Rapides Parish, Louisiana Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Rapides Parish, Louisiana, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Rapides Parish, Louisiana. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Rapides Parish, Louisiana. The estimated population of Rapides Parish, Louisiana is 130,459 people, with a median age of 37.6.

We can look at the total population in Rapides Parish over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
130,459
+0.06%
-1.23%
2020
130,376
 -0.45% -
2019
130,970
 -0.44% -
2018
131,546
 -0.4% -
2017
132,080
 - -

Population of Rapides Parish, Louisiana by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
60.6%
61.4%
 -1.30%
Black/African American
31.1%
31.9%
 -2.51%
Native
0.7%
0.6%
 +16.67%
Hispanic
3.4%
3%
 +13.33%
Asian
1.2%
1.6%
 -25.00%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0%
0%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
2.7%
1.5%
 +80.00%
Other
0.2%
0%
 0.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Rapides Parish, Louisiana by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 37.6 +0.27% 36.1 +1.12% 39.4 0%
2020 37.5 +0.27% 35.7 +0.85% 39.4 -0.25%
2019 37.4 +0.27% 35.4 0% 39.5 +1.02%
2018 37.3 0% 35.4 +0.28% 39.1 +0.51%
2017 37.3 - 35.3 - 38.9 -

The median age of Rapides Parish, Louisiana gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 9,657 -6.58% 8,543 -1.15% 9,034 8,440
10 to 19 9,057 +2.81% 9,209 -3.23% 9,313 8,909
20 to 29 8,758 -4.81% 8,531 -4.4% 8,342 8,161
30 to 39 7,962 +1.52% 8,752 -2.59% 8,082 8,522
40 to 49 7,704 -2.96% 8,218 -5.12% 7,470 7,804
50 to 59 8,327 -2.69% 9,542 -0.98% 8,100 9,446
60 to 69 6,955 +3.57% 7,339 +2.63% 7,206 7,524
70+ 5,468 +6.09% 8,058 +3.23% 5,804 8,302

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Rapides Parish, Louisiana is $49,639.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Rapides Parish.

  • Under 25
    $31,011.00
  • 25 to 44
    $54,489.00
  • 45 to 64
    $58,212.00
  • 65 and over
    $40,000.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Rapides Parish, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Rapides Parish, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Rapides Parish, Louisiana is currently $70,834.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

3.96% of households in Rapides Parish are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Rapides Parish against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    25.66%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    24.62%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    16.98%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    10.54%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    13.08%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    5.17%
  • $200,000 or more
    3.96%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Rapides Parish is $27,954.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Rapides Parish by the total population of Rapides Parish.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Rapides Parish to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    9.09%
  • Bachelor's degree
    24.53%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    8.85%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    55.42%
  • Less than high school diploma
    2.12%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Rapides Parish that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Rapides Parish over the age of 16 is 101,992.

Of those people, a total of 58.00% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Rapides Parish is 53.90%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 7,229 24.50% 22.40%
20 to 24 years 8,056 71.40% 11.70%
25 to 29 years 8,447 81.30% 7.30%
30 to 34 years 8,231 75.70% 10.00%
35 to 44 years 16,173 79.30% 5.40%
45 to 54 years 15,606 75.40% 4.80%
55 to 59 years 9,414 63.60% 1.70%
60 to 64 years 7,924 49.60% 2.00%
65 to 74 years 12,374 28.10% 2.90%
75 years and over 8,538 6.70% 0.00%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Rapides Parish. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 65,418 57.80% 3.80%
Black or African American 30,641 58.00% 11.20%
American Indian and Alaska Native 738 45.00% 1.20%
Asian 1,256 47.10% 5.90%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 4 100.00% 0.00%
Other 1,026 72.60% 10.30%
Two or more races 2,909 64.70% 9.90%
Hispanic or Latino 3,004 71.50% 3.90%
Not Hispanic or Latino 64,006 57.60% 3.90%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Rapides Parish as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Rapides Parish is 54,925, with median earnings of $35,496.00.

Women in Rapides Parish, Louisiana earning approximately 71.60% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 54,925 $35,496.00
Male 27,412 $42,342.00
Female 27,513 $30,313.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 4,621 $53,559.00
Business and Financial 1,654 $55,735.00
Computer and Mathematical 368 $61,269.00
Architecture and Engineering 536 $62,342.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 368 $88,750.00
Community and Social Service 1,719 $31,607.00
Legal 624 $62,295.00
Educational and Library 3,981 $44,286.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 316 $32,596.00
Healthcare Practitioners 4,945 $70,083.00
Healthcare Support 2,612 $21,452.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 715 $54,291.00
Law Enforcement 948 $50,095.00
Food Preparation and Serving 3,908 $14,501.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 2,240 $19,930.00
Personal Care and Service 1,171 $20,125.00
Sales 5,129 $29,799.00
Office and Administrative Support 6,416 $29,891.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 381 $21,294.00
Construction and Extraction 3,154 $45,906.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 2,356 $37,796.00
Production 2,597 $40,294.00
Transportation and Material Moving 2,344 $33,633.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 2,409 $76,838.00 2,212 $42,356.00
Business and Financial 648 $66,739.00 1,006 $50,300.00
Computer and Mathematical 282 $62,000.00 86 $44,750.00
Architecture and Engineering 451 $81,393.00 85 $61,155.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 219 $138,560.00 149 $67,321.00
Community and Social Service 684 $27,842.00 1,035 $36,106.00
Legal 310 $102,093.00 314 $56,842.00
Educational and Library 792 $47,837.00 3,189 $43,617.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 228 $34,271.00 88 $14,643.00
Healthcare Practitioners 1,353 $75,213.00 3,592 $63,386.00
Healthcare Support 339 $27,957.00 2,273 $21,121.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 646 $55,130.00 69 $26,169.00
Law Enforcement 861 $50,807.00 87 $43,346.00
Food Preparation and Serving 1,649 $18,655.00 2,259 $13,316.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 1,558 $24,709.00 682 $16,091.00
Personal Care and Service 316 $21,813.00 855 $18,459.00
Sales 2,373 $49,469.00 2,756 $25,456.00
Office and Administrative Support 1,171 $30,208.00 5,245 $29,864.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 328 $22,149.00 53 $17,679.00
Construction and Extraction 2,952 $48,433.00 202 $31,400.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 2,264 $37,107.00 92 $77,500.00
Production 2,103 $43,453.00 494 $16,604.00
Transportation and Material Moving 1,940 $41,234.00 404 $21,563.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 48,651 households in Rapides Parish, with an average household size of 2.6 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 32,059 families in Rapides Parish with an average family size of 3.21 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 20,893 2,838 8,328 16,592
Average Household Size 3.27 3.34 3.46 1.19
Total Families 20,893 2,838 8,328 0
Average Household Size 3.24 3.02 3.21 0

Poverty

Of the 32,059 families in Rapides Parish, 14.90% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Rapides Parish:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 57,889 housing units in Rapides Parish, Louisiana.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 48,651 84.04%
Vacant 9,238 15.96%

26.43% of the total 57,889 housing units in Rapides Parish are rental units. This is approximately 15,301 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 31,551 are occupied by the owner - or 54.50% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Rapides Parish is $845.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Rapides Parish that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    1,799
  • Less than $500
    1,684
  • $500 to $999
    9,092
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    3,515
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    661
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    211
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    13
  • $3,000 or more
    125

Property Value

The median value of a property in Rapides Parish is $153,600.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Rapides Parish that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    4,041
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    5,232
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    6,027
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    5,549
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    5,807
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    3,718
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    1,078
  • $1,000,000 or more
    99

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Rapides Parish. The chart below shows the number of properties in Rapides Parish that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    2,381
  • 1940 to 1949
    4,974
  • 1950 to 1959
    6,155
  • 1960 to 1969
    7,379
  • 1970 to 1979
    9,631
  • 1980 to 1989
    7,487
  • 1990 to 1999
    7,134
  • 2000 to 2009
    7,666
  • 2010 to 2013
    4,918
  • 2014 or later
    164

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Rapides Parish that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    4,601
  • 1 vehicle available
    18,488
  • 2 vehicles available
    17,464
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    8,098

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Rapides Parish get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Rapides Parish that commute to work in a particular way.

23.1 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Rapides Parish.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    2,737
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    7,127
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    10,589
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    9,883
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    7,870
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    2,627
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    4,823
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    549
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    657
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    1,547
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    1,220
  • 90 or more minutes
    2,186

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Rapides Parish, Louisiana in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Places in Rapides Parish, Louisiana

We have data for 20 places in Rapides Parish, Louisiana. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.