Central Pop. 26,864: 2nd Largest City in 15-Parish Capital Region

March 13, 2011 0 Comments

BATON ROUGE — The results of the 2010 federal census show that the new City of Central is the second largest city in the 15-parish Baton Rouge area. Rep. Clif Richardson (R-Central), who released the results, said Central’s first-ever census shows a population of 26,864 — above the combined total of the next largest city, Hammond (pop. 20,019) and its sister city, Ponchatoula (pop. 6,559). Central was incorporated in 2005 and was not previously included in a federal census. East Baton Rouge Parish is now the largest parish in the State of Louisiana. Some important numbers from the census are:

• East Baton Rouge Parish
440,171 up 27,319
6.6 percent increase

• Jefferson Parish
432,552 down 22,914
5.0 percent decline

• Orleans Parish
343,829 down 130,845
29 percent decline

• Caddo Parish
254,969 up 2,208
1.1 percent increase

• City of Baton Rouge
229.493

• City of Central
26,864

• City of Hammond
20,019

• City of Zachary
14,960

• City of Baker
13,895

• City of Denham Springs
10,215

Now that Central’s population has been established by the federal census, it should have an effect on a wide range of issues, from reapportionment to state and federal funds to the location of national chains and retail establishments.

By Woody Jenkins, Editor, Central City News