List of Louisiana parishes by French-speaking population

French spread in Louisiana. Parishes marked in yellow are those where 4–10% of the 2015 population speak French or Cajun French at home, orange 10–15%, red 15–20%.

The list of Louisiana parishes by French-speaking population was created from the 2000 United States census. ^[1] The Census Bureau collects data on languages spoken at home by inhabitants of Louisiana five years of age or more. Responses "French" and "Cajun" are included. In 2010, statewide, out of a population 5 years and older of 4,152,122, some 179,750 people reported French as their home language, while 14,365 reported "Cajun". A further 4,465 who reported French Creole, which includes both Louisiana's Kouri-Vini and Haiti's Kreyòl, are not counted below.

The 2015 update comes from American Community Survey data. In 2005 the U.S. Census Bureau retired its census long form, instead using ACS estimates to track language use. For 2015, a total of 107,616 people in Louisiana (5 years old and older) were estimated to speak French, including Cajun French, Patois, and other varieties of French. An additional 7,209 people were estimated to speak French Creole, but are not included in the table below. The 2017–2021 ACS update estimated 57,640 French speakers and 14,020 speakers of "Cajun French and other French languages." As of July 2025 ^[update] , a parish-by-parish breakdown of French speakers over the age of 5 was not available. ^[2]

Complete Parish listing

The 2000 values were derived from the 2000 U.S. Census. ^[3] The 2015 estimates are from the 2011–2015 American Community Survey. ^[4]

Name of parish	Total population 5 and older 2000	French-speaking population 5 and older 2000	Percentage French-speaking 2000	Total population 5 and older 2015	French-speaking population 5 and older 2015	Percentage French-speaking 2015	Map
Acadia [a]	54,114	10,310	19.04%	57,599	6,022	10.46%
Allen	23,571	1,468	6.22%	23,993	936	3.90%
Ascension [b]	70,093	1,944	2.76%	106,272	1,201	1.13%
Assumption [b]	21,713	3,819	17.58%	21,780	2,803	12.87%
Avoyelles [b]	38,468	6,789	17.64%	38,590	4,024	10.43%
Beauregard	30,559	570	1.86%	33,819	202	0.60%
Bienville	14,699	79	0.53%	13,179	32	0.24%
Bossier	90,587	474	0.51%	11,4343	515	0.45%
Caddo	233,812	1,944	0.82%	236,334	1,406	0.59%
Calcasieu [b]	169,745	10,170	5.98%	182,476	5,411	2.97%
Caldwell	9,868	79	0.80%	9,532	16	0.17%
Cameron [b]	9,279	1,075	11.57%	6,365	390	6.13%
Catahoula	10,183	99	0.97%	9,607	14	0.15%
Claiborne	15,794	35	0.22%	15,788	96	0.61%
Concordia	18,698	190	1.01%	19,127	67	0.35%
De Soto	23,607	230	0.97%	25,255	146	0.58%
East Baton Rouge	382,741	7,925	2.07%	415,656	3,705	0.89%
East Carroll	8,585	55	0.64%	7,176	8	0.11%
East Feliciana	19,853	574	2.88%	18,800	89	0.47%
Evangeline [a]	32,454	8,345	25.71%	31,387	4,925	15.69%
Franklin	19,649	79	0.40%	19,101	24	0.13%
Grant	17,223	230	1.32%	21,031	211	1.00%
Iberia [a]	67,374	8,089	11.99%	68,599	4,944	7.21%
Iberville [b]	31,035	1,005	3.23%	31,295	739	2.36%
Jackson	14,363	148	1.03%	15,157	76	0.50%
Jefferson [b]	424,600	7,763	1.82%	407,505	3,408	0.84%
Jefferson Davis	28,844	4,660	16.15%	29,268	2,162	7.39%
Lafayette [a]	176,051	25,300	14.37%	215,676	15,081	6.99%
Lafourche [b]	83,518	15,984	19.12%	91,127	9,310	10.22%
La Salle	13,281	167	1.25%	13,976	43	0.31%
Lincoln	39,573	510	1.28%	44,573	126	0.28%
Livingston	84,694	1,344	1.58%	124,592	1,086	0.87%
Madison	12,555	25	0.19%	10,999	18	0.16%
Morehouse	28,735	75	0.26%	25,042	41	0.16%
Natchitoches	36,082	339	0.93%	36,803	147	0.40%
Orleans	450,894	5,805	1.28%	353,307	3,963	1.12%
Ouachita	136,264	1,030	0.75%	144,757	302	0.21%
Plaquemines	24,581	855	3.47%	21,772	183	0.84%
Pointe Coupée [b]	21,139	1,035	4.89%	21,075	377	1.79%
Rapides	116,866	2,189	1.86%	123,203	1,391	1.13%
Red River	8,854	20	0.22%	8,211	40	0.49%
Richland	19,319	100	0.51%	19,388	35	0.18%
Sabine	21,830	190	0.86%	22,647	110	0.49%
St. Bernard	62,812	915	1.44%	39,468	150	0.38%
St. Charles [b]	44,152	1,189	2.69%	49,355	301	0.61%
St. Helena	9,690	30	0.30%	10,164	132	1.30%
St. James [b]	19,684	980	4.97%	20,296	456	2.25%
St. John the Baptist [b]	39,220	735	1.86%	41,177	266	0.65%
St. Landry [a]	80,668	13,475	16.70%	77,090	5,875	7.62%
St. Martin [a]	44,779	12,290	27.44%	49,516	6,887	13.91%
St. Mary [a]	49,345	2,685	5.43%	49,827	1,402	2.81%
St. Tammany	177,092	2,160	1.21%	228,469	1,696	0.74%
Tangipahoa	93,002	1,084	1.16%	116,590	554	0.48%
Tensas	6,144	35	0.56%	4,591	31	0.68%
Terrebonne [b]	96,309	10,275	10.66%	104,610	4,845	4.63%
Union	21,129	95	0.44%	21,199	70	0.33%
Vermilion [a]	49,842	12,410	24.89%	54,931	8,026	14.61%
Vernon	47,048	350	0.74%	47,661	237	0.50%
Washington	40,738	364	0.89%	43,596	369	0.85%
Webster	39,110	243	0.62%	38,047	95	0.25%
West Baton Rouge [b]	20,012	675	3.36%	22,947	209	0.91%
West Carroll	11,507	83	0.72%	10,764	24	0.22%
West Feliciana	14,338	159	1.10%	14,790	142	0.96%
Winn	15,783	64	0.40%	14,017	24	0.17%
Louisiana total	4,152,122	194,115	4.66%	3,426,483	107,616	2.49%

See also

• French language in the Americas

Notes

1. Parishes of Cajun Heartland
2. Other parishes of Acadiana

References

1. "Language Map Data Center". Archived from the original on 2007-07-16. Retrieved 2010-03-02.
2. "Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over: 2017–2021". US Census Bureau. 2025-06-03. Retrieved 2025-07-24.
3. "Data Center Results". Archived from the original on 2013-08-15. Retrieved 2013-08-06.
4. "Table B16001. Language Spoken at Home by Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Older". data.census.gov. U.S. Census Bureau. 2015.