Five Louisiana parishes—including East Baton Rouge—are among 78 counties in the United States that saw their populations shift from a majority of white residents to a minority majority between 2000 and 2013, according to new data from the Pew Research Center.
The data shows that in East Baton Rouge Parish, 55.2% of the parish’s 412,958 residents were non-hispanic whites in 2000. In 2013, that percentage of the parish’s 445,227 residents fell to 45.9%, a 9.2 percentage point swing over the 13 year span. The other four Louisiana parishes to see their populations shift to minority majorities over the span are Caddo, Claiborne, Morehouse and St. John the Baptist.
“In the United States as a whole, the white share of the population is declining as Hispanic, Asian and black populations grow,” says the Pew Research Center. “But the shift to a more diverse nation is happening more quickly in some places than in others.”
On the flipside, one municipality in Louisiana and another in South Carolina are the only two in the nation that have shifted from a minority majority to a non-Hispanic white majority over the span. Those are West Feliciana Parish and Calhoun County, South Carolina—each with relatively small populations of about 15,000.
“Even though the white share of the U.S. population is falling, non-Hispanic whites remain the nation’s largest racial or ethnic group, accounting for 63% of all Americans,” the Pew Research Center notes. “And whites are at least half of the population in 89% of the nation’s counties with at least 10,000 residents.”
See the complete data on America’s shifting population demographics.
—Steve Sanoski
