Louisiana ranked at the bottom of 14 Southern states in both total numbers and per cent of population gain during the past decade, according to figures reported in the 2000 U.S. Census. Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and South Carolina, all of which rank lower than Louisiana in total population, had higher actual numerical gains and percentage of growth.
Figures show Louisiana gaining a total of 249,003 population during the decade between 1990 and 2000, or 5.9 percent-- less than half the national average gain of 13.2 percent.
Total U.S. population for 2000 came in at 281,421,906, an increase of 32,712,033. By states in the South, rankings (with national ranking by percentage gain shown in parentheses) are:
(Rank) State . . . . . . . . . . . 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . .% +/(-) . . . . . . . . . . . . 1990
(6) Georgia . . . . . . . . 8,186,452 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.4 . .. . . . . . . . .6,478,216
(7) Florida . . . . . . . .15,982,378 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.5 . . . . . . . . . 12,937,926
(8) Texas . . . . . . . . .20,851,820 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.8 . . . . . . . . . 16,986,510
(14) Tennessee . . . . . 5,689,283 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.7 . . . . . . . . . . 4,877,185
(15) South Carolina . .4,012,012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.1 . . . . . . . . . . 3,486,703
(16) Virginia . . . . . . . 7,078,515 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.4 . . . . . . . . . . 6,187,358
(19) Arkansas . . . . . .2,673,400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.7 . . . . . . . . . . .2,350,725
(23) Maryland . . . . . .5,296,486 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.8 . . . . . . . . . . .4,781,468
(24) Mississippi . . . . .2,844,658 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.5 . . . . . . . . . . .2,573,216
(25) Alabama . . . . . . 4,447,100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.1 . . . . . . . . . . .4,040,587
(26) Oklahoma . . . . . 3,450,654 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.7 . . . . . . . . . . .3,145,585
(28) Kentucky . . . . . .4,041,769 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.7 . . . . . . . . . . .3,685,296
(40) Louisiana . . . . . .4,468,976 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9 . . . . . . . . . . . 4,219,973
United States Total 281,421,906