|
Lousiana Snapshot :
Population (2003) est.) - 4,496,334
New Orleans - 1,337,726 Baton Rouge - 602,894
Shreveport - 392,302 Lafayette - 385,647
Houma - 194,477 Lake Charles - 183,577
Monroe - 147,250 Alexandria - 126,337
By the Numbers (2003 est.)
White - 64.3% Black - 32.9% Latino - 2.6%
Female - 51.5% Male - 48.5%
Median Age - 34 years
High School Grad - 78.9%
Bachelor's or higher - 2.3%
Citizens Say:
Louisiana's Moving, but Which Direction?
(Randomly polled LA citizens)
1994 - 19% Right Track, 60% Wrong Track
1998 - 67% Right Track, 27% Wrong Track
2002 - 49% Right Track, 28% Wrong Track
2003 - 53%,Right Track, 33% Wrong Track
What We Earn, 2003
Per Capita Income : LA - $26,100, Nat.l Rank - 43rd, South Rank -10th
Average Annual Pay : LA - $30,115, Nat.l Rank - 36th, South - 9th
<$25,000 - 39%, $25,000-$49,999 - 26.1%, $50,000-$74,999 - 16.6%, $75,000-$99,999 - 9.0%, $100,000 +
8.8%
New Orleans - $28,995, Lafayette - $27,385, Shreveport - $25,984, Alexandria - $25,887, Baton Rouge
- $25,841, Monroe - $24,857, Lake Charles - $24,370, Houma - $24,330
(all statistics provided by:)
CABL : Council for a better Louisiana
P.O. Box 4308 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70821-4308
Phone : 225.344.2225 Fax : 225.338.9470
www.cabl.org
|
 |
Poverty
What is Poverty? Income of less than $18,810 a year for a family of four.
Poverty Rate - LA, 2003 - 17%, U.S., 2003 - 12.5%
Children in Poverty - LA, 2003 - 25.5%, U.S., 2003 - 17.6%
Louisiana ranked fourth highest in the nation and third highest in the south in both overall poverty
rate and our rate of children in poverty.
Louisiana's homeownership rate of 67.5% is the second lowest in the south.
In 2003, LA had a total of 29,575 personal and business bankruptcies.
Education
The total number of schools at or above the 2009-10 goal of 100 (meaning, a school on average
has students performing at Basic) has risen from 153 in the baseline year of 98-99 to 315 schools. Another
462 schools are moving towards the goal, scoring in the 80-99.9 range. But, 708 schools are below 80 and still
have a long way to go. Of those, 230 are at very low or failing levels. Of the 230 schools that are at low performing
or failing levels, 81 are in New Orleans Parish - 55 at the lowest level of "Academiccally Unacceptable." This
is not new, indicating the chronic nature of the problems in our largest school system. The remaining number of
these schools are scattered among several parishes - especially in urban and rural neighborhoods where poverty is prevalent.
East Baton Rouge has 29, Caddo has 22, and Jefferson Parish has 16.
All of our failing schools are high-poverty schools, but not all high-poverty schools are failing.
Poverty contributes negative factors in school, but high-quality teaching over time can overcome many of these factors and
these children do learn. It is also critical that these children get quality pre-K at early stages in life, as
research shows that at-risk kids make significant cognititve and academic gains with quality early education.
Public Safety
Crime : The Hard Numbers (2002 National Rank)
Murder Rank per 100,000 habitants - 1st
Violent Crime Rate - 5th
State Prisoner Incarceration Rate - 1st
Where is the Crime? (Violent Crime Rate, 2002 per 100,000 population)
Alexandria - 1018.0, Monroe - 887.0, Shreveport - 748.9, Baton Rouge - 723.9, New Orleans - 692.4,
Lake Charles - 690.2, Lafayette - 598.2, Houma - 513.7
|
