Shreveport Has A Higher Population Than These 24 State Capitals

In the past, we've talked about how much bigger the city of Shreveport physically is than many major metro areas in the US. If you don't recall, Shreveport physically measures 123 square miles, which is larger than Pittsburgh, Boston, Miami, Baltimore, and Seattle (among others). That physical size is likely the biggest reason why Shreveport struggles to keep city infrastructure taken care of. When there's more road, sewer, street lights, and space to pay for than a city like Orlando, and you have far less people to fund it with taxes, you simply can't afford what you have.

But at the same time, Shreveport's population is large enough to require much of this infrastructure.

If the city of Shreveport had a small enough population, parts of the city's infrastructure wouldn't need to be maintained. You could allow it to fall into disrepair and it wouldn't impact anyone. That is, if there wasn't anyone there. Shreveport's infrastructure is falling into disrepair, and there are people here who need it.

Because the population of Shreveport is actually larger than you might think.

According to recent estimates, Shreveport's city population is just over 184,000 people. That makes the city one of the 140 largest cities by population in the United States, and the third largest city in Louisiana. The Metro Area of Shreveport is estimated to be the 140th largest metro in the United States. With that many people living or working in Shreveport, the city does need the infrastructure it can't afford.

If the city was scaled down physically, it could afford to cover the costs it faces. But as long as the city remains at the size it is, without a major population boom (or tax increase) the city will not be able to afford what the citizens need. There are far too many people in the area for the city to not provide important infrastructure.

In fact, Shreveport's population is actually larger than almost 50% of the state capitals in the United States. Check out the list of State Capitals smaller than Shreveport here: