Racial diversity in Louisiana is a mixed bag.
There are parts of Louisiana where there’s a high level of diversity. But where will you find the most diverse places in Louisiana?
To answer that question, we went to the US Census data. Using Saturday Night Science, we measured the Gini coefficient for all 59 cities in Louisiana to rank them from most to least diverse.
#1 most diverse in Louisiana
Located in
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
Gretna is the second-largest city and parish seat of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. Gretna is on the west bank of the Mississippi River, just east and across the river from uptown New Orleans. It is part of the New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 17,736 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#2 most diverse in Louisiana
Located in
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
Kenner is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. State of Louisiana. It is the largest city in Jefferson Parish, United States, Louisiana’s second-most populous parish, and a suburb of New Orleans. The population was 66,702 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#3 most diverse in Louisiana
Located in
Vernon Parish, Louisiana
DeRidder is a small city in and the parish seat of Beauregard Parish, Louisiana, United States. A small portion of the city extends into Vernon Parish. As of the 2010 census DeRidder had a population of 10,578. It is the smaller principal city of the Fort Polk South-DeRidder CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that includes the Fort Polk South and DeRidder micropolitan areas, which had a combined population of 87,988 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#4 most diverse in Louisiana
Located in
Vernon Parish, Louisiana
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#5 most diverse in Louisiana
Located in
Iberville Parish, Louisiana
St. Gabriel is a city in Iberville Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 6,677 at the 2010 census. The city of St. Gabriel includes the areas of Sunshine and Carville. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#6 most diverse in Louisiana
Located in
Vermilion Parish, Louisiana
Abbeville is a city in and the parish seat of Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, United States, 150 miles west of New Orleans and 60 miles southwest of Baton Rouge. The population was 12,257 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#7 most diverse in Louisiana
Bossier City is a city in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, United States.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#8 most diverse in Louisiana
Located in
Allen Parish, Louisiana
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#9 most diverse in Louisiana
Located in
East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
Baton Rouge ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana and its second-largest city. It forms the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish and is located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#10 most diverse in Louisiana
Located in
Ascension Parish, Louisiana
Gonzales is a small city in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 9,781. Known as the “Jambalaya Capital of the World”, it is famous for its annual Jambalaya Festival, which was first held in 1968. Stephen “Steve” F. Juneau came up with the idea for the Jambalaya Festival and served as the first president of the Jambalaya Festival Association President.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Louisiana’s statewide median.
On the map
Where diversity lives in Louisiana
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the most diverse cities in Louisiana for 2026
We still believe in the accuracy of data — especially from the Census — and Saturday Night Science. So that’s where we went to get the race breakdown across Louisiana.
That leads us to the Census’s most recently available data, the 2020-2024 American Community Survey data from the US Census.
Specifically, we looked at table B03002: HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY RACE. Here are the category names as defined by the Census:
- White alone*
- Black or African American alone*
- American Indian and Alaska Native alone*
- Asian alone*
- Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone*
- Some other race alone*
- Two or more races*
- Hispanic or Latino
We limited our analysis to non-CDPs with a population greater than 5,000 people. That left us with 59 cities.
We then calculated the HHI for each city by finding the racial breakdown of a city in percent terms, squaring them, and then adding the squares together. This left us with scores ranging from 2,963 (Gretna) to 7,668 (Baker).
Finally, we ranked each city based on the HHI, with a lower score being more diverse than a high score. Gretna took the distinction of being the most diverse, while Baker was the least diverse city.
We updated this article for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the most diverse places in Louisiana.
The full plate
Race By City In Louisiana For 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | HHI | % White | % Black | % Hispanic | % Asian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gretna | 17,389 | 2,963 | 38.0% | 30.0% | 24.5% | 3.7% |
| 2 | Kenner | 64,904 | 3,008 | 42.4% | 17.0% | 29.5% | 4.6% |
| 3 | DeRidder | 9,763 | 3,604 | 51.7% | 28.1% | 6.3% | 1.6% |
| 4 | Leesville | 5,495 | 3,631 | 47.4% | 36.0% | 8.1% | 2.2% |
| 5 | St. Gabriel | 6,639 | 3,674 | 37.5% | 45.2% | 14.7% | 0.0% |
| 6 | Abbeville | 11,003 | 3,688 | 43.2% | 41.9% | 4.8% | 4.6% |
| 7 | Bossier City | 62,901 | 3,736 | 52.8% | 27.6% | 12.7% | 2.0% |
| 8 | Oakdale | 6,546 | 3,759 | 52.6% | 27.5% | 14.6% | 0.5% |
| 9 | Baton Rouge | 222,771 | 3,818 | 34.8% | 50.4% | 6.2% | 4.0% |
| 10 | Gonzales | 13,108 | 3,866 | 41.5% | 44.7% | 11.9% | 0.0% |
| 11 | New Iberia | 27,571 | 3,876 | 42.2% | 45.1% | 5.9% | 2.7% |
| 12 | West Monroe | 12,729 | 3,877 | 45.6% | 41.1% | 10.2% | 0.9% |
| 13 | New Orleans | 371,853 | 3,898 | 30.1% | 53.9% | 8.2% | 2.8% |
| 13 | Lake Charles | 81,143 | 3,899 | 45.3% | 42.4% | 5.7% | 2.7% |
| 15 | Franklin | 6,461 | 3,902 | 37.2% | 49.6% | 5.6% | 0.4% |
| 16 | Patterson | 5,744 | 3,933 | 47.6% | 39.9% | 2.6% | 0.7% |
| 17 | Lafayette | 121,715 | 4,077 | 56.1% | 29.0% | 8.1% | 2.2% |
| 18 | Ruston | 22,284 | 4,121 | 47.2% | 43.2% | 1.9% | 2.0% |
| 19 | Bogalusa | 10,468 | 4,124 | 41.0% | 48.9% | 3.1% | 0.3% |
| 20 | Morgan City | 11,064 | 4,125 | 58.8% | 16.7% | 19.2% | 1.1% |
| 21 | Carencro | 11,619 | 4,162 | 36.9% | 52.6% | 2.7% | 2.1% |
| 22 | Plaquemine | 6,075 | 4,280 | 40.1% | 51.4% | 2.2% | 0.0% |
| 23 | Slidell | 28,561 | 4,298 | 61.4% | 19.6% | 9.8% | 2.1% |
| 24 | Natchitoches | 17,577 | 4,338 | 34.9% | 55.6% | 4.4% | 0.7% |
| 25 | Eunice | 9,239 | 4,340 | 56.4% | 33.0% | 2.0% | 0.0% |
| 26 | Alexandria | 44,060 | 4,342 | 35.6% | 55.2% | 3.4% | 2.2% |
| 27 | Shreveport | 180,982 | 4,374 | 34.9% | 55.9% | 4.1% | 1.6% |
| 28 | Hammond | 21,539 | 4,386 | 49.9% | 43.4% | 3.0% | 1.2% |
| 29 | Breaux Bridge | 7,501 | 4,422 | 42.8% | 50.8% | 1.4% | 0.7% |
| 30 | St. Martinville | 5,297 | 4,445 | 45.2% | 48.9% | 1.5% | 0.4% |
| 31 | Minden | 11,455 | 4,478 | 43.8% | 50.5% | 3.5% | 0.2% |
| 32 | Rayne | 7,105 | 4,496 | 54.7% | 38.5% | 1.5% | 0.0% |
| 32 | Zachary | 19,952 | 4,497 | 43.7% | 50.7% | 0.4% | 2.8% |
| 34 | Westwego | 8,335 | 4,594 | 63.1% | 23.7% | 4.9% | 2.5% |
| 35 | Houma | 32,392 | 4,666 | 64.8% | 19.5% | 7.5% | 0.8% |
| 36 | Ponchatoula | 7,808 | 4,674 | 60.3% | 31.9% | 3.7% | 0.9% |
| 36 | Jennings | 9,553 | 4,674 | 63.4% | 24.4% | 5.2% | 0.5% |
| 38 | Addis | 7,252 | 4,702 | 51.7% | 45.0% | 1.7% | 0.4% |
| 39 | Monroe | 47,004 | 4,747 | 34.1% | 59.8% | 2.7% | 1.9% |
| 40 | Ville Platte | 6,253 | 4,915 | 26.1% | 64.8% | 3.1% | 1.0% |
| 41 | Pineville | 14,160 | 4,970 | 63.4% | 30.7% | 1.6% | 0.3% |
| 42 | Thibodaux | 15,732 | 5,056 | 67.0% | 23.1% | 4.5% | 0.9% |
| 43 | Crowley | 11,422 | 5,084 | 67.2% | 22.8% | 4.0% | 0.4% |
| 44 | Scott | 8,609 | 5,265 | 69.5% | 19.6% | 6.8% | 1.3% |
| 45 | Covington | 11,658 | 5,653 | 73.0% | 16.4% | 5.7% | 0.5% |
| 46 | Denham Springs | 9,323 | 5,671 | 73.5% | 10.0% | 12.4% | 0.0% |
| 47 | Broussard | 14,322 | 5,794 | 74.1% | 16.6% | 4.8% | 1.7% |
| 48 | Opelousas | 15,495 | 6,134 | 16.3% | 76.5% | 2.9% | 0.0% |
| 49 | Bastrop | 9,232 | 6,369 | 17.5% | 77.8% | 3.0% | 0.0% |
| 50 | Central | 29,783 | 6,408 | 79.1% | 9.8% | 5.6% | 0.4% |
| 51 | Walker | 6,390 | 6,843 | 82.0% | 9.3% | 1.9% | 3.4% |
| 52 | Grambling | 5,287 | 6,944 | 8.4% | 82.7% | 4.6% | 0.4% |
| 53 | Mandeville | 12,946 | 6,955 | 82.9% | 2.5% | 5.8% | 4.8% |
| 54 | Donaldsonville | 6,831 | 6,960 | 13.5% | 82.2% | 3.9% | 0.4% |
| 55 | Harahan | 8,904 | 6,965 | 82.9% | 3.4% | 8.3% | 2.8% |
| 56 | Tallulah | 5,969 | 7,023 | 13.3% | 82.7% | 1.6% | 0.0% |
| 57 | Sulphur | 20,775 | 7,197 | 84.5% | 6.0% | 3.2% | 1.5% |
| 58 | Youngsville | 17,427 | 7,279 | 84.7% | 9.6% | 3.4% | 0.2% |
| 59 | Baker | 12,253 | 7,668 | 10.0% | 87.0% | 1.7% | 0.0% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 59 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: Diversity Across Louisiana
If you’re looking for a scientific breakdown of diversity across Louisiana, this is an accurate list.
The most diverse cities in Louisiana are Gretna, Kenner, DeRidder, Leesville, St. Gabriel, Abbeville, Bossier City, Oakdale, Baton Rouge, and Gonzales.
