College town anchors a historically timber-dependent north Louisiana corridor
Home to Louisiana Tech University, Ruston's Lincoln Parish core skews younger than surrounding rural parishes, tempering the region's otherwise lopsided Republican margins in statewide races.
| Group | Ruston, LA | National |
|---|---|---|
▶White (Non-Hispanic)(13) | 54.6% | 57.4% |
▶Black / African American(4) | 39.4% | 12.2% |
▶Hispanic / Latino(8) | 2.4% | 19.3% |
Multiracial / Other | 1.8% | 4.0% |
▶Asian(6) | 1.4% | 6.0% |
▶Middle Eastern / North African(3) | 0.6% | 0.9% |
▶Native American / Alaska Native(1) | 0.3% | 0.9% |
Catholic-Evangelical edge: -70.1pp (vs national 4.5pp). A strongly Evangelical-leaning religious profile, which nationally correlates with Republican-leaning rural and exurban communities.
| Tradition | % Pop | % Adherents | US Pop | US Adherents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38.3% | 69.8% | — | — | |
| 6.4% | 11.7% | — | — | |
| 5.8% | 10.7% | — | — | |
| 2.3% | 4.2% | — | — | |
| 2.0% | 3.7% | — | — | |
LDS (Mormon) | 0.8% | 1.5% | — | — |
Non-religiousPopulation | 45.2% | — | — | — |
Who lives in the Ruston, LA metro area? 180,964 residents across 4 counties.
Scale, voting-age share, and this geography's footprint inside the national electorate.
Income, attainment, and ownership indicators that often shape coalition structure and turnout behavior.
Age structure, language use, and nativity signals that explain how this geography differs from state and nation.
| Offices | Margin A | Margin B | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| President vs Senate | R+19.5 | R+44.2 | 24.8pp |