Ascension Parish, Louisiana

Ascension Parish (: Paroisse de l'Ascension) is a located in the  of. It is one of the fastest growing parishes in the state. Its populaton is estimated to be 20,000 to 30,000 residents greater than the. One of the major reasons for parish growth is the number of families wanting to move their children from the  to the higher-performing Ascension public school system. For a time, also brought in new residents from surrounding areas, but Ascension Parish President Ronnie Hughes said that the influx of hurricane victims has decreased and remains a small percent of growth.

Geography
The parish has a total area of 784 km² (303 sq mi). 755 km² (292 sq mi) of it is land and 29 km² (11 sq mi) of it (3.75%) is water.

Major highways

 * [[Image:I-10.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 61.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Louisiana 1.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Louisiana 16.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Louisiana 18.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Louisiana 22.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Louisiana 30.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Louisiana 42.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Louisiana 44.svg|20px]]

Adjacent parishes

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

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 76,627 people, 26,691 households, and 20,792 families residing in the parish. The was 101/km² (263/sq mi). There were 29,172 housing units at an average density of 39/km² (100/sq mi). The racial makeup of the parish was 77.39%, 20.28% or , 0.27% , 0.34% , 0.02% , 0.99% from other races, and 0.70% from two or more races. 2.46% of the population were or  of any race. 94.46% of the population spoke only at home, while 2.76% spoke  or, and 2.41% spoke.

There were 26,691 households out of which 42.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.10% were living together, 13.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.10% were non-families. 18.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.85 and the average family size was 3.25.

In the parish the population was spread out with 30.10% under the age of 18, 9.50% from 18 to 24, 32.60% from 25 to 44, 20.20% from 45 to 64, and 7.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 96.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.50 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $44,288, and the median income for a family was $50,626. Males had a median income of $41,109 versus $23,054 for females. The for the parish was $17,858. About 10.70% of families and 12.90% of the population were below the, including 16.30% of those under age 18 and 15.40% of those age 65 or over.

Politics
The parish is thought to be becoming politically. Since 2000, nearly 14,000 new voters have registered in Ascension Parish, and fewer than 1,000 of those are.

Democrats still lead in registrants with 28,181; follow with 16,218. There are also 13,052 "No Party" registrants, as permitted under Louisiana law. Robert Poche, Ascension Parish voter registrar told the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate in that "History tells us that those with no party affiliation have been voting conservatively."

Ascension Parish also had a small number of voters registered as upper case Independents. There are thirty-one members, and thirty-three  registrants. The total registrants in April 2007 stood at 58,221.