The Baton Rouge metropolitan statistical area, as defined by the

United States Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

, or simply the Baton Rouge metropolitan area or Greater Baton Rouge, is a sprawling

metropolitan statistical area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

surrounding the city of

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of 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-sma ...

. Its principal city Baton Rouge is unusual because it has no major incorporated satellite cities, a rarity for a metropolitan area of its size. Including the western edge of the Florida Parishes regions, it is known as "Plantation Country", the "Capital Region", and "The 225" (a reference to its

area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...

). At the

2010 U.S. census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

, the metropolitan area had a population of 802,484, up from 705,973 in 2000. At the 2020 census, its population increased to 870,569, up from 2020 estimates at 858,571.

Parishes

* Ascension *

East Baton Rouge East Baton Rouge Parish (french: Paroisse de Bâton Rouge Est) is the most populous parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2010 U.S. census, its population was 440,171, and 456,781 at the 2020 census. The parish seat is Baton Rouge, Lou ...

* East Feliciana * Iberville *

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

* Pointe Coupee *

St. Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

* West Baton Rouge * West Feliciana

Communities

Places with more than 225,000 inhabitants

(Principal city)

Places with 10,000 to 30,000 inhabitants

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who bakes and sometimes sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient history Since grains ha ...

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

* Denham Springs * Gardere (census-designated place) *

Gonzales Gonzales may refer to: Places * Gonzales, California, U.S. * Gonzales, Louisiana, U.S. * Gonzales, Texas, U.S. * Gonzales County, Texas Other uses * Battle of Gonzales, 1835 * Gonzales (horse) (1977 – after 1996), an American-bred Thoroughbred ...

* Merrydale (

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

) * Shenandoah (census-designated place) * Zachary * Prairieville (census-designated place)

Places with 5,000 to 10,000 inhabitants

* Brownfields (census-designated place) *

Donaldsonville Donaldsonville (historically french: Lafourche-des-Chitimachas) is a city in, and the parish seat of Ascension Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located along the River Road of the west bank of the Mississippi River, it is a part of the Bat ...

* Oak Hills Place (census-designated place) * Old Jefferson (census-designated place) *

Plaquemine Plaquemine is a city in and the parish seat of Iberville Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Baton Rouge metropolitan statistical area. At the 2010 United States census, the population was 7,119; the 2020 census determined its ...

* Port Allen * St. Gabriel * Village St. George (census-designated place) * Walker

Places with 1,000 to 5,000 inhabitants

* Addis * Brusly *

Clinton Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has frequently been used as a given ...

* Inniswold (census-designated place) * Jackson *

Killian Killian or Kilian, as a given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the ot ...

* Livonia *

Maringouin Maringouin is a town in Iberville Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,098 at the 2010 census, down from 1,262 at the 2000 census. At the 2020 population estimates program, its population was 966. It is part of the Baton Rouge ...

* Monticello (census-designated place) * New Roads * St. Francisville * Slaughter *

Sorrento Sorrento (, ; nap, Surriento ; la, Surrentum) is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the south-eastern terminus of the Circumvesuviana rail ...

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

(census-designated place) * White Castle

Places with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants

* Albany * Fordoche * French Settlement * Greensburg * Grosse Tête * Montpelier * Morganza * Norwood * Port Vincent * Rosedale *

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

Wilson Wilson may refer to: People * Wilson (name) ** List of people with given name Wilson ** List of people with surname Wilson * Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender * Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson Ro ...

Unincorporated places

Abend Abend is a German-language surname, meaning "evening". Notable people with the surname include: *Edward Abend, (1822–1904), German American politician *Guy Abend (born 1990), Israeli footballer *Harry Abend (1937–2021), Venezuelan artist See ...

* Acy *

Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' (play), a 1996 drama by Joshua Sobol about Alma ...

Anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...

Barmen Barmen is a former industrial metropolis of the region of Bergisches Land, Germany, which merged with four other towns in 1929 to form the city of Wuppertal. Barmen, together with the neighbouring town of Elberfeld founded the first electric ...

* Batchelor *

Bayou Goula Bayou Goula is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Iberville Parish, Louisiana, Iberville Parish, Louisiana, United States. Its population was 612 as of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. ...

* Bayou Latenache * Bayou Pigeon * Baywood * Belle Helene * Blanks * Bowden * Brignac *

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

* Brooks *

Bullion Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from t ...

* Burnside * Chenal *

Cofield Cofield may refer to: *Barry Cofield, American football player *Bill Cofield, American college basketball coach *Takoby Cofield (born 1992), Canadian football player *Cofield, North Carolina Cofield is a village in Hertford County, North Carolina, ...

Columbo ''Columbo'' () is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC f ...

* Colyell *

Coon Coon may refer to: Fauna Butterflies * Coon, common name of the butterfly ''Astictopterus jama'' * Coon, species group of the butterfly genus ''Atrophaneura'', now genus ''Losaria'' * Coon, common name of the butterfly '' Psolos fuligo'' Ma ...

* Cornerview * Darrow * Duckroost *

Duplessis Duplessis may refer to: * Duplessis (surname) **Maurice Duplessis (1890–1959), the 16th premier of Quebec ***'' Duplessis (TV series)'', a historical television series about Maurice Duplessis that aired in Québec in 1978 ***Duplessis Orphans s ...

Dupont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

* Dutchtown * East Krotz Springs * Elliot City * False River * Frisco *

Galvez Galvez, Gálvez or de Gálvez may refer to: People with the surname Gálvez or Galvez * Axel Jason M.Gálvez (born 1980),UBCP ACTRA Performer Easter Sunday comedy Jokoy / WE CARE FOR HUMANITY Publicity Ambassador Vancouver BC Canada. * Armando ...

* Geismar *

Glynn Glynn () is a small village and civil parish in the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies a short distance south of Larne, on the shore of Larne Lough. Glynn had a population of 2,027 people in th ...

* Hermitage * Hillaryville *

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

* Hohen Solms *

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thre ...

* Hope Villa * Ingleside *

Innis Innis may refer to: Places * Innis, Louisiana, U.S. * Innis College, University of Toronto, Canada People Surname * Harold Innis (1894–1952), Canadian political economy professor who wrote on communication * Hubert Van Innis (1866–1961), Bel ...

* Jacoby * Jarreau * LaBarre * Lacour *

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

* Lakeland * Legonier * Lemannville * Lettsworth * Little Prairie * Lottie * Marchand * Maurepas * McCrea *

McElroy McElroy is an Irish surname originating in County Fermanagh, Ireland, where the placename Ballymackilroy is found McElroy is the surname of a number of people: Family of Clint McElroy * Clint McElroy (born 1955), American radio personality, co ...

Miles The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

Mix Mix, mixes or mixing may refer to: Persons & places * Mix (surname) ** Tom Mix (1880-1940), American film star * nickname of Mix Diskerud (born Mikkel, 1990), Norwegian-American soccer player * Mix camp, an informal settlement in Namibia * Mix ...

Modeste Modeste may refer to: * Modeste (name), including a list of people with the name * French ship Modeste (1759), French ship ''Modeste'' (1759), a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy * French ship Modeste, list of French ships with this name ...

* New California *

New Texas New Texas was a colony established in São Paulo state, Brazil by remnants of the Confederacy after their surrender in the American Civil War. The New Texas colony's leader was Frank McMullen. Background Following the end of the American Civi ...

* Noel * Oak Grove * Oscar * Palo Alto * Parlange * Philadelphia Point * Point Coupee *

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

* Red River Landing *

Rougon Rougon (; oc, Rogon) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department The following is a list of the 198 Communes of France, communes ...

* Saint Amant *

St. Dizier Saint-Dizier () is a subprefecture Of the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France. It has a population of 23,382 (2018 figure) and is a subprefecture of the department. Although Saint-Dizier is marginally the most populous commune in Haute ...

* Saint Elmo *

Satsuma Satsuma may refer to: * Satsuma (fruit), a citrus fruit * ''Satsuma'' (gastropod), a genus of land snails Places Japan * Satsuma, Kagoshima, a Japanese town * Satsuma District, Kagoshima, a district in Kagoshima Prefecture * Satsuma Domain, a sout ...

* Sherburne * Smoke Bend * Southwood *

Torbert Torbert may refer to: People Surname * Alfred Thomas Archimedes Torbert (1833–1880), American general and diplomat * Beth Torbert (born 1971), Canadian singer known by her stage name Bif Naked * C. C. Torbert Jr. (1929–2018), American jurist * ...

* Torras * Valverda * Ventress *

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat * Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place. Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Antarctica *King George Island (S ...

Watson Watson may refer to: Companies * Actavis, a pharmaceutical company formerly known as Watson Pharmaceuticals * A.S. Watson Group, retail division of Hutchison Whampoa * Thomas J. Watson Research Center, IBM research center * Watson Systems, make ...

* Weber City

Demographics

The Baton Rouge metropolitan area was first defined in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

. Then known as the Baton Rouge standard metropolitan area (or Baton Rouge SMA), it consisted of a single parish–East Baton Rouge–and had a population of 158,236. Following a term change by the Bureau of the Budget (present-day

U.S. Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

) in 1959, the Baton Rouge SMA became the Baton Rouge standard metropolitan statistical area (or Baton Rouge SMSA). 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 incl ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, the population had grown to 230,058, a 45% increase over the previous census. A total of 285,167 people lived in East Baton Rouge Parish in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

. Three additional parishes were added to the Baton Rouge SMSA in 1973–Ascension, Livingston, and West Baton Rouge. These four parishes had a combined population of 375,628 in 1970. The area grew rapidly during the 1970s and by the

1980 census The United States census of 1980, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 226,545,805, an increase of 11.4 percent over the 203,184,772 persons enumerated during the 1970 census. It was th ...

, the population had increased 32% to 494,151. In 1983, the official name was shortened to the Baton Rouge metropolitan statistical area (or Baton Rouge MSA), which is still in use to date. It was determined 528,264 residents lived in the metropolitan statistical area in

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 Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, and 602,894 people lived in the four parishes by the year

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 ...

. In 2003, the Baton Rouge area was expanded to its current size with the addition of five more parishes: East Feliciana, Iberville, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, and West Feliciana. This nine-parish region had a population of 705,973 in 2000. At the 2019

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is a demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census, such as ancestry, citizenship, educati ...

, the metropolitan area had an estimated population of 854,884. In 2020, its population was an estimated 858,571. The

2020 U.S. census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

tabulated a population of 870,569. In 2019, the racial and ethnic makeup of the area was 56%

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 on ...

, 36% Black and African American, 2%

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 ...

, 1%

multiracial Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...

, and 4% Hispanic and Latin American of any race. There was a median household income of $60,746 and per capita income of $31,571. An estimated 15% of the metropolitan population lived at or below the poverty line. Of the population in 2019, there were 305,441 households and an average of 3.7 people per household. The median value of owner-occupied housing units was $195,500, and 4% of its population was foreign born.

Economy

Exxon Mobil oil refinery - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

The metropolitan economy is primarily centered in the city of Baton Rouge; dominated by oil and gas companies, alongside the Louisiana State University System, the area has the furthest inland port on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

that can accommodate ocean-going

tankers Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanke ...

and cargo carriers.

ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

Baton Rouge Refinery ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge Refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is the fifth-largest oil refinery in the United States and thirteenth-largest in the world, with an input capacity of per day as of January 1, 2020. The refinery is the site of the first ...

complex is the fourth-largest

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, lique ...

in the country; it is the world's 10th largest. Baton Rouge also has rail, highway, pipeline, and deep-water access.

Dow Chemical Company The Dow Chemical Company, officially Dow Inc., is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company is among the three largest chemical producers in the world. Dow manufactures plastic ...

has a large plant in

Iberville Parish Iberville Parish (french: Paroisse d'Iberville) is a List of parishes in Louisiana, parish located south of Baton Rouge in the U.S. state of Louisiana, formed in 1807. The parish seat is Plaquemine, Louisiana, Plaquemine. At the 2010 U.S. census, ...

near

, 17 miles (27 km) south of Baton Rouge. Shaw Construction, Turner, and Harmony all started with performing construction work at these plants. The metropolitan also has a large medical research and clinical presence. Research hospitals have included Our Lady of the Lake, Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital (affiliated with

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is a pediatric treatment and research facility located in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1962, it is a 501(c)(3) designated nonprofit medical corporation which focuses on children's catastrophic diseases, pa ...

), Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, and

Earl K. Long Earl Kemp Long (August 26, 1895 – September 5, 1960) was an American politician and the List of governors of Louisiana, 45th governor of Louisiana, serving three nonconsecutive terms. Long, known as "Uncle Earl", connected with voters th ...

(closed 2013). Together with an emerging medical corridor at Essen Lane, Summa Avenue and Bluebonnet Boulevard, Baton Rouge has been developing a medical district expected to be similar to the

Texas Medical Center The Texas Medical Center (TMC) is a medical district and neighborhood in south-central Houston, Texas, United States, immediately south of the Museum District and west of Texas State Highway 288. Over 60 medical institutions, largely concentrate ...

. LSU and

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

both announced plans to construct satellite medical campuses in Baton Rouge to partner with Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center and Baton Rouge General Medical Center, respectively.

External links

Official Baton Rouge Government Web Site

Downtown Development District

Baton Rouge Today

Baton Rouge City Guide and Internet Rest Area

Perkins Rowe Shopping

References

{{USLargestMetros Geography of Ascension Parish, Louisiana Geography of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Geography of East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana Geography of Iberville Parish, Louisiana Geography of Livingston Parish, Louisiana Geography of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana Geography of St. Helena Parish, Louisiana Geography of West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Geography of West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana