Grant Parish, Louisiana

Grant Parish (: Paroisse de Grant) is a located in the  of. The is  (pronounced COLL FAX). It is part of the. As of, the population was 18,698. It was organized in and named for U.S. President. The parish seat is named for Grant's first vice president, of.

Grant Parish politics
Grant Parish tends to vote in competitive elections. In the presidential race, Grant Parish gave the  -  electors 5,911 votes (74 percent) to 1,977 ballots (25 percent) for the   -  slate.

In a held on, ,  (born ), a Democrat from  in Grant Parish, won election to the. He defeated the Republican candidate, Tony Kevin Owens (born ).

From -, Grant Parish was represented in the legislature by an, , who has been the mayor of since.

Grant Parish had the highest growth rate in central Louisiana in the five-year period between and 2006, according to projections of the. The parish has had a 4.3 percent growth rate compared to 1.7 percent for its larger neighbor,. Some neighboring parishes have experienced population decreases. http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061220/NEWS01/612200318

Geography
The parish has a total area of 1,721 (665 ). 1,671 km² (645 sq mi) of it is land and 50 km² (19 sq mi) of it (2.93%) is water.

Major Highways

 * [[Image:US 71.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 165.svg|22px]]
 * [[Image:US 167.svg|22px]]
 * [[Image:LA 8.PNG|20px]]

Adjacent parishes

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (south)
 * (west)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 18,698 people, 7,073 households, and 5,276 families residing in the parish. The was 11/km² (29/sq mi). There were 8,531 housing units at an average density of 5/km² (13/sq mi). The racial makeup of the parish was 85.43%, 11.88% or , 0.89% , 0.14% , 0.03% , 0.36% from , and 1.28% from two or more races. 1.14% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 7,073 households out of which 36.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.20% were living together, 12.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.40% were non-families. 22.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.06.

In the parish the population was spread out with 28.30% under the age of 18, 7.90% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 12.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 96.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.00 males.

The median income for a household in the parish was $29,622, and the median income for a family was $34,878. Males had a median income of $31,235 versus $20,470 for females. The for the parish was $14,410. About 16.90% of families and 21.50% of the population were below the, including 27.30% of those under age 18 and 16.20% of those age 65 or over.