Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           985-549-2341/fax 985-549-2061
    Date: 06/11/01
      Contact:                           Angey Saucier   44

LATEST POPULATION FIGURES ARE GOOD NEWS FOR PARISH ECONOMY
     HAMMOND -- Latest population estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that
Tangipahoa Parish's head count is up by more than 14,000 residents since 1990.
     Economist Yu Hsing, head of Southeastern Louisiana University's General Business
Department, said that the Census Bureau's latest figures show that Tangipahoa Parish had
100,588 residents in 1999-2000.
     Hsing said the Census Bureau's figures can be broken down into 7,257 persons under five
years old, compared to 6,666 in 1990; 33,403 aged five to 24, up more than ten percent from 
29,455; 27,877 aged 25 to 44, compared to 25,352; and 10,690 aged 65 and over, up from 9,476. 
The median age was 32.3 and 48.2 percent were female, 51.8 percent male.
     "The rising population is expected to benefit the parish in the form of more publicity,
potential new businesses, expanding existing businesses and more government revenues," Hsing
said. 
     The increase in people has caused the demand for housing to rise by 7,154 (from 33,640
to 40,794), averaging 715 housing units annually.  Out of the total housing units, 89.6 percent
were occupied.  Among the units occupied, 73.3 percent were owner-occupied, comparing
favorably with the national average of 66.2.  The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7 percent,
whereas the rental vacancy was 9.6 percent, which was higher than the national average of 6.8
percent.
     "The rental vacancy rate may signal that future projects of large-scale apartment
construction may create a downward pressure in the rental market," said Hsing.  "The relatively
low homeowner vacancy rate suggests that the community had stable population and housing
values."
                             (MORE)
                                
Latest Population Figures Are Good News For Parish Economy   add one
     There were 36,558 households, of which 25,768 were families.  The average household
size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.19.  
     "The general increase in every category of the population groups indicates that the parish
had more labor force and that the demand for day care, education, health care, consumer goods
and services, etc. was either stable or on the rise," said Hsing.

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