran American community located in metro New Orleans.

Louisiana's population still greatly reflects the state's history, and 3.5% of the population speaks Spanish at home while 3.4% speak French, including Louisiana Creole and Cajun. A total of 8.6% of the state's residents speak a language other than English at home.

There is a very high concentration of black Americans living in Louisiana, accounting for over 32% of the total population. The most common ancestry groups include African American (30.4%), French (16.8%), American (9.5%), German (8.3%), Irish (7.5%), English (6.6%) and Italian (4.8%). It's estimated that nearly half of the population in Louisiana below the age of 1 is a minority.