The U.S. Census Bureau released the 2020 Census results Monday during a virtual news conference and we learned that Louisiana will keep its congressional districts.
We also learned that Louisiana grew in population.
Louisiana’s total population for the 2020 Census is 4,661,468 (inlcuding 3,711 overseas residents like military members), an increase of 128,096 over the 2010 Census.
That means Louisiana’s population grew by 2.7%, according to the 2020 Census results.
We are still waiting on data to see how redistricting will effect our state.
The results also show that the South region of the U.S. saw the fastest population growth rate at 10.2% from 2010-2020.
Texas will gain two congressional seats while Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon will each gain one additional congressional seat.
Texas gained the most numerically since the 2010 Census (up 3,999,944 to 29,145,505).
The United States 2020 population is 331,449,281, a 7.4% increase. But that’s the second-lowest 10-year increase behind only 7.3 percent from 1930-1940 during the Great Depression.
The bureau also announced that California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia will each loose one seat in the House ahead of the midterm elections in 2022.
In March and April of last year, households across the U.S. were contacted to participate in the 2020 Census. It was critical that every Louisianan be counted.
A count of the population every 10 years is mandated in the Constitution. Census results play a pivotal role in determining how billions of dollars in federal funds are directed to states and communities every year, how many seats a state gets in Congress, and how legislative districts for state and federal representation are drawn.
It is perhaps especially important in Louisiana because we rely more heavily on federal redistribution than folks in most states.
Louisiana population growth has been slower than many places. Over the last decade, Census Bureau estimates show Louisiana’s population grew by 2.5%, while the U.S. population grew by 6.3% and the South by 9.6%.
These differences are driven by three basic demographic factors: people are born (fertility), they move (migration), and they die (mortality).
Having more births than deaths — what demographers call natural increase — has historically been Louisiana’s population engine.
