Lafayette Parish is a part of the region of Acadiana in southern Louisiana, along the Gulf Coast. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the parish has a total area of 269 square miles (700 km2), of which 269 square miles (700 km2) is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km2) (0.2%) is water.[6] It is the fifth-smallest parish in Louisiana by land area and third-smallest by total area.
According to the 2020 United States census, there were 241,753 people, 94,490 households, and 59,937 families residing in the parish. According to the 2019 American Community Survey, there were 244,390 people living in the parish.[12] The racial and ethnic makeup of Lafayette Parish was 65.7% non-Hispanic white, 25.9% Black and African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.9% Asian, 0.3% some other race, 1.5% two or more races, and 4.6% Hispanic and Latino American of any race.[13] In 2020, the racial and ethnic makeup was 62.24% non-Hispanic white, 25.1% Black and African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.16% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 3.57% multiracial or some other race, and 6.61% Hispanic or Latino American of any race.
In 2019, the median age was 35.2 and 76.2% of the population were aged 18 and older; 12.7% of the population were aged 65 and older.[14] Of its population, 4.2% were foreign born, with the majority coming from Latin America, Asia, and Europe.[15] Among the population, 10.1% spoke another language other than English at home; Spanish was the second most-spoken language in 2019, and French was third.
There were 91,543 households at the 2019 census estimates, and 44.4% were married couples living together; 8.0% of households were cohabiting couples, 17.8% male households with no female present, 12.7% single-person households, and 29.7% female households with no female present. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.22.[15] There was an employment rate of 62.5% and 28,206 businesses operating in the parish; 5,734 businesses were minority-owned and 2,774 were veteran-owned.
Out of the 102,491 housing units in 2019, the median gross rent was $874, and median housing value was $185,300.[14] At the 2019 American Community Survey, the median household income was $56,999; males had a median income of $54,653 versus $38,378 for females. An estimated 17.3% of the population lived at or below the poverty line.
The parish voters often supported Democratic presidential candidates before the 1970s, but the majority of conservative whites has trended Republican since that time.[17] Before 1965 and passage of the Voting Rights Act by the U.S Congress, most African Americans were disenfranchised, as they had been since 1898, when Louisiana passed a new constitution establishing barriers to voter registration and voting. They, along with poor white voters, were excluded from the political system. After regaining the power to register and vote, black voters tended to affiliate with and support national Democratic Party candidates.
The majority of the parish voted for the Republican presidential candidates from 1992 to 2020, and did so by generally increasing margins. The results in 2004 gave Republican George W. Bush 64% of the vote and 57,732 votes while Democrat John F. Kerry won 35% of the vote and 31,210 votes. In the 2008 election Lafayette Parish cast the majority of its votes for Republican John McCain. He won 65% of the vote and 62,055 votes. Democrat Barack Obama was strongly supported by African Americans and won 34% of the vote, some 32,145 votes.[18]
United States presidential election results for Lafayette Parish, Louisiana[19]
The Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office (LPSO) is the sheriff's department in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana. The department, headed by Sheriff Mark T. Garber, consists of around 750 sworn and non-sworn employees. Although the LPSO's jurisdiction consists of the entire parish of Lafayette, in order to not duplicate services provided by local city police, the primary patrol area is the unincorporated areas of the parish. It also runs the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center. The LPSO is CALEA (Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies) accredited and has taken part in Operation FALCON.[citation needed]
In 2003, the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office joined with the University of Louisiana to create ALETA, the Acadiana Law Enforcement Training Academy. This academy trains new LPSO deputies and UL Police officers, as well as recruits from several other police agencies in South Louisiana, to become P.O.S.T. certified law enforcement officers. The program is an eleven-week course that provides physical training and conditioning along with classroom instruction.[citation needed]
Lauren Daigle, (born 1991), Grammy-nominated CCM singer
Jefferson Caffery, (1886-1974), U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, Colombia, Cuba, Brazil, France and Egypt
Benjamin Flanders, (1816-1896), politician, Alderman of New Orleans (1847-1852), founder of the Republican Party of Louisiana in 1864, appointed governor of Louisiana in 1867, retired in 1880s to his Ben Alva plantation here
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