Tensas Parish, LA
Demographic and economic profile of Tensas Parish, LA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.
AI Overview
Tensas Parish is a small, rural Louisiana parish with a population of 3,992 and an economy characterized by low wages — median worker earnings of $24,853 — and a 13.3% unemployment rate alongside a labor force participation rate of just 43.1%. The workforce skews older (median age 47.5) and has limited formal education, with only 13.1% holding a bachelor's degree or higher. Housing costs are exceptionally low, with a median home value of $80,300 and median gross rent of $613/month, though the parish faces significant economic stress reflected in a 32.8% poverty rate and a 14.4% population decline over the past five years.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page
Population Growth (5-year)
-14.4% since 2018
Tensas Parish lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.
Demographics
Race & Ethnicity
- Black or African American Alone2,124 (54.0%)
- White Alone1,637 (41.6%)
- Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races94 (2.4%)
- Asian Alone40 (1.0%)
- Two Races Including Some Other Race21 (0.5%)
- Some Other Race Alone19 (0.5%)
Top Languages Spoken at Home
- 1.Spanish54
- 2.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)9
- 3.Arabic7
- 4.Other Asian and Pacific Island6
Economy
Cost of Living Index
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Not yet cached
Top Industries
- 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance225
- 2.Retail Trade (Group)154
- 3.Public Administration (Group)135
- 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services102
- 5.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining89
Top Occupations
- 1.Service Occupations312
- 2.Sales & Office Occupations289
- 3.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations195
- 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations104
- 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations91
Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)
- 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 8.63×)165
- 2.Public Administration (LQ 2.54×)144
- 3.Retail Trade (LQ 1.37×)178
- 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management (LQ 0.88×)130
- 5.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 0.81×)227
Housing
Education
Workforce
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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.