A report from Leaders for a Better Louisiana finds that Louisiana is doing well in creating jobs and lowering crime. Better Louisiana CEO Adam Knapp says based on state and federal data, Louisiana ranks third among Southern states for job growth, adding nearly 23,000 jobs last year. Knapp says all large Louisiana metros and two smaller metros saw year-over-year growth.
“We don’t usually see where every metro area, and it covers north and south Louisiana, all seeing growth,” Knapp said.
Knapp says the fastest regional growth rates were in Slidell, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles and Monroe. He says Meta’s data center construction is fueling Monroe, and St. Tammany Parish is experiencing strong population growth.
The state’s job growth surpassed both Texas and Florida by percentage. South Carolina and North Carolina were the only two southern states to outperform Louisiana’s job growth.
Knapp says health and social assistance is leading the growth in new jobs, and employment in construction has been steadily growing since last August.
“At the end of last year, the state put out a lot of reports about how this last past year was a record for project announcements for Louisiana happening all over the place,” Knapp said.
When it comes to crime, Knapp says Louisiana’s homicide rate dropped 59% from 2021 to 2025, the third largest decline among peer states.
“Our number dropped to 8 homicides per 100,000 people as kind of the number in 2025. It was, previously, almost 20 homicides per 100,000 people, so that’s a pretty big drop,” Knapp explained.