35,982 people (2024 Census estimate, −3.8% since 2020)
1,253 square miles of land · 29 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
12 active community water systems list Natchitoches Parish in the area they serve, reporting 43,194 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| CITY OF NATCHITOCHES WATER SYSTEM surface water · local government · LA1069007 | 26,910 served |
| NATCHITOCHES PARISH WWKS DISTRICT 2 groundwater · local government · LA1069006 | 8,415 served |
| TOWN OF CAMPTI WATER SYSTEM groundwater · local government · LA1069001 | 1,515 served |
| BELLWOOD WATER SYSTEM groundwater · private · LA1069014 | 1,032 served |
| HAGEWOOD WATER SYSTEM groundwater · private · LA1069005 | 1,017 served |
| CRESTON WATER SYSTEM groundwater · private · LA1069003 | 801 served |
| VILLAGE OF PROVENCAL WATER SYSTEM groundwater · local government · LA1069009 | 705 served |
| SANDY POINT 480 WATER SYSTEM groundwater · private · LA1069013 | 654 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 235 people were held in Natchitoches Parish's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 1,008 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 379.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
1 school district has its office in Natchitoches Parish. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $94.5 million — $87.5 million to run schools, about $15,838 per student, plus $5.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $38.8 million local (mostly property tax), $31.9 million state, $21.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $26.1 million.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Natchitoches Parish about $13.5 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Low; social vulnerability: Very High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
320 bridges in Natchitoches Parish: 129 in good condition, 145 fair, and 46 poor (14.4%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| I0049 over BAYOU DERBONNE · built 1986 | 18,305 vehicles a day |
| I0049 over BAYOU LACARP · built 1986 | 18,305 vehicles a day |
| LA0006 over RED RIVER @ GRAND ECORE · built 1959 | 15,363 vehicles a day |
| LA0001-X over CANE RIVER · built 1936 | 11,003 vehicles a day |
| LA0001-X over CANE RIVER · built 1936 | 6,362 vehicles a day |
| US0084 over BOURBEAUX BAYOU · built 1987 | 4,081 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $51.7 million of work in Natchitoches Parish in fiscal 2025, about $1,379 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Louisiana are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Natchitoches Parish come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Natchitoches Parish built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Louisiana: the state government and every county in Louisiana.
Nearby counties: Winn Parish (30 mi) · Red River Parish (30 mi) · Sabine Parish (30 mi) · Grant Parish (32 mi) · Bienville Parish (42 mi) · Vernon Parish (44 mi).