Sabine County

Note: Louisiana uses parishes, not counties. Figures below are for Sabine Parish, Louisiana (latest U.S. Census Bureau data: 2019–2023 ACS 5-year and 2023 population estimates).

Population

• Total population: ~22.2K (2023 estimate)

Age

• Median age: ~43 years
• Under 18: ~22%
• 65 and over: ~20%

Gender

• Female: ~50–51%
• Male: ~49–50%

Race and ethnicity

• White (non-Hispanic): ~71%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic): ~20%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race): ~5%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic): ~3%
• American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, and other: ~1–2% combined

Households and housing

• Households: ~9,000
• Average household size: ~2.5 persons
• Family households: ~65–67% of households
• Owner-occupied housing: ~78–80%
• Renter-occupied housing: ~20–22%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-year estimates; Population Estimates Program (2023).

Sabine Parish, LA snapshot (modeled from U.S. Census ACS, FCC maps, and Pew adoption patterns)

• Population and density: About 22,000 residents; roughly 25 people per square mile, reflecting sparse, rural settlement.
• Estimated email users: About 14,500 residents use email at least monthly (about 66% of total population and ~85% of adults).
• Age distribution of email users:
  • 13–17: 5%
  • 18–34: 26%
  • 35–64: 49%
  • 65+: 20%
• Gender split among email users: ~49% male, 51% female (mirrors parish demographics).
• Digital access and connectivity:
  • ~85% of households have a computer.
  • ~70% subscribe to fixed broadband; ~15–18% are smartphone‑only internet users.
  • ~12–15% of households lack any home internet.
  • Fiber and cable are concentrated in and around town centers (e.g., Many, Zwolle, Pleasant Hill); outlying lake/forest areas near Toledo Bend and timberlands face last‑mile gaps, with DSL/fixed‑wireless more common.
  • 4G LTE coverage is widespread; 5G is emerging in populated corridors and along major highways.
• Trendline: Since 2019, steady gains in broadband subscriptions and speeds, driven by incremental fiber buildouts and subsidy‑supported fixed wireless, narrowing—but not closing—rural access disparities.

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

Scope note: Figures reflect 2024–2025 conditions using the latest available federal datasets (ACS/FCC), carrier footprints, and rural-market benchmarks, translated into parish-level estimates.

User base and adoption

• Population baseline: ~22,000 residents; ~17,500 adults (18+); ~8,800 households.
• Mobile phone users (any handset): ~18,000 users (roughly 80–83% of all residents; ~92–94% of adults).
• Smartphone users: ~15,500–16,000 users.
  • Adults: ~14,000–14,500 (≈80–83% adult smartphone adoption; Louisiana statewide ≈86–88%).
  • Teens (13–17): ~1,400–1,500 users (≈90%+ adoption among teens).
• Mobile-only internet households (primary internet via cellular/hotspot, no fixed home broadband): 2,600–3,100 households (≈30–35% of households; statewide ≈18–24%).
• Plan mix: prepaid is notably higher than state average.
  • Sabine Parish prepaid share: ≈42–48% of lines (statewide ≈32–36%).
  • Driver: lower household income and sparser fixed-broadband availability increase reliance on prepaid and hotspot plans.
• Platform mix (active smartphones):
  • Android: ≈55–60%; iOS: ≈40–45%.
  • State-level leans more iOS (≈50–60%); Sabine skews more Android, driven by price-sensitive device choices.

Demographic patterns that shape usage

• Age:
  • 65+ smartphone adoption ≈60–68% (statewide seniors ≈70–75%). Seniors in Sabine increasingly adopt larger-screen Android devices and basic smartphones; feature phones remain more common than statewide.
  • 25–54 cohort shows near-saturation smartphone use (>90%), but with higher multi-SIM/prepaid utilization than statewide peers.
• Income and education:
  • Median household income trails the state; this maps to:
    • Higher prepaid uptake and BYOD.
    • Greater hotspot dependence for home connectivity.
    • Slower upgrade cycles (devices kept 3.5–4.5 years vs ~3 years statewide).
• Household composition:
  • Multi-line family plans are common, but a larger slice of single-line prepaid exists than the state norm due to seasonal and shift-based employment.
• Work and mobility:
  • Trades, forestry, and reservoir-area tourism jobs drive daytime usage along US-171, LA-6, and around Toledo Bend; coverage consistency on backroads is more critical than peak urban throughput.

Digital infrastructure and performance

• Carrier presence and coverage:
  • AT&T: Broadest rural LTE footprint; 5G present in and around Many, Zwolle, Florien, Pleasant Hill; FirstNet Band 14 on multiple sites improves emergency and in-building coverage.
  • Verizon: Strong LTE coverage on main corridors; 5G Nationwide (DSS) parish-wide with limited or no UW mid-band pockets; dependable voice/coverage, modest 5G speed uplift.
  • T-Mobile: Extensive 600 MHz 5G Extended Range; mid-band (n41) concentrated along US-171/LA-6 and in towns; coverage thins near the western timberlands and along LA-191 by Toledo Bend.
• 5G availability:
  • Population-weighted 5G coverage: ≈75–85% in Sabine (statewide ≈90%+).
  • Mid-band 5G capacity is spottier than state averages, leading to more variable speeds outside towns.
• Typical mobile speeds (user-experienced):
  • Town centers (Many, Zwolle, Florien): median 25–50 Mbps down, 5–12 Mbps up.
  • Corridors (US-171, LA-6): 15–40 Mbps down, 3–10 Mbps up.
  • Sparsely populated/forest and lakeshore areas (e.g., LA-191): single-digit to mid-teens Mbps; occasional dead zones.
  • Statewide median mobile speeds are materially higher (often 70–100+ Mbps in urban/suburban parishes), making Sabine meaningfully slower than Louisiana’s average.
• Coverage gaps and reliability:
  • Notable weak spots around the Toledo Bend shoreline, forested tracts, and lower-elevation hollows; call reliability and text work better than data in these pockets.
  • New FirstNet/AT&T buildouts since 2022 have improved emergency coverage along LA-6 and near the TX border, but capacity remains constrained at peak tourism times.
• Backhaul and fixed-broadband interplay:
  • CP-TEL has expanded fiber in and around Many/Zwolle; Optimum (cable) is present mainly in town; AT&T offers legacy DSL with selective fiber upgrades.
  • Outside fiber/cable footprints, households rely on LTE/5G for primary access, especially after the ACP pause, which led some homes to downgrade or consolidate to mobile-only plans.

How Sabine Parish differs from Louisiana overall

• Lower smartphone adoption: −3 to −7 percentage points vs statewide, driven by older age structure and income mix.
• Higher reliance on mobile for home internet: +10 to +15 points vs statewide.
• More prepaid usage: +8 to +12 points vs statewide.
• More Android-heavy device mix: +5 to +10 points Android share vs statewide.
• Slower typical speeds and patchier mid-band 5G: median speeds often half or less of major metro parishes; 5G is present but with less capacity outside towns.
• Upgrade cadence is slower, and device financing/BYOD prevalence is higher than the state average.

Practical implications

• Network choice matters more by micro-location than in metro Louisiana; AT&T/FirstNet often leads for rural coverage consistency, T-Mobile leads for in-town 5G capacity where mid-band is live, and Verizon offers stable voice/LTE on corridors.
• Hotspot/data-heavy plans are disproportionately important due to the mobile-only household share; data deprioritization can materially impact evening performance.
• Continued fiber builds (notably CP-TEL and selective AT&T/Optimum upgrades) are the single biggest lever to reduce mobile-network congestion and close the speed gap with the state.

Social media usage snapshot: Sabine Parish (Sabine County), Louisiana — 2024

Note: Louisiana uses “parishes”; this refers to Sabine Parish.

Headline user stats (modeled from U.S. Census ACS age mix for Sabine Parish and Pew/DataReportal 2023–2024 usage rates for rural U.S. adults)

• Total residents: ~22,100
• Residents age 13+: ~18,800
• Estimated social media users (13+): ~13,400 (71% of 13+; 61% of total population)
• Gender among social media users: ~54% female, ~46% male
• Access/device context: predominantly mobile-first; Facebook and YouTube account for the majority of total local time spent on social platforms

Age groups (estimated penetration of “any social platform” locally)

• 13–17: ~95%
• 18–34: ~85%
• 35–54: ~75%
• 55–64: ~66%
• 65+: ~50%

Most-used platforms among adults (estimated share of adults who use each)

• YouTube: ~80%
• Facebook: ~66%
• Instagram: ~36%
• TikTok: ~30%
• Snapchat: ~27%
• Also notable: Pinterest ~28% (stronger among women 25–54), X (Twitter) ~20%

Gender tendencies by platform (directional)

• More female: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest
• More male: YouTube, X (Twitter), Reddit
• Roughly even: TikTok, Snapchat (skews younger overall)

Behavioral trends on the ground

• Community-first Facebook usage: Heavy reliance on local Groups and Pages (schools, churches, volunteer fire, youth sports, classifieds). Facebook Marketplace is a primary buy/sell channel for household goods, vehicles, and farm/ranch equipment.
• Messaging as a utility: Facebook Messenger and Instagram DMs are preferred for appointment setting, sales inquiries, and event coordination; response expectations are same-day.
• Video-forward consumption: YouTube for how-to, repairs, hunting/fishing, local government/school recordings; Facebook Reels and TikTok for short-form highlights from local events, sports, and small businesses.
• Time-of-day and weekly cadence: Peak activity before work (6–8 a.m.) and evenings (7–10 p.m.); weekday midday dips; weekend spikes around high school sports, church, festivals, and severe weather.
• Local trust dynamics: Content from known community figures (coaches, pastors, small-business owners) outperforms polished brand creative; user comments and shares drive reach more than paid impressions alone.
• Commerce and calls to action: “Message us,” phone-call CTAs, and limited-time local promotions outperform web-form funnels; geo-targeted offers and giveaways pull high engagement.
• Content that travels: Weather alerts, road closures, utility updates, school notices, hunting/fishing reports, and local nostalgia posts (historic photos) generate above-average shares.
• Platform roles:
  • Facebook = community hub + classifieds
  • YouTube = learning and long-form local interest
  • Instagram = visual storytelling for small businesses and events (25–44)
  • TikTok = discovery channel for 18–34, especially food, music, and outdoors
  • Snapchat = peer-to-peer among teens/young adults; limited brand discovery

Method note: No platform publishes verified parish-level usage; figures above are modeled estimates derived from Sabine Parish demographics (U.S. Census/ACS) and the latest Pew Research Center and DataReportal U.S./rural adoption rates, adjusted for rural-Louisiana patterns.