The district covers a backslash-shaped region stretching from Shreveport to the state capital of Baton Rouge, encompassing most of the majority-Black areas in between.

For decades prior to 1974, the district was virtually coterminous with the Florida Parishes.

Those lines, however, were thrown out in 1995 when the 4th was ruled to be an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, and from 1996 to 2013, the 6th included all of Baton Rouge.

After the 2010 redistricting, a gash in western Baton Rouge, including most of the city's black precincts, was transferred to the New Orleans–based 2nd district.

Following a court ruling striking down Louisiana's 2022 congressional map for violating the Voting Rights Act, a new map enacted by a special legislative session on January 22, 2024 dismantled the district and it stretched from Caddo Parish in the North West to East Baton Rouge Parish, and will include a majority African-American voting-age population.