The Baton Rouge metropolitan area was first defined in
1950. Then known as the Baton Rouge standard metropolitan area (or Baton Rouge SMA), it consisted of a single parish–East Baton Rouge–and had a population of 158,236. Following a terminology change by the Bureau of the Budget (present-day
U.S. Office of Management and Budget) in 1959, the Baton Rouge SMA became the Baton Rouge standard metropolitan statistical area (or Baton Rouge SMSA). By the
census of
1960, the population had grown to 230,058, a 45% increase over the previous census. These four parishes had a combined population of 375,628 in 1970. The area grew rapidly during the 1970s and by the
1980 census, the population had increased 32% to 494,151. This nine-parish region had a population of 705,973 in 2000. In 2023,
Assumption Parish was added to the Baton Rouge metropolitan statistical area. A new combined statistical area. At the 2019
American Community Survey, the metropolitan area had an estimated population of 854,884. In 2020, its population was an estimated 858,571. The
2020 U.S. census tabulated a population of 870,569. In 2019, the racial and ethnic makeup of the area was 56%
White, 36%
Black and African American, 2%
Asian, 1%
multiracial, and 4%
Hispanic and Latin American of any race. There was a median household income of $60,746 and per capita income of $31,571. An estimated 15% of the metropolitan population lived at or below the poverty line. Of the population in 2019, there were 305,441 households and an average of 3.7 people per household. The median value of owner-occupied housing units was $195,500, and 4% of its population was foreign born. == Economy ==