Oct 3, 2024 - News
When people leave Louisiana, here's where they're going
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Louisiana is one of the country's fastest shrinking states, and new census data reveals where everyone's been going.
Why it matters: People move for a lot of reasons, but knowing where residents are going can help reveal motivations that lawmakers can use to better inform policy.
Between the lines: The data shows that most Louisianans don't seem to be going too far when they leave the state, with many ending up in bordering states and counties.
- It's important to remember that not everyone is leaving. Louisiana also has too many people dying, says The Data Center's Allison Plyer.
How it works: The map above is based on new state-to-county migration estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
- The estimates are best understood as a pooled average covering the five-year time frame the survey was taken, 2018-2022.
Zoom in: Louisiana's population loss is a big cause for concern.
- Earlier this year, the New Orleans metro area was estimated to have seen the biggest population loss nationwide among those with at least 500,000 residents, the Census Bureau said, even as the national population grew.
- At issue is a confluence of short- and long-term factors, like affordability, education opportunities, weather and climate change, and health outcomes.
Go deeper:
- Where out-of-state movers are going
- Who lives in New Orleans metro now?, from The Data Center