county

Natchitoches Parish, LA

Demographic and economic profile of Natchitoches Parish, LA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Natchitoches Parish is a small, education-anchored Louisiana parish of 37,047 residents—home to Northwestern State University—with 25.6% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher and median worker earnings of $31,526, reflecting a modest-wage labor market. Labor force participation is low at 53.4%, unemployment stands at 6.2%, and a 24.1% poverty rate points to structural workforce constraints, though housing costs remain accessible with a median home value of $163,000 and median gross rent of $767 per month. The parish lost 4.9% of its population over the past five years, and a median age of 33.4 suggests a relatively young population base, likely influenced by the university.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

37,047

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$46,292

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

33.4 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-4.9% since 2018

Natchitoches Parish lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone18,727 (51.0%)
  • Black or African American Alone14,552 (39.7%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races1,232 (3.4%)
  • Some Other Race Alone857 (2.3%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race709 (1.9%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone373 (1.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish815
  2. 2.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)171
  3. 3.Arabic78
  4. 4.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)53
  5. 5.Other Indo-European44

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

23.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

60.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

16.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.6%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

1,519

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$40,810

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$26,602

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

6.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

24.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance4,514
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)1,962
  3. 3.Manufacturing (Group)1,540
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services1,215
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services1,051

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations5,315
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations3,198
  3. 3.Service Occupations2,522
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations2,361
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,289

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 2.72×)641
  2. 2.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.34×)4,632
  3. 3.Retail Trade (LQ 1.22×)1,954
  4. 4.Other Services (LQ 1.12×)781
  5. 5.Manufacturing (LQ 0.97×)1,420

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$163,000

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$767/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

60.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9991,164 (13.2%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9991,042 (11.8%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999841 (9.5%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999830 (9.4%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999669 (7.6%)
  • $40,000 to $49,999451 (5.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

25.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

87.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

53.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$31,526

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

22.5 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

8.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone12,063 (82.5%)
  • Carpooled1,421 (9.7%)
  • Worked At Home530 (3.6%)
  • Walked348 (2.4%)
  • Other178 (1.2%)
  • Bicycle35 (0.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.