West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana

West Baton Rouge Parish (: Paroisse de Baton Rouge Ouest) is a located in the  of. The is  and as of 2000, the population was 21,601. The parish has a highly-rated school system and is one of the few in Louisiana that has privatized school bus services. West Baton Rouge saw a very small percentage of growth after with the latest estimate (July 2006) put about 864 extra residents into the parish.

History
West Baton Rouge Parish was formed in ; it was named Baton Rouge Parish until.

Geography
The parish has a total area of 527 (204 ). 495 km² (191 sq mi) of it is land and 32 km² (12 sq mi) of it (6.10%) is water.

Major Highways

 * [[Image:I-10.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 190.svg|23px]]
 * [[Image:Louisiana 1.svg|20px]]

Adjacent parishes

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (southwest)
 * (northwest)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 21,601 people, 7,663 households, and 5,739 families residing in the parish. The was 44/km² (113/sq mi). There were 8,370 housing units at an average density of 17/km² (44/sq mi). The racial makeup of the parish was 62.78%, 35.49% or , 0.20% , 0.19% , 0.02% , 0.53% from , and 0.79% from two or more races. 1.45% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 7,663 households out of which 37.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.50% were living together, 18.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.10% were non-families. 21.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.20.

In the parish the population was spread out with 28.10% under the age of 18, 9.90% from 18 to 24, 30.60% from 25 to 44, 21.70% from 45 to 64, and 9.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 96.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.40 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $37,117, and the median income for a family was $43,204. Males had a median income of $35,618 versus $22,960 for females. The for the parish was $15,773. About 13.20% of families and 17.00% of the population were below the, including 22.20% of those under age 18 and 13.10% of those age 65 or over.