Louisiana's latest report card: The good, bad and ugly
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Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
Louisiana is constantly being ranked, officially and unofficially, on just about every facet of life.
Why it matters: Want to know your drinking water quality, school ranking or how safe it is to walk in your neighborhood? There's a report for that.
The big picture: A number of recent reports and scorecards provide a snapshot of how Louisiana stacks up nationally.
- In many of them, the Bayou State continues to come in at or near the bottom, especially in terms of poverty, education and health.
- "The brutal honesty of data may drive greater accountability toward more urgent action," Better Louisiana leaders said in a statement about a new bipartisan report that ranked Louisiana last in terms of quality of life.
Yes, but: There are some bright spots.
- Louisiana ranked No. 1 in the nation for reading growth.
- Another report found that state trends here are improving faster than elsewhere for depression.
The fine print: Rankings depend on methodology, and officials often argue the numbers can tell different stories depending on what's being measured.
A quick look at the recent reports
🚰 Drinking water quality: 67% of Louisiana's public water systems earned an A from the Louisiana Department of Health. See individual grades.
🎒 Public education: Louisiana is the only state where average student performance has surpassed pre-pandemic levels in both reading and math. Challenges: chronic absenteeism and funding. (Education Scorecard)
🥰 Quality of life: Louisiana ranks last. Bright spots: civil liberties and mental health. Challenges: environment, education, violence and the labor force. (State of the States)
🍼 Childhood well-being: Louisiana ranked 48th nationally in the annual Kids Count report. Go deeper.
🌤️ Air quality: Ozone pollution continues to be a problem in New Orleans. (American Lung Association)
👴🏽 Senior health: Louisiana ranks 50th. Strengths: low suicide rate and high number of home health care workers. Challenges: poverty and smoking. (America's Health Rankings)
🚶♀️ Safety: New Orleans and Baton Rouge ranked among the nation's 10 deadliest metros for pedestrians. (Smart Growth America)
Zoom out: Louisiana's economy is another recurring theme, with several reports finding persistent financial challenges.
- Poverty levels: Nearly half of households in Southeast Louisiana in 2024 earned less than what it costs to cover the essentials. (United Way of Southeast Louisiana)
- Job prospects: Job growth in Louisiana has been flat, despite $90 billion in new capital investment. (Data Center)
- In New Orleans, the number of jobs remains lower than before Hurricane Katrina. (Data Center)
The bottom line: Many of Louisiana's challenges are generational and will not be fixed overnight.