Louisiana’s population grew about 2.7% from 2010 to 2020, well short of the national growth rate of 7.4%, according to U.S. Census Bureau counts released today.
The census counted 4,657,757 Louisiana residents, up 124,385 from 2010. The number of housing units in the state increased 5.5% to 2,073,200, of which 11.7% were vacant.
East Baton Rouge still had the most residents of any parish, with 456,781. Jefferson Parish had the second-largest population, with 440,781 residents, and Orleans was third with just under 384,000.
According to the census, the populations of the Capital Region parishes other than EBR were as follows:
- Livingston: 142,282 (9th-most in the state among the 64 parishes);
- Ascension: 126,500 (13th);
- Iberville: 30,241 (34th);
- West Baton Rouge: 27,199 (35th);
- Pointe Coupee: 20,758 (44th);
- East Feliciana: 19,539 (48th);
- West Feliciana: 15,310 (50th);
- St. Helena: 10,920 (56th).
The total U.S. population was 331.4 million. The 7.4% national population increase was lower than the previous decade’s 9.7% increase and was the lowest since the 1930s.
Texas gained the most residents between 2010 and 2020, followed by Florida, California, Georgia and Washington. Those five states accounted for nearly half of the nation’s total population increase between 2010 and 2020.
California was the most populous state in 2020 (39.5 million), followed by Texas (29.1 million), Florida (21.5 million), New York (20.2 million) and Pennsylvania (13 million).
The populations of three states—West Virginia, Mississippi and Illinois—and Puerto Rico declined over the decade.
