Louisiana had a net population gain last year.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Louisiana added about 3,300 to its population total between July 1, 2024, and June 30.
“This is good (that) we’re not losing population as we have,” says demographer Greg Rigamer, “but we have lost a significant amount of population since 2020 – we’re down about 40,000 people.”
Rigamer says Louisiana’s population growth last year still pales in comparison to the gains experienced by neighboring states like Texas, Tennessee, Florida and North Carolina.
“We have a very low per capita and median household income,” says Rigamer, “and income is what really drives people to a place.”
Rigamer says the state has taken on several initiatives in recent years, and it appears that they may have stopped the outmigration trend of the past.
“There has been some big wins recently in Louisiana for economic development, and that’s really great,” says Rigamer. “And hopefully we can stop this trend of modest or no growth.”
Rigamer says to do that, the state needs to keep the momentum going with more economic wins in more diverse industries, including white-collar industries that typically go to the aforementioned states.
“We have to have good jobs,” Rigamer says, “we have to have jobs that pay well, we have to have jobs that provide employment consistently.”