West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana

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West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
Map
Location in the state of Louisiana
Louisiana's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	1807
Seat	Port Allen
Largest city	Port Allen
Area - Total - Land - Water	204 sq mi (527 km²) 191 sq mi (495 km²) 12 sq mi (32 km²), 6.10%
Population - (2000) - Density	21,601 113/sq mi (44/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Named for: bâton rouge, French for red stick

West Baton Rouge Parish (French: Paroisse de Baton Rouge Ouest) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Port Allen and as of 2000, the population was 21,601. The parish has a highly-rated school system and is one of the few in Louisiana that has privatized school bus services^{[citation needed]}. West Baton Rouge saw a very small percentage of growth after Hurricane Katrina with the latest estimate (July 2006) put about 864 extra residents into the parish^{[citation needed]}.

1 History
2 Government
3 Geography
4 Demographics
5 Cities and towns
6 Education
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

[edit] History

West Baton Rouge Parish was formed in 1807; it was named Baton Rouge Parish until 1812.

[edit] Government

West Baton Rouge Parish is governed by a parish council.

[edit] Geography

The parish has a total area of 204 square miles (527 km²), of which, 191 square miles (495 km²) of it is land and 12 square miles (32 km²) of it (6.10%) is water.

[edit] Major highways

[edit] Minor Highwways

Louisiana Highway 76
Louisiana Highway 327
Louisiana Highway 411
Louisiana Highway 413
Louisiana Highway 415
Louisiana Highway 620
Louisiana Highway 982
Louisiana Highway 983
Louisiana Highway 984
Louisiana Highway 985
Louisiana Highway 986

Louisiana Highway 987-1
Louisiana Highway 987-2
Louisiana Highway 987-3
Louisiana Highway 988
Louisiana Highway 989-1
Louisiana Highway 989-2
Louisiana Highway 990
Louisiana Highway 1145
Louisiana Highway 1148
Louisiana Highway 3091
Louisiana Highway 3237

[edit] Adjacent parishes

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 21,601 people, 7,663 households, and 5,739 families residing in the parish. The population density was 113 people per square mile (44/km²). There were 8,370 housing units at an average density of 44 per square mile (17/km²). The racial makeup of the parish was 62.78% White, 35.49% Black or African American, 0.20% Native American, 0.19% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.53% from other races, and 0.79% from two or more races. 1.45% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.


Census	Pop.		%±
1900	10,285		—
1910	12,636		22.9%
1920	11,092		−12.2%
1930	9,716		−12.4%
1940	11,263		15.9%
1950	11,738		4.2%
1960	14,796		26.1%
1970	16,864		14%
1980	19,086		13.2%
1990	19,419		1.7%
2000	21,601		11.2%
Est. 2006	22,463	^[2]	4%
West Baton Rouge Parish Census Data^[3]

There were 7,663 households out of which 37.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.50% were married couples living together, 18.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.10% were non-families. 21.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.20.

In the parish the population was spread out with 28.10% under the age of 18, 9.90% from 18 to 24, 30.60% from 25 to 44, 21.70% from 45 to 64, and 9.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 96.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.40 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $37,117, and the median income for a family was $43,204. Males had a median income of $35,618 versus $22,960 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $15,773. About 13.20% of families and 17.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.20% of those under age 18 and 13.10% of those age 65 or over.