Louisiana’s Top-Ten Ranking: Turning Perception into Prosperity

Originally published at The Pelican Institute.

​For the first time, Louisiana has cracked the Top 10 States for Doing Business, coming in at #9 in Area Development’s 2025 rankings. Long dismissed as an economic underperformer, Louisiana now stands shoulder to shoulder with heavyweights like Georgia, Texas, and North Carolina. 

This leap signals progress, as site consultants and corporate decision-makers increasingly see Louisiana as a competitive place to invest. But reputation isn’t prosperity. 

To understand what this ranking really means, it’s worth comparing the criteria that drove it with the hard numbers on jobs and GDP growth.

Why States Rank High

The Area Development ranking is based on corporate site consultants’ assessments, weighing multiple factors:

• Overall cost of doing business: including taxes, labor, utilities, and land. 
• Business incentive programs: the effectiveness of packages offered to attract investment. 
• Access to capital and projects: how readily businesses can secure financing 
• Workforce development programs: quality and scale of training and skills pipelines 
• Logistics and infrastructure: ports, rail, highways, and airports 
• Speed of permitting and regulatory climate: predictability and efficiency in approvals

Louisiana has improved in many of these areas. Faster permitting, competitive industrial energy rates, and major investments in port and liquified natural gas (LNG) export infrastructure have boosted its standing. But how do these perceptions compare to actual economic performance?

The Numbers: Jobs and GDP

Here’s how the top states for doing business are performing, using Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) job data and Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) GDP data through the second quarter of (Q2) 2025.

Sources:BLS,BEA,Area Development

Louisiana’s Position

The data show Louisiana’s story is one of progress but not yet a breakout. Over the past year, the state added about 20,000 jobs, a 1% increase, modest compared to South Carolina’s blazing 3.1% or Texas’s nearly 200,000 job surge. On the other hand, Louisiana’s 4.0% real GDP growth in Q2 2025 was right at the national average and stronger than several of its peers in the top ten.

A major driver of Louisiana’s ranking is its energy sector. Natural gas, refining, and petrochemicals make up about a quarter of the state’s economy. That scale gives Louisiana some of the lowest industrial electricity rates in the country, roughly 16% below the national average. For energy-intensive industries like manufacturing, petrochemicals, or even data centers, that cost edge is a powerful magnet.

The Energy Advantage—and the Risk

Louisiana’s infrastructure, from pipelines and refineries to LNG export terminals and deepwater ports, gives it a durable energy advantage. But it’s not a guarantee. As more firms expand or relocate, demand for power will rise, pushing costs up. Add in the growth of LNG exports, the arrival of data centers, and potential federal restrictions on fossil fuels, and the margin could narrow. The very strength that makes Louisiana attractive today could become a pressure point tomorrow if not met with energy abundance.

Cautious Optimism

Louisiana’s top-ten debut is a milestone worth celebrating. It signals growing confidence in the state’s ability to compete. But turning perception into prosperity requires more than rankings. The state must:

• Modernize its tax system to reduce complexity and improve competitiveness; 
• Control government spending to ensure long-term fiscal stability; and 
• Strengthen workforce readiness through universal education freedom and targeted skills training. 

Louisiana has momentum, and its energy advantage is real. With the right reforms like those highlighted in the Pelican Institute’s Louisiana Comeback agenda, it can sustain that edge and translate a business-friendly reputation into durable growth. Without them, it risks being celebrated for potential while continuing to lag behind states like Texas, South Carolina, and North Carolina that are already converting reputation into results.
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For now, the message is clear: Louisiana is rising, but the work isn’t finished.