Orleans Parish, LA
Demographic and economic profile of Orleans Parish, LA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.
AI Overview
Orleans Parish's economy centers on hospitality and tourism-adjacent industries, with 42.0% of residents holding a bachelor's degree or higher—a relatively educated workforce within a labor pool of roughly 231,000 participants at a 61.5% participation rate, keeping median worker earnings at $39,038. The parish carries notable fiscal pressure, with a 22.6% poverty rate and 7.8% unemployment alongside a median household income of $56,631, well below the GDP-per-capita figure of $63,373, suggesting income concentration. Population has contracted 3.5% over five years, while median home values of $296,400 and rents of $1,211/month reflect moderate housing costs relative to many coastal metros.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page
Population Growth (5-year)
-3.5% since 2018
Orleans Parish lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.
Demographics
Race & Ethnicity
- Black or African American Alone203,053 (54.6%)
- White Alone115,882 (31.2%)
- Two Races Including Some Other Race16,926 (4.6%)
- Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races14,293 (3.8%)
- Asian Alone10,406 (2.8%)
- Some Other Race Alone10,175 (2.7%)
Top Languages Spoken at Home
- 1.Spanish18,686
- 2.Vietnamese4,423
- 3.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)3,891
- 4.Other Indo-European2,585
- 5.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)1,330
Economy
Cost of Living Index
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Not yet cached
Top Industries
- 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance49,671
- 2.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services24,308
- 3.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services23,731
- 4.Retail Trade (Group)15,072
- 5.Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities10,378
Top Occupations
- 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations85,625
- 2.Service Occupations31,745
- 3.Sales & Office Occupations30,967
- 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations13,257
- 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations8,992
Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)
- 1.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.61×)24,597
- 2.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.24×)50,586
- 3.Information (LQ 1.16×)3,796
- 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management (LQ 1.12×)24,015
- 5.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.04×)10,590
Housing
Education
Workforce
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More on FDI Connect
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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.