Louisiana may be rich in natural resources like oil and gas, seafood and soybeans, but according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the state’s population grew by only 2.7% over the past decade — to 4.66 million in 2020 — compared to the national average of 7.4%. (Here’s how every state’s population has changed since 2010.)
This lackluster population growth is due partially to southern Louisiana’s ties to the energy sector (the state is the nation’s ninth-largest oil producer). When oil prices crashed below $30 a barrel in 2016 (the same year the state’s capital, Baton Rouge, flooded catastrophically), sending some residents fleeing permanently to other states.
In addition, much of the northern part of the state — away from the oil rigs, refineries, and coastal aquaculture — has stagnated economically for decades.
The tourism powerhouse of New Orleans also experienced its first decline in population, between 2016 and 2018, since a spurt of post-disaster recovery following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. (Here are America’s fastest-shrinking cities.)
Where are the people who move out of Louisiana going? To find out, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed state-to-state migration flows from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey, revealing the number of people living in other states (or Washington D.C.) in 2019 who had lived in Louisiana the previous year.
Click here to learn where people from Louisiana are moving to the most
It turns out that, while they might be leaving their state, most Louisianans don’t stray far from home. The two states they choose the most — Texas and Mississippi — are their immediate neighbors, and eight out of the top ten are in the South.
To identify where people from Louisiana are moving to most, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed state-to-state migration flows from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, revealing the number of people living in other states (or Washington D.C.) in 2019 who had lived in Louisiana the previous year. State population and population change figures are based on one-year estimates from the ACS (five-year estimates for Washington D.C.)
“Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate arising from sampling variability is represented through the use of a margin of error. The value shown here is the 90 percent margin of error. The margin of error can be interpreted roughly as providing a 90 percent probability that the interval defined by the estimate minus the margin of error and the estimate plus the margin of error (the lower and upper confidence bounds) contains the true value. In addition to sampling variability, the ACS estimates are subject to nonsampling error…. The effect of nonsampling error is not represented in these tables.”
50. South Dakota
> People from Louisiana who moved to South Dakota in 2019: None reported
> 1-year net change in population: 2,424 (0.27% – 22nd highest)
> Total population: 884,659 (6th lowest)
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49. Vermont
> People from Louisiana who moved to Vermont in 2019: None reported
> 1-year net change in population: -2,310 (-0.37% – 5th lowest)
> Total population: 623,989 (2nd lowest)
48. West Virginia
> People from Louisiana who moved to West Virginia in 2019: None reported
> 1-year net change in population: -13,685 (-0.76% – 2nd lowest)
> Total population: 1,792,147 (14th lowest)
47. Delaware
> People from Louisiana who moved to Delaware in 2019: 41 (0.04% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 6,593 (0.68% – 14th highest)
> Total population: 973,764 (7th lowest)
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46. Rhode Island
> People from Louisiana who moved to Rhode Island in 2019: 53 (0.06% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 2,046 (0.19% – 24th lowest)
> Total population: 1,059,361 (8th lowest)
45. Nebraska
> People from Louisiana who moved to Nebraska in 2019: 59 (0.06% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 5,140 (0.27% – 23rd highest)
> Total population: 1,934,408 (15th lowest)
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44. Hawaii
> People from Louisiana who moved to Hawaii in 2019: 117 (0.12% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: -4,619 (-0.33% – 7th lowest)
> Total population: 1,415,872 (12th lowest)
43. Idaho
> People from Louisiana who moved to Idaho in 2019: 117 (0.12% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 32,857 (1.84% – the highest)
> Total population: 1,787,065 (13th lowest)
42. Maine
> People from Louisiana who moved to Maine in 2019: 136 (0.14% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 5,808 (0.43% – 19th highest)
> Total population: 1,344,212 (10th lowest)
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41. North Dakota
> People from Louisiana who moved to North Dakota in 2019: 144 (0.15% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 1,985 (0.26% – 24th highest)
> Total population: 762,062 (5th lowest)
40. Minnesota
> People from Louisiana who moved to Minnesota in 2019: 192 (0.20% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 28,453 (0.50% – 18th highest)
> Total population: 5,639,632 (22nd highest)
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39. Wyoming
> People from Louisiana who moved to Wyoming in 2019: 201 (0.21% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 1,022 (0.18% – 22nd lowest)
> Total population: 578,759 (the lowest)
38. Kansas
> People from Louisiana who moved to Kansas in 2019: 313 (0.33% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 1,804 (0.06% – 18th lowest)
> Total population: 2,913,314 (17th lowest)
37. New Mexico
> People from Louisiana who moved to New Mexico in 2019: 365 (0.38% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 1,401 (0.07% – 19th lowest)
> Total population: 2,096,829 (16th lowest)
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36. New Hampshire
> People from Louisiana who moved to New Hampshire in 2019: 391 (0.41% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 3,253 (0.24% – 25th highest)
> Total population: 1,359,711 (11th lowest)
35. New Jersey
> People from Louisiana who moved to New Jersey in 2019: 449 (0.47% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: -26,330 (-0.30% – 8th lowest)
> Total population: 8,882,190 (11th highest)
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34. District of Columbia
> People from Louisiana who moved to District of Columbia in 2019: 452 (0.47% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 8,185 (1.18% – 6th highest)
> Total population: 692,683 (3rd lowest)
33. Iowa
> People from Louisiana who moved to Iowa in 2019: 502 (0.52% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: -1,075 (-0.03% – 14th lowest)
> Total population: 3,155,070 (21st lowest)
32. Alaska
> People from Louisiana who moved to Alaska in 2019: 529 (0.55% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: -5,893 (-0.81% – the lowest)
> Total population: 731,545 (4th lowest)
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31. Ohio
> People from Louisiana who moved to Ohio in 2019: 538 (0.56% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: -342 (0.00% – 16th lowest)
> Total population: 11,689,100 (7th highest)
30. Indiana
> People from Louisiana who moved to Indiana in 2019: 621 (0.65% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 40,341 (0.60% – 17th highest)
> Total population: 6,732,219 (17th highest)
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29. Kentucky
> People from Louisiana who moved to Kentucky in 2019: 668 (0.70% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: -729 (-0.02% – 15th lowest)
> Total population: 4,467,673 (25th highest)
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28. Michigan
> People from Louisiana who moved to Michigan in 2019: 686 (0.72% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: -9,058 (-0.09% – 12th lowest)
> Total population: 9,986,857 (10th highest)
27. Connecticut
> People from Louisiana who moved to Connecticut in 2019: 764 (0.80% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: -7,378 (-0.21% – 9th lowest)
> Total population: 3,565,287 (23rd lowest)
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26. Oregon
> People from Louisiana who moved to Oregon in 2019: 765 (0.80% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 27,024 (0.64% – 15th highest)
> Total population: 4,217,737 (25th lowest)
25. Illinois
> People from Louisiana who moved to Illinois in 2019: 805 (0.84% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: -69,259 (-0.55% – 3rd lowest)
> Total population: 12,671,821 (6th highest)
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24. Montana
> People from Louisiana who moved to Montana in 2019: 954 (0.99% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 6,473 (0.61% – 16th highest)
> Total population: 1,068,778 (9th lowest)
23. Maryland
> People from Louisiana who moved to Maryland in 2019: 1,000 (1.04% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 2,962 (0.05% – 17th lowest)
> Total population: 6,045,680 (19th highest)
22. Utah
> People from Louisiana who moved to Utah in 2019: 1,046 (1.09% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 44,853 (1.40% – 4th highest)
> Total population: 3,205,958 (22nd lowest)
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21. Wisconsin
> People from Louisiana who moved to Wisconsin in 2019: 1,167 (1.22% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 8,866 (0.15% – 21st lowest)
> Total population: 5,822,434 (20th highest)
20. North Carolina
> People from Louisiana who moved to North Carolina in 2019: 1,272 (1.33% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 104,464 (1.00% – 10th highest)
> Total population: 10,488,084 (9th highest)
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19. Nevada
> People from Louisiana who moved to Nevada in 2019: 1,276 (1.33% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 45,764 (1.49% – 2nd highest)
> Total population: 3,080,156 (20th lowest)
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18. Washington
> People from Louisiana who moved to Washington in 2019: 1,298 (1.35% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 79,302 (1.04% – 8th highest)
> Total population: 7,614,893 (13th highest)
17. Missouri
> People from Louisiana who moved to Missouri in 2019: 1,488 (1.55% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 10,976 (0.18% – 23rd lowest)
> Total population: 6,137,428 (18th highest)
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16. Arizona
> People from Louisiana who moved to Arizona in 2019: 1,650 (1.72% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 107,071 (1.47% – 3rd highest)
> Total population: 7,278,717 (14th highest)
15. Pennsylvania
> People from Louisiana who moved to Pennsylvania in 2019: 1,657 (1.73% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: -5,071 (-0.04% – 13th lowest)
> Total population: 12,801,989 (5th highest)
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14. South Carolina
> People from Louisiana who moved to South Carolina in 2019: 1,721 (1.79% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 64,587 (1.25% – 5th highest)
> Total population: 5,148,714 (23rd highest)
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13. New York
> People from Louisiana who moved to New York in 2019: 1,757 (1.83% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: -88,648 (-0.46% – 4th lowest)
> Total population: 19,453,561 (4th highest)
12. Massachusetts
> People from Louisiana who moved to Massachusetts in 2019: 1,831 (1.91% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: -9,646 (-0.14% – 10th lowest)
> Total population: 6,892,503 (15th highest)
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11. Oklahoma
> People from Louisiana who moved to Oklahoma in 2019: 1,942 (2.03% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 13,892 (0.35% – 20th highest)
> Total population: 3,956,971 (24th lowest)
10. Tennessee
> People from Louisiana who moved to Tennessee in 2019: 1,964 (2.05% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 59,164 (0.87% – 12th highest)
> Total population: 6,829,174 (16th highest)
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9. Virginia
> People from Louisiana who moved to Virginia in 2019: 2,609 (2.72% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 17,834 (0.21% – 25th lowest)
> Total population: 8,535,519 (12th highest)
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8. Georgia
> People from Louisiana who moved to Georgia in 2019: 2,845 (2.97% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 97,948 (0.92% – 11th highest)
> Total population: 10,617,423 (8th highest)
7. Alabama
> People from Louisiana who moved to Alabama in 2019: 3,789 (3.95% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 15,314 (0.31% – 21st highest)
> Total population: 4,903,185 (24th highest)
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6. Colorado
> People from Louisiana who moved to Colorado in 2019: 3,901 (4.07% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 63,172 (1.10% – 7th highest)
> Total population: 5,758,736 (21st highest)
5. Arkansas
> People from Louisiana who moved to Arkansas in 2019: 4,089 (4.26% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 3,979 (0.13% – 20th lowest)
> Total population: 3,017,804 (19th lowest)
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4. California
> People from Louisiana who moved to California in 2019: 5,347 (5.58% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: -44,822 (-0.11% – 11th lowest)
> Total population: 39,512,223 (the highest)
3. Florida
> People from Louisiana who moved to Florida in 2019: 8,606 (8.98% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 178,412 (0.83% – 13th highest)
> Total population: 21,477,737 (3rd highest)
2. Mississippi
> People from Louisiana who moved to Mississippi in 2019: 9,257 (9.65% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: -10,381 (-0.35% – 6th lowest)
> Total population: 2,976,149 (18th lowest)
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1. Texas
> People from Louisiana who moved to Texas in 2019: 24,513 (25.56% of all outbound Louisianans)
> 1-year net change in population: 294,036 (1.01% – 9th highest)
> Total population: 28,995,881 (2nd highest)
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