Overview
East Baton Rouge Parish is Louisiana's most populous parish, with 452,821 residents (Census ACS 5-Year, 2023). That figure places it higher than 95% of U.S. counties and above 98% of Louisiana's 64 parishes. As the seat of state government and home to Louisiana State University, the parish functions as both a political and economic center for the state.
Median household income is $63,075 (Census ACS 5-Year, 2023), slightly below the national median and sitting near the 48th mark among U.S. counties. Per capita income, however, reaches $38,131 (Census ACS 5-Year, 2023), a figure higher than 72% of counties nationally and 91% within Louisiana. That spread between household and per capita income, combined with an 18.0% poverty rate (Census ACS 5-Year, 2023), points to a parish where wealth concentrates unevenly.
The labor force totals 229,597 (BLS LAUS, 2025), with an unemployment rate of 3.7% (BLS LAUS, 2025). Both numbers rank near the top of the state. But the parish's most striking data point may be its disaster exposure: 47 FEMA declarations (FEMA OpenFEMA, 2026), higher than 99% of all U.S. counties.
Demographics
East Baton Rouge Parish is young. The median age of 34.2 years (Census ACS 5-Year, 2023) falls below 93% of U.S. counties and 95% of Louisiana parishes. LSU's roughly 35,000 students pull that number down, but the parish also has a large working-age population tied to state government and healthcare.
The racial composition is closely split: 44.1% Black and 42.0% white (Census ACS 5-Year, 2023). The Black population share ranks higher than 96% of all U.S. counties. Hispanic residents make up 6.6%, Asian residents 3.1%, and Native American residents 0.1% (Census ACS 5-Year, 2023). The Asian population, at the 90th national mark and 95th within Louisiana, is notable for a Southern parish of this size.
Education attainment is a standout. Some 38.2% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher (Census ACS 5-Year, 2023), a rate that exceeds 90% of U.S. counties and 97% of Louisiana parishes. LSU, Southern University, and a cluster of smaller institutions drive that concentration. In a state where degree attainment often trails the national average, East Baton Rouge is an outlier.
Education
Total public school enrollment is 64,932 students (Education Data Portal, 2021), ranking in the top 5% nationally. Per-pupil spending comes in at $15,101 (Education Data Portal, 2020), roughly in line with the national average of about $15,000 and near the middle of the pack among Louisiana parishes.
The student-teacher ratio of 17.1:1 (Education Data Portal, 2021) runs above the national average of approximately 15.5:1, higher than 87% of U.S. counties. Larger class sizes at this level put pressure on teachers, particularly in schools serving high-poverty areas.
The graduation rate is 72.7% (Education Data Portal, 2019). That's the number that stands out. It falls below 96% of U.S. counties and 91% of Louisiana parishes, well under the national average of roughly 87%. For a parish with one of the highest adult education attainment rates in the state, the K-12 pipeline tells a very different story. The adults with degrees are often transplants or university graduates who stayed. The public school system serving the broader population hasn't kept pace.
Economy & Employment
Unemployment sits at 3.7% (BLS LAUS, 2025), with 221,157 employed and 8,440 unemployed out of a 229,597-person labor force (BLS LAUS, 2025). That rate lands near the national midpoint, lower than about half of U.S. counties but in the bottom 19% within Louisiana, where many parishes have seen even tighter labor markets recently.
Median household income of $63,075 (Census ACS 5-Year, 2023) falls just below the national median. The poverty rate of 18.0% (Census ACS 5-Year, 2023) is higher than 80% of U.S. counties. One in nearly five residents lives below the poverty line in a parish that also hosts some of the highest-paying public sector and professional jobs in the state.
IRS data sharpens the contrast. The average adjusted gross income per tax return is $84,863 (IRS Statistics of Income, 2021), higher than 87% of U.S. counties and 95% of Louisiana parishes. Total AGI across 197,690 returns reached $16.8 billion (IRS Statistics of Income, 2021). High earners in government, petrochemical, legal, and medical fields pull that average well above what most households actually experience.
The mean commute is 21.9 minutes (Census ACS 5-Year, 2023), shorter than about half of U.S. counties. Baton Rouge's compact metro footprint keeps drive times reasonable, though the city's notorious traffic congestion makes those 22 minutes feel longer than the number suggests.
Housing & Cost of Living
Median home value is $241,800 (Census ACS 5-Year, 2023), higher than 74% of U.S. counties and 88% of Louisiana parishes. That's above most of the country but well below the prices in New Orleans' most expensive neighborhoods or Gulf Coast resort areas.
Median gross rent runs $1,121 per month (Census ACS 5-Year, 2023), higher than 81% of counties nationally. Renters here pay more than in most of the U.S., though the number stays below what larger Sun Belt metros charge.
HUD fair market rents provide a bedroom-by-bedroom breakdown: $1,032 for an efficiency, $1,064 for a one-bedroom, $1,204 for a two-bedroom, $1,511 for a three-bedroom, and $1,943 for a four-bedroom (HUD Fair Market Rents, 2026). The two-bedroom figure ranks higher than 78% of counties nationally. A household earning the median income of $63,075 would need to spend about 23% of gross income on a two-bedroom at fair market rent, just under the 30% threshold that HUD considers cost-burdened.
The parish has 205,518 total housing units, with 30,110 sitting vacant (Census ACS 5-Year, 2023). That's a vacancy rate of 14.7%, falling near the national midpoint. The raw count of vacant units, however, ranks higher than 98% of U.S. counties, reflecting the parish's sheer size and a housing stock that includes aging neighborhoods with limited reinvestment.
Health & Wellness
High blood pressure affects 40.3% of adults (CDC PLACES, 2023), a rate higher than 91% of U.S. counties. Obesity prevalence is 36.6% (CDC PLACES, 2023), and diabetes reaches 13.6% (CDC PLACES, 2023), higher than 86% of counties nationally. These three chronic conditions cluster together, and their prevalence here runs well above national norms.
Depression affects 25.9% of adults (CDC PLACES, 2023), while 18.9% report frequent poor mental health days (CDC PLACES, 2023). Physical health fares slightly better in relative terms: 13.2% report frequent poor physical health days (CDC PLACES, 2023), though that still places the parish in the lower 39% nationally. Within Louisiana, the picture flips. East Baton Rouge reports less obesity, fewer poor physical health days, and fewer poor mental health days than 90% or more of its peer parishes. The parish is healthier than most of Louisiana but less healthy than most of the country.
Preventive care is a bright spot. Annual checkup rates hit 81.5% (CDC PLACES, 2023), higher than 99% of U.S. counties. Cholesterol screening reaches 87.1% (CDC PLACES, 2023), topping 96% of counties. Baton Rouge's hospital network and the LSU Health Sciences Center contribute to that access. The uninsured rate of 7.8% (CDC PLACES, 2023) is lower than 87% of counties nationally, among the best in Louisiana, where Medicaid expansion under the ACA has brought coverage to hundreds of thousands of residents since 2016.
Climate & Natural Disasters
East Baton Rouge Parish has recorded 47 federal disaster declarations (FEMA OpenFEMA, 2026), higher than 99% of U.S. counties. That's not a streak of bad luck. It's the baseline cost of living here.
Hurricanes account for the bulk of those declarations. The parish has been hit by named storms in 1965, 1971, 1992, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2024. The 2020 season alone triggered four separate hurricane declarations. Flooding fills in the gaps: eight flood declarations since 1973, including the catastrophic August 2016 event that drew one of the largest federal disaster responses in Louisiana history.
The most recent declaration came in January 2026, a winter storm (FEMA OpenFEMA, 2026). South Louisiana isn't built for ice, and events like the February 2021 severe ice storm, which drew both an emergency and a major disaster declaration, expose real infrastructure fragility.
The climate itself is hot and wet. Average temperatures run 70°F annually (NOAA Climate Data Online, 2025), with highs averaging 80.8°F and lows averaging 59.2°F. The parish gets 59.6 inches of rain per year (NOAA Climate Data Online, 2025), more than 95% of U.S. counties. That precipitation doesn't just mean humidity. It means the drainage system is always working near capacity.
Anyone buying property here should treat disaster risk as a fixed variable in the financial calculation, not an edge case. Flood insurance, storm shutters, and generator capacity aren't optional upgrades in East Baton Rouge. They're table stakes.
Financial Profile
IRS data from tax year 2021 shows 197,690 returns filed, reporting total income of $17.0 billion and total AGI of $16.8 billion (IRS Statistics of Income, 2021). The average income per return was $85,798 (IRS Statistics of Income, 2021), higher than 87% of counties nationally and 95% within Louisiana. State government, LSU, healthcare systems, and the petrochemical corridor along the Mississippi River all feed into that income base.
Banking access is solid. The FDIC counts 89 bank branches in East Baton Rouge Parish holding $7.9 billion in total deposits (FDIC Summary of Deposits, 2023). The branch count ranks higher than 95% of U.S. counties. For a parish of this size, that's expected, but it also means physical banking access remains widely available even as the industry consolidates.
Social Security benefits reach 79,025 residents (SSA OASDI, 2024), roughly 17% of the parish population. That count ranks higher than 94% of U.S. counties. Given the young median age of 34.2, a significant portion of those beneficiaries likely include disability recipients and survivors in addition to retirees.
Key Comparisons
Within Louisiana, East Baton Rouge Parish leads. It's the state's largest parish by population, labor force, employment, tax returns, total income, and school enrollment, exceeding 97% or more of Louisiana parishes in each category. Per capita income, median home value, education attainment, and median rent all rank in the top 13% statewide. The parish functions as the state's economic and governmental center.
Nationally, the scale remains impressive but the outcomes are more mixed. Population and labor force land in the top 5%, and education attainment (bachelor's degree holders) reaches the 90th mark among U.S. counties. But the K-12 graduation rate of 72.7% falls in the bottom 4%, a gap that undercuts the adult attainment numbers and suggests the parish imports much of its educated workforce rather than producing it locally.
The income picture splits along familiar lines. Per capita income ranks in the top 28% nationally, but median household income barely reaches the 48th mark. An 18.0% poverty rate, higher than 80% of U.S. counties, confirms the uneven distribution.
Health data follows a regional pattern. Chronic disease rates (high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes) run well above national averages, while preventive care and insurance coverage outperform most of the country. Louisiana's Medicaid expansion and Baton Rouge's hospital infrastructure drive that preventive care advantage.
The disaster exposure is the clearest outlier. Forty-seven FEMA declarations put East Baton Rouge in the top 1% nationally. Combined with a 14.7% housing vacancy rate and concentrated poverty, storm events compound existing vulnerabilities in ways that parish-wide averages don't fully reveal.
Data Sources
- Census ACS 5-Year, 2023: Population, income, housing, demographics, education attainment, commute times, poverty rate
- BLS LAUS, 2025: Unemployment rate, labor force, employment counts
- CDC PLACES, 2023: Health metrics including obesity, diabetes, mental health, insurance coverage, preventive care
- HUD Fair Market Rents, 2026: Fair market rent by bedroom count
- FEMA OpenFEMA, 2026: Disaster declarations and history
- IRS Statistics of Income, 2021: Tax returns, adjusted gross income, total income
- FDIC Summary of Deposits, 2023: Bank branch counts and total deposits
- NOAA Climate Data Online, 2025: Temperature and precipitation averages
- SSA OASDI, 2024: Social Security beneficiary counts
- USDA Census of Agriculture, 2022: Data not available for East Baton Rouge Parish
- Education Data Portal, 2021: Per-pupil spending, enrollment, student-teacher ratio, graduation rate