The Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area is a metropolitan area in central

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

that covers two parishes – Rapides and

Grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom * Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama * Grant, Inyo County, ...

. As of the 2000 census, the MSA had a population of 145,035 (though a July 1, 2009 estimate placed the population at 154,101).

History

The Alexandria metropolitan area was first defined in 1973. Then known as the Alexandria Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (Alexandria SMSA), it consisted of two parishes - Rapides and Grant - and had a population of 131,749. By the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 1980, the population had grown to 151,985, a 15% increase over the previous census. In 1983, the official name was shortened to the Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area (Alexandria MSA), which is still in use to date. That same year, Grant Parish was removed from the MSA, leaving only Rapides Parish. A total of 135,282 people lived in Rapides Parish in 1980. That number had declined to 131,556 by

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

and 126,337 in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

. Grant Parish was again added to the Alexandria MSA in 2003.

Parishes

* Rapides *

Communities

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

(Principal city) * Ball (suburb of

) * Boyce * Cheneyville * Colfax * Creola (suburb of

) * Deville * Dry Prong * Forest Hill * Gardner * Georgetown * Glenmora * Lecompte * Libuse * McNary * Montgomery * Pineville (suburb of

) *

Pollock Pollock or pollack (pronounced ) is the common name used for either of the two species of North Atlantic marine fish in the genus ''Pollachius''. '' Pollachius pollachius'' is referred to as pollock in North America, Ireland and the United Kingd ...

(suburb of

) * Prospect * Tioga (suburb of

) * Woodworth (suburb of

)

Demographics

As of the

of 2000, there were 153,922 people, 56,193 households, and 40,083 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 68.95%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 24.04%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 1.56% Native American, 1.27%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.13%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.82% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 1.25% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 6.35% of the population. The median income for a household in the MSA was $29,739, and the median income for a family was $35,775. Males had a median income of $30,505 versus $20,477 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the MSA was $15,249.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexandria, Louisiana Metropolitan Area Geography of Rapides Parish, Louisiana Geography of Grant Parish, Louisiana

History

Parishes

Communities

Demographics

See also

References