Ouachita County

Note: Louisiana uses parishes. Figures below refer to Ouachita Parish (county-equivalent), Louisiana. Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (2020 Decennial Census; 2019–2023 ACS 5-year; 2023 Population Estimates).

Population size

• 2020 Census: 160,368
• 2023 estimate: ~159,200

Age

• Median age: ~36.5 years
• Under 18: ~24%
• 65 and over: ~16–17%

Gender

• Female: ~52–53%
• Male: ~47–48%

Racial/ethnic composition

• White alone: ~56–57%
• Black or African American alone: ~39%
• Asian alone: ~1–1.5%
• American Indian and Alaska Native alone: ~0.4–0.5%
• Two or more races: ~2–3%
• Hispanic or Latino (of any race): ~2.5–3%
• White alone, not Hispanic or Latino: ~54–55%

Household data

• Households: ~63,000–64,000
• Persons per household: ~2.45–2.50
• Owner-occupied housing unit rate: ~62–63%
• Family households: ~60% of households (married-couple families ~40%)
• Housing units: ~71,000
• Median household income (2019–2023): roughly upper $40Ks
• Persons in poverty: ~23%

Key insights

• Population has edged down slightly since 2020.
• The parish is majority White with a large Black population and small but growing Hispanic share.
• Household size is typical for the region, with a majority of owner-occupied units but comparatively high poverty.

Email usage in Ouachita Parish (County), LA

• Estimated email users: 109,000 adults. Basis: ~160,000 residents, ~77% age 18+ (123,000); ~88–90% of adults use email (Pew national usage applied to local age mix).
• Age distribution of email users (approx.):
  • 18–29: ~23,000
  • 30–49: ~38,000
  • 50–64: ~28,000–30,000
  • 65+: ~19,000–21,000
• Gender split (reflecting local demographics ~52% female, 48% male): Female ~56,000; Male ~53,000 email users.

Digital access and trends

• Household broadband subscription: ~80–84% (ACS-style county estimate), with >90% of households having a computer/smartphone. About 8–10% have no home internet.
• Smartphone-only access: ~17–20% of households rely primarily on cellular data plans, indicating higher mobile email dependence among lower-income users.
• Connectivity: Population density ~260 people/sq mi, with the Monroe urban core well-served by multiple fixed broadband and cable providers; rural fringes show slower speeds and lower subscription rates.
• Trend: Gradual uptick in home broadband and mobile-only access through 2023, but affordability pressures (ACP wind-down in 2024) risk slight declines in low-income household subscriptions, shifting more email use to mobile.

Summary: Mobile phone usage in Ouachita Parish (county-equivalent), Louisiana

Scale and user estimates

• Population and households: ~160,000 residents and ~61,000 households (ACS 2019–2023).
• Household smartphone adoption: ~92% of households report having a smartphone; ~74% report a cellular data plan for internet at home (ACS S2801, 2019–2023 5-year).
• Household connectivity mix:
  • Any broadband (wired, fiber, cable, DSL, fixed wireless, or cellular): ~82%.
  • Wired broadband (cable/DSL/fiber): ~61%.
  • Cellular-only internet (cellular data plan but no wired broadband): ~21%.
  • No home internet subscription: ~14%.
• User count estimate: With ~92% of ~61,000 households having at least one smartphone, ≈56,000 households have smartphones. Assuming ~2.5 persons per household, it implies roughly 130,000–140,000 individual smartphone users living in smartphone households locally.

How Ouachita differs from Louisiana overall

• More smartphone reliance, less wired: Ouachita’s smartphone household rate (92%) edges above the Louisiana average (90%), while its wired broadband subscription share (61%) is a few points below the state. The result is a higher share of cellular-only households (21% in Ouachita vs 17% statewide) and a slightly higher share with no subscription (14% vs ~13–15% statewide).
• Urbanized usage in a largely non-urban state: The Monroe–West Monroe urban core concentrates 5G and higher-capacity sites, so mobile performance is closer to mid-sized metros, whereas Louisiana overall has a larger share of rural territory with sparser capacity.
• Price sensitivity and plan mix: Lower median household income in Ouachita than the state average is reflected in a bigger tilt toward prepaid and mobile-only access for everyday connectivity. That pattern is less pronounced statewide.

Demographic breakdown (local patterns)

• Income: Mobile-only dependence is materially higher among households below $35,000 in Ouachita than for higher-income households, contributing to the parish’s above-state cellular-only share (ACS S2801; aligns with income gradients seen statewide but is more pronounced locally).
• Age: Younger householders (under 35) most often report smartphone-only access; older households (65+) show lower smartphone adoption and higher “no subscription” rates than prime-age households, mirroring statewide patterns but with slightly higher mobile-only reliance locally.
• Race/ethnicity: Black households constitute a larger share of Ouachita than the state average and, consistent with state and national findings, are more likely to rely on smartphones and cellular-only internet than White households. This compositional factor contributes to the parish’s higher cellular-only rate relative to the state.

Digital infrastructure and coverage

• 4G/5G availability: All three national carriers (AT&T, T‑Mobile, Verizon) provide countywide 4G LTE. 5G is broadly available in the Monroe–West Monroe urban area and along I‑20, US‑165, and LA‑15 corridors, with mid-band 5G capacity concentrated near population centers. Outside the core, coverage is primarily low-band 5G/LTE with sparser mid-band capacity.
• FirstNet and public safety: AT&T’s FirstNet Band 14 is deployed across the parish’s primary corridors and critical facilities, improving resilience and rural reach compared with consumer-only layers.
• Backhaul and fiber: The Monroe area is historically a regional backbone node due to the CenturyLink/Lumen footprint and long-haul fiber along I‑20. That backhaul depth supports denser macro and small-cell deployment in the core than in peer parishes.
• Cell sites: The parish hosts well over 100 registered antenna structures in the FCC ASR database, with a cluster in and around Monroe–West Monroe and additional sites along the Ouachita River and major highways. Co-location on tall structures (including broadcast towers) extends rural reach.
• Fixed broadband context: Cable and telco fiber are present in populated areas, but gaps in wired availability and affordability help explain why cellular-only household internet is higher than the state rate.

Operational insights for planning and service

• Mobile-first constituency: A larger-than-average slice of households uses smartphones as their primary or only internet connection. Optimizing mobile experiences (low-bandwidth design, offline modes) will reach more residents here than in an average Louisiana parish.
• Capacity focus areas: Peak-load pressure is highest around Monroe–West Monroe, universities/schools, medical facilities, and retail corridors along I‑20. Mid-band 5G densification and additional small cells in these zones will yield outsized benefits.
• Equity targeting: Digital inclusion efforts that pair low-cost wired plans with device and installation support can reduce the parish’s cellular-only share, particularly in lower-income and senior households where “no subscription” rates are elevated.
• Resilience: Given frequent severe weather in North Louisiana, the combination of FirstNet, diverse backhaul along I‑20, and generator-backed macro sites is a local strength; additional battery hardening at rural sites would further reduce outage risk.

Sources and notes

• Statistics are drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) 2019–2023 5-year estimates, table S2801 (Computer and Internet Use), and FCC public resources (broadband and mobile coverage maps; ASR tower registrations). Carrier availability reflects 2023–2024 public coverage disclosures and observed deployments in the Monroe–West Monroe area.

Ouachita County, LA (Ouachita Parish) — Social media snapshot

Scope note: Platform companies and the state do not publish parish-level social media penetration. The figures below are modeled local estimates using Ouachita Parish’s 2020 Census population baseline and Pew Research Center’s 2024 U.S. adult platform-adoption rates; they reflect likely local usage patterns in a small-metro Louisiana parish.

Population baseline (for context)

• Total population: 160,368 (U.S. Census, 2020)
• Sex split (population-level): roughly 52% female, 48% male (ACS patterns for the parish and Louisiana)

Most-used platforms (share of adults)

• YouTube: ~83%
• Facebook: ~68%
• Instagram: ~47%
• Pinterest: ~35%
• TikTok: ~33%
• Snapchat: ~30%
• LinkedIn: ~30%
• WhatsApp: ~29%
• X (Twitter): ~22%
• Reddit: ~22%
• Nextdoor: ~20% Source: Pew Research Center, Social Media Use (survey fielded Jan–Feb 2024). Applying these rates to Ouachita’s adult population yields the local ranking above.

Age-group usage patterns (share of adults within each age band who use the platform)

• Ages 18–29: YouTube ~93%; Instagram ~78%; Snapchat ~65%; Facebook ~67%; TikTok ~62%
• Ages 30–49: YouTube ~92%; Facebook ~75%; Instagram ~49%; TikTok ~39%; Snapchat ~26%
• Ages 50–64: YouTube ~83%; Facebook ~73%; Instagram ~29%; TikTok ~15%
• Ages 65+: YouTube ~60%; Facebook ~50%; Instagram ~15%; TikTok ~8% Implication for Ouachita: under-30s cluster on Instagram/Snapchat/TikTok; 30–64s are predominantly on Facebook and YouTube; 65+ concentrates on Facebook and YouTube with limited presence elsewhere.

Gender breakdown among users (directional)

• Overall social media audience in the parish will mirror the population (roughly 52% women, 48% men).
• Platform skews typically seen locally:
  • More women: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat
  • More men: YouTube, Reddit, X (Twitter)
  • Mixed/neutral: TikTok, WhatsApp, LinkedIn Source: Pew Research Center cross-tabs, 2024.

Behavioral trends observed in small-metro Louisiana parishes (applies to Ouachita)

• Facebook as the community hub: High engagement in local Groups (schools, churches, buy/sell/trade, neighborhood watch) and with local news pages; Marketplace is a major driver of routine use.
• Short-form video dominance: Reels and TikTok drive discovery for food, events, and small businesses; cross-posting Reels to Facebook extends reach to 30+ audiences.
• Event- and season-driven spikes: High school/college sports, festivals, and severe-weather updates trigger surges in Facebook and YouTube engagement.
• Messaging-first interactions: Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp commonly used for customer service and appointment-setting with local businesses.
• Youth behavior: Teens/young adults rely on Snapchat for daily communication and TikTok for entertainment and local trends; Instagram Stories are a key channel for campus and nightlife updates.
• Time-of-day patterns: Engagement typically peaks early morning (news/commute checks), midday (lunch scroll), and late evening; weekends over-index for events, dining, and shopping content.
• Content that performs: Community-centric posts, local faces, short captions with clear calls-to-action, vertical video (15–45 seconds), and timely updates (weather, closures, deals).

Key takeaways

• Facebook and YouTube are the reach workhorses across all adult ages.
• To reach under-30s in Ouachita, prioritize Instagram + Snapchat + TikTok; for 30–64, lean on Facebook + YouTube; for 65+, Facebook first, YouTube second.
• Women are more reachable via Facebook/Instagram/Pinterest; men via YouTube/Reddit/X.
• Lean into local Groups, short-form vertical video, and Messenger-based responses to match how residents already interact.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (Decennial Census 2020); Pew Research Center, Social Media Use 2024 (U.S. adults). Figures are modeled to Ouachita Parish using these definitive sources.