Orleans Parish Population Chart 1830

Population Trends

Hover or tap data points for detailed breakdowns

Total White Black / Colored Foreign-Born (subset of White)

Note: Foreign-born persons are counted within the White population total and are shown here as a reference subset only. Adding White + Black + Foreign-Born will exceed the Total Population figure.

Click legend items above the chart to toggle individual series on or off. Pre-1865 "Black / Colored" values combine Free Colored and Enslaved persons. The Foreign-Born series begins in 1840 and represents a subset of the White population; several values are estimates.

570,445

Peak Population (1950)

+105.1%

Max Decade Growth (1830s)

13

Census Enumerations

120

Years Spanning

Census Data Table

Orleans Parish population by race and nativity, 5th–17th Census

Year	Census #	Total Population	White	Black / Colored / Enslaved*	Foreign-Born† (subset of White)

*

Pre-1865: Free Colored + Enslaved combined. Post-1865: Negro/Mulatto/Black as enumerated.

†

Foreign-Born is a subset of the White population total, not a separate group. 1830 not separately enumerated. 1840–1860 and 1910–1950 estimated.

Foreign-born figures represent a subset of the White population — they are not an additional category. Pre-1900 figures are estimates.

1890: Original population schedules largely destroyed by Commerce Dept. fire, January 1921.

Historical Context

Orleans Parish is coterminous with the City of New Orleans and has served as one of the most significant demographic laboratories in American history. From the antebellum period through the mid-twentieth century, its population reflected successive waves of immigration, the complex racial caste system unique to Louisiana, and the transformative effects of emancipation and the Great Migration.

The 1830s saw explosive growth exceeding 105%, driven largely by Irish and German immigration that made New Orleans the second-largest port of entry in the United States. By 1860, the city had become the largest slave market in North America, with a uniquely complex three-tiered racial structure of White, Free Colored, and Enslaved populations.

The Civil War and its aftermath fundamentally restructured the demographic landscape. The 1870 census — the first after emancipation — collapsed the previously tripartite racial categories into a binary framework, and the Black population nearly doubled as formerly enslaved persons were fully enumerated as free citizens.

The twentieth century brought the Great Migration, which accelerated after 1910, alongside declining foreign-born populations as immigration restriction laws took effect. By 1950, Orleans Parish reached its near-peak population of 570,445, buoyed by postwar economic expansion and the G.I. Bill.

Methodological Notes

The "Black / Colored / Enslaved" series combines Free Colored and Enslaved persons for 1830–1860. After emancipation, a single "Colored" or "Negro" category was used by the Census Bureau.
Foreign-Born population was not separately enumerated in 1830. Values for 1840–1860 and 1910–1950 are estimates derived from published census abstracts and may carry significant margins of error. Foreign-born persons are a subset of the White population and are not an additional category.
The 1890 census schedules were largely destroyed in a fire at the Commerce Department building in Washington, D.C., on January 10, 1921. Published aggregate totals survive, but individual-level records are almost entirely lost.
Parish boundaries have remained stable since 1812. Orleans Parish is coterminous with the City of New Orleans.

Sources & Bibliography

Forstall, Richard L. Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990. U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1996.
U.S. Census Bureau. Decennial Census Compendiums, 5th–17th Census (1830–1950).
Minnesota Population Center. National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS). University of Minnesota. IPUMS NHGIS.