St. Mary Parish, Louisiana

St. Mary Parish (: Paroisse de Sainte-Marie) is a located in the  of. The is. As of 2000, the population was 53,500.

Two prominent politicians have come from St. Mary Parish in recent years. (born ), served as governor from -. (-) was the state House Speaker from - and lieutenant governor from -.

Geography
The parish has a total area of 2,898 (1,119 ). 1,587 km² (613 sq mi) of it is land and 1,311 km² (506 sq mi) of it is water. The total area is 45.23% water.

Major Highways

 * [[Image:US 90.svg|20px]]

Adjacent parishes

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (south)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 53,500 people, 19,317 households, and 14,082 families residing in the parish. The was 34/km² (87/sq mi). There were 21,650 housing units at an average density of 14/km² (35/sq mi). The racial makeup of the parish was 62.79%, 31.79% or , 1.39% , 1.64% , 0.02% , 0.88% from , and 1.50% from two or more races. 2.15% of the population were or  of any race. 5.43% reported speaking or  at home, while 2.45% speak  and 1.59%.

There were 19,317 households out of which 36.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.00% were living together, 16.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.10% were non-families. 23.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.70% 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 3.23.

In the parish the population was spread out with 29.70% under the age of 18, 8.70% from 18 to 24, 28.70% from 25 to 44, 21.90% from 45 to 64, and 11.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 95.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.20 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $28,072, and the median income for a family was $33,064. Males had a median income of $31,570 versus $18,341 for females. The for the parish was $13,399. About 20.60% of families and 23.60% of the population were below the, including 31.30% of those under age 18 and 19.00% of those age 65 or over.