Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area

The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area has a total area a little over 2,699 square miles. The area is slightly larger than the U.S. state of Delaware, and smaller than Connecticut and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget defines the metropolitan region as covering Caddo, Bossier, and DeSoto parishes.[3] Previously, Webster Parish was considered part of Greater Shreveport; it is now part of the Shreveport–Bossier City–Minden combined statistical area. Communities of the metropolis sit at elevations over 100 feet above sea level making them primary locations for coastal retreat due to rising sea levels.[11][12]

The Shreveport–Bossier City area is located in the South Central United States, bordering East Texas and South Arkansas.[13] As such, it is within the Piney Woods ecoregion. Its vegetation is classified as temperate forest and grassland. Much of the urbanized area was built on forested land, marshes, swamp, or prairie, remnants of which can still be seen throughout the metropolitan region.

Lakeside Baptist Church in downtown Shreveport,[19] a historic African-American congregation

The American Community Survey's 2019 estimates determined the metropolitan statistical area had a population of 394,706.[2] The population estimates of the metropolis in 2018 was 436,341.[20] There were 171,540 households and 204,144 housing units in the area. Shreveport–Bossier City's racial makeup was 53% White, 40% Black or African American, less than 1% American Indian or Alaska Native, 1% Asian American, 1% from two or more races, and 4% Hispanic or Latino of any race. Roughly 2.4% of the metropolitan population was foreign born. The median household income was $41,969 and the per capita income was $25,108. The median value of an owner-occupied housing unit was $142,600. A little over 20% of the area was at or below the poverty line.[21]

In census of 2010,[22] there were 557,201 people, 189,000 households, and 139,000 families residing within the Greater Shreveport metropolitan statistical area. The racial makeup of Greater Shreveport was: 60.58% White, 28.74% African American, 1.02% Native American, 1.88% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 0.80% from other races, 1.22% from two or more races, and 6.08% Hispanic or Latino of any heritage. The median income for a household in the area was $32,974, and the median income for a family was $39,203. Males had a median income of $35,583 versus $31,848 for females. The per capita income for the metropolis was $16,521.

As of 2020, roughly 63.5% of Greater Shreveport was religious.[23] The city of Shreveport was ranked one of the most religious cities in the U.S. in 2016.[24] The largest religion in the metropolitan statistical area is Christianity, followed by Islam, Judaism, and eastern religions including Buddhism, Sikhism, and Hinduism. There is also a growing spiritual but not religious community. Among Christians, Baptists, Methodists, and Catholics form the largest communities in the metropolitan area. A 2014 study determined the leading Baptist denomination was the Southern Baptist Convention. The United Methodist Church was the largest Methodist body and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shreveport was the primary Catholic jurisdiction.[25] The same study also named Islam the second-largest religion in the area, with Greater Shreveport Muslims making up about 14% of Louisiana's total Muslim-affiliated population.

Shreveport Convention Center

Shreveport–Bossier City is the economic and cultural center of Northwest Louisiana and the wider Ark-La-Tex tri-state region. It is also the largest economic metropolitan area in North Louisiana.[26] The area's economic activity is centered in the city of Shreveport, the parish seat of Caddo Parish.

Much of the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area's economy is based on oil and natural gas, manufacturing, casinos, restaurants, and commerce. The city of Shreveport was once a major player in the national oil industry. Standard Oil of Louisiana and United Gas Corporation were headquartered in the city until the 1960s and 1980s. Since the downturn in the oil industry, telecommunications, technology, banking, healthcare and medical research, and advertising have been rising industries since the early 2000s. Filming has also been a prevalent industry in the metropolitan area.[27][28]

The largest companies operating within the metropolitan area are Calumet Specialty Products Partners,[29] SWEPCO,[30] AT&T Mobility and Cricket Wireless,[31] Louisiana State University, JPMorgan Chase,[32] Regions Financial Corporation,[33] Comcast, and Walmart. AT&T, Chase, and Regions have regional offices within Shreveport's downtown area. The Tyler, Texas-based Brookshire Grocery Company operates numerous Super 1 Foods and Brookshire's supermarkets in the area.[34][35]

From 2013-2014, Greater Shreveport had a gross metropolitan product of nearly $23.6 billion and negative growth rate of 5.4 percent. Its gross metropolitan product had been declining since 2011 to a low of $19 billion in 2016.[36][26] In 2018, its gross metropolitan product rebounded to $23.7 billion.[26] Following statewide economic recovery trends, the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area was expected to gain at least 5,000 jobs by the third quarter of 2021.[37]

The principal cities of Shreveport and Bossier City have their own newspapers, The Shreveport Times and Bossier Press-Tribune, respectively. Other major publications in the metropolitan area include The Barksdale Warrior, The Shreveport Sun, Caddo Citizen, SB Magazine, The Forum Newsweekly, City Lights, The Inquisitor and The Shreveport Catalyst.

The central city of Shreveport is home to several radio stations, particularly KWKH and KEEL. The three commercial television outlets for the metropolis are KSLA (CBS), founded in 1954;[38] KTBS-TV (ABC), founded in 1955;[39] and KTAL-TV,[40] which arrived in Shreveport in September 1961 as the NBC station. KTBS was an NBC station, with occasional ABC programs, from 1955–1961, when it switched affiliation to ABC. KTAL, formerly known as KCMC of Texarkana, was a CBS outlet prior to conversion to NBC, when it began to cover Shreveport as well as Texarkana.

The Shreveport–Bossier City area is home to several colleges: among them, the Methodist-affiliated Centenary College of Louisiana (originally founded in the East Feliciana Parish town of Jackson in 1825, eventually relocating to Shreveport in 1908), Louisiana Baptist University and Theological Seminary (founded in 1973), Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport (opened in 1969 as the only medical school in northern Louisiana) and one of the largest nursing schools in northern Louisiana, the Northwestern State University College of Nursing (opened in 1949) as well as satellite campuses of Louisiana State University (opened as a two-year institution in 1967, and expanded into a four-year college in 1976), and Southern University (opened in 1967 with a two-year associate's degree program).

• Louisiana census statistical areas
• List of census-designated places in Louisiana
• List of cities, towns, and villages in Louisiana