Data / Rankings / Population / Cities in Louisiana

Cities in Louisiana by population

New Orleans, LA had the highest population of 36 cities in 2021, at 377,506. Bogalusa, LA had the lowest, at 10,551. The median was 18,825 and the figure for Louisiana was 4.63 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest377,506New Orleans, LA
Lowest10,551Bogalusa, LA
Median18,82536 cities
Louisiana4,628,595History

All cities, 2021

New Orleans, LA: 377,506 personsNew Orleans, LA377,506Baton Rouge, LA: 224,013 personsBaton Rouge, LA224,013Shreveport, LA: 183,328 personsShreveport, LA183,328Lafayette, LA: 121,536 personsLafayette, LA121,536Lake Charles, LA: 80,572 personsLake Charles, LA80,572St. George, LA: 77,710 personsSt. George, LA77,710Kenner, LA: 65,421 personsKenner, LA65,421Bossier City, LA: 62,915 personsBossier City, LA62,915Monroe, LA: 47,345 personsMonroe, LA47,345Alexandria, LA: 44,684 personsAlexandria, LA44,684Houma, LA: 33,136 personsHouma, LA33,136Central, LA: 29,592 personsCentral, LA29,592Slidell, LA: 28,722 personsSlidell, LA28,722New Iberia, LA: 28,036 personsNew Iberia, LA28,036Ruston, LA: 22,287 personsRuston, LA22,287Sulphur, LA: 20,646 personsSulphur, LA20,646Hammond, LA: 20,424 personsHammond, LA20,424Zachary, LA: 19,845 personsZachary, LA19,845Natchitoches, LA: 17,805 personsNatchitoches, LA17,805Gretna, LA: 17,568 personsGretna, LA17,568Youngsville, LA: 16,597 personsYoungsville, LA16,597Thibodaux, LA: 15,820 personsThibodaux, LA15,820Opelousas, LA: 15,672 personsOpelousas, LA15,672Pineville, LA: 14,282 personsPineville, LA14,282Broussard, LA: 13,865 personsBroussard, LA13,865Mandeville, LA: 12,965 personsMandeville, LA12,965West Monroe, LA: 12,881 personsWest Monroe, LA12,881Gonzales, LA: 12,462 personsGonzales, LA12,462Baker, LA: 12,335 personsBaker, LA12,335Covington, LA: 11,680 personsCovington, LA11,680Minden, LA: 11,535 personsMinden, LA11,535Crowley, LA: 11,532 personsCrowley, LA11,532Morgan City, LA: 11,164 personsMorgan City, LA11,164Abbeville, LA: 11,094 personsAbbeville, LA11,094Carencro, LA: 10,795 personsCarencro, LA10,795Bogalusa, LA: 10,551 personsBogalusa, LA10,551New Orleans, LA: 377,506 personsNew Orleans, LA377,506Baton Rouge, LA: 224,013 personsBaton Rouge, LA224,013Shreveport, LA: 183,328 personsShreveport, LA183,328Lafayette, LA: 121,536 personsLafayette, LA121,536Lake Charles, LA: 80,572 personsLake Charles, LA80,572St. George, LA: 77,710 personsSt. George, LA77,710Kenner, LA: 65,421 personsKenner, LA65,421Bossier City, LA: 62,915 personsBossier City, LA62,915Monroe, LA: 47,345 personsMonroe, LA47,345Alexandria, LA: 44,684 personsAlexandria, LA44,684Houma, LA: 33,136 personsHouma, LA33,136Central, LA: 29,592 personsCentral, LA29,592Slidell, LA: 28,722 personsSlidell, LA28,722New Iberia, LA: 28,036 personsNew Iberia, LA28,036Ruston, LA: 22,287 personsRuston, LA22,287Sulphur, LA: 20,646 personsSulphur, LA20,646Hammond, LA: 20,424 personsHammond, LA20,424Zachary, LA: 19,845 personsZachary, LA19,845Natchitoches, LA: 17,805 personsNatchitoches, LA17,805Gretna, LA: 17,568 personsGretna, LA17,568Youngsville, LA: 16,597 personsYoungsville, LA16,597Thibodaux, LA: 15,820 personsThibodaux, LA15,820Opelousas, LA: 15,672 personsOpelousas, LA15,672Pineville, LA: 14,282 personsPineville, LA14,282Broussard, LA: 13,865 personsBroussard, LA13,865Mandeville, LA: 12,965 personsMandeville, LA12,965West Monroe, LA: 12,881 personsWest Monroe, LA12,881Gonzales, LA: 12,462 personsGonzales, LA12,462Baker, LA: 12,335 personsBaker, LA12,335Covington, LA: 11,680 personsCovington, LA11,680Minden, LA: 11,535 personsMinden, LA11,535Crowley, LA: 11,532 personsCrowley, LA11,532Morgan City, LA: 11,164 personsMorgan City, LA11,164Abbeville, LA: 11,094 personsAbbeville, LA11,094Carencro, LA: 10,795 personsCarencro, LA10,795Bogalusa, LA: 10,551 personsBogalusa, LA10,551
persons. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2021
persons		Change on 2020
1New Orleans, LA377,506-1.5%
2Baton Rouge, LA224,013-0.9%
3Shreveport, LA183,328-1.9%
4Lafayette, LA121,536+0.1%
5Lake Charles, LA80,572-5.1%
6St. George, LA77,710-0.3%
7Kenner, LA65,421-1.3%
8Bossier City, LA62,915+0.3%
9Monroe, LA47,345-0.8%
10Alexandria, LA44,684-1%
11Houma, LA33,136-0.6%
12Central, LA29,592+0.1%
13Slidell, LA28,722+0.4%
14New Iberia, LA28,036-1.3%
15Ruston, LA22,287+0.6%
16Sulphur, LA20,646-5.3%
17Hammond, LA20,424+4.1%
18Zachary, LA19,845+1.7%
19Natchitoches, LA17,805-1.6%
20Gretna, LA17,568-1.1%
21Youngsville, LA16,597+3.6%
22Thibodaux, LA15,820-0.5%
23Opelousas, LA15,672-0.6%
24Pineville, LA14,282-0.6%
25Broussard, LA13,865+2.5%
26Mandeville, LA12,965+1.1%
27West Monroe, LA12,881-1.3%
28Gonzales, LA12,462+2.6%
29Baker, LA12,335-1%
30Covington, LA11,680+0.9%
31Minden, LA11,535-2.7%
32Crowley, LA11,532-1%
33Morgan City, LA11,164-2.2%
34Abbeville, LA11,094-0.6%
35Carencro, LA10,795+15.7%
36Bogalusa, LA10,551-0.7%

Other periods

About this ranking

Resident population.

More on how it is measured
  • Spain and the EU: 1 January, with Spanish figures from the official municipal register (Padrón).
  • Norway: Statistics Norway, 1 January.
  • Iceland and its municipalities: Statistics Iceland, 1 January.
  • United States: Census Bureau population estimates for 1 July.
  • United Kingdom regions and local authorities: Office for National Statistics estimates for 30 June.
  • Other countries and the World: World Bank mid-year estimates, which count all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.
  • UN World Population Prospects estimates for 1 July cover the years before 1960 and the areas the World Bank does not publish, such as Taiwan.

The World Bank series exists for every country, so use it (through compare) to rank countries on one basis.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Census Bureau. (2026). Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals) (Cities in Louisiana by population, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/

MLA 9

Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals), Cities in Louisiana by population, 2021. U.S. Census Bureau, 14 May 2026, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/louisiana-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Cities in Louisiana by population, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/louisiana-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2026) Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals), Cities in Louisiana by population, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/louisiana-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_louisiana_by_2021,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals): Cities in Louisiana by population, 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/louisiana-cities?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals): Cities in Louisiana by population, 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/14
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/louisiana-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/louisiana-cities?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest population?

New Orleans, LA, with 377,506 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest population?

Bogalusa, LA, with 10,551 in 2021.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Population: other rankings

Cities in Louisiana: more rankings