DeSoto Parish, Louisiana

De Soto Parish is a located in the  of. It is part of the. Its is. In 2000, its population was 25,494.

Geography
The parish has a total area of 2,317 (894 ). 2,272 km² (877 sq mi) of it is land and 45 km² (17 sq mi) of it (1.93%) is water.

Major Highways

 * [[Image:I-49.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 84.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 171.svg|22px]]
 * [[Image:US 371.svg|22px]]
 * [[Image:LA 5.PNG|20px]]

Adjacent parishes

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (south)
 * (southwest)
 * (west)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 25,494 people, 9,691 households, and 6,967 families residing in the parish. The was 11/km² (29/sq mi). There were 11,204 housing units at an average density of 5/km² (13/sq mi). The racial makeup of the parish was 55.97%, 42.16% or , 0.51% , 0.11% , 0.05% , 0.54% from , and 0.66% from two or more races. 1.55% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 9,691 households out of which 33.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.70% were living together, 18.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.10% were non-families. 25.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the parish the population was spread out with 28.40% under the age of 18, 8.30% from 18 to 24, 26.30% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 14.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 90.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.00 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $28,252, and the median income for a family was $33,196. Males had a median income of $30,780 versus $20,182 for females. The for the parish was $13,606. About 21.00% of families and 25.10% of the population were below the, including 33.80% of those under age 18 and 24.90% of those age 65 or over.