A Louisiana governor cast aspersions about New Orleans’ significance to the state.

A new mayor challenged the take.

So what does New Orleans still mean to Louisiana’s economy in an era of fast-emerging data centers and other big industrial projects that are a long way from the city?

Quite a lot, according to data and economic analysts.

The New Orleans area, which includes Orleans Parish and six surrounding parishes, accounted for 26.9% of the state’s gross domestic product in 2024, according to an analysis of the most recent federal data available by Greg Albrecht, who previously served as the Louisiana Legislative Fiscal Office’s chief economist.

The New Orleans region also has the largest workforce in the state, with 472,000 non-farm employees as of May 2026, out of roughly 2 million statewide.

And the area also brought in around $800 million in state sales tax in fiscal year 2025, more than 16% of the state’s total collections.

“New Orleans is still a vital part of the state,” said Jim Richardson, a retired LSU economics professor who for years served as the independent member of the state’s Revenue Estimating Conference, which determines how much money lawmakers have to spend each year. “You really don’t want to downplay New Orleans… You can build New Orleans up without giving up your data centers.”

Presented with the region’s economic contributions, Landry on Thursday said: “Of course New Orleans is important, just like every city, parish, and person in Louisiana.

“But tough love means expecting the city to be fiscally responsible and solve its own problems… New Orleans matters, but I don’t think anyone believes it’s been run properly in decades.”

Shifting priorities

Moreno and Landry’s back-and-forth about New Orleans’ finances and relevance came after Moreno sought and then abandoned a request for state approval of a bond sale meant to resolve a fiscal crisis she inherited.

Moreno reminded Landry of the adage that has long been a nod to New Orleans’ economic contributions to Louisiana: “So goes New Orleans, so goes the state.” He later downplayed those contributions in remarks that have since gone viral.

In an interview on Tuesday, Moreno reiterated that “New Orleans is unlike any other city in Louisiana. We are the economic engine of this state, and when New Orleans grows stronger, Louisiana grows stronger. That’s why I’ll continue choosing partnership over conflict.”

Advertisement

The data backs up her point on the city’s economics. The seven-parish area including New Orleans accounted for the largest share of the state’s GDP in 2024, the most recent data available. Economists typically cite metro area statistics instead of parish-specific ones, because local economies function regionally and not according to political boundaries.

The region was trailed by the 10-parish Baton Rouge metro area, which accounted for 22.4% of the state’s GDP.

The next highest sales tax collections in the state were also in the Baton Rouge metro area, which brought in $532 million in fiscal year 2025. The Baton Rouge area also has the next largest workforce, with 438,000 non-farm employees as of May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

While New Orleans “is still No. 1” in terms of employment, said retired LSU economist Loren Scott, its economy has struggled in recent years while other parts of the state have seen growth.

New Orleans-area employment remains far lower than before Hurricane Katrina. It also has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels, when there were nearly 500,000 workers in the region. Employment numbers have ticked consistently upward in the Baton Rouge area and in St. Tammany Parish, after a brief dip at the start of the pandemic.

Scott also noted that the New Orleans area remains a hotspot for major investment, with around $80 billion worth of projects either under construction or announced, according to his analysis. Much of that development is occurring outside of the levee system, like at Venture Global’s massive Liquified Natural Gas export terminal in Plaquemines Parish.

But other areas are seeing heightened investment, Scott said. The Lake Charles area has more than $100 billion worth of projects under construction or announced, mostly in the liquified natural gas industry, and parts of northern Louisiana that have rarely seen large-scale investment are now bringing in billions from data center projects.

“You could make a case by looking at total employment numbers that New Orleans is still huge, but if you look at some of the other things… in terms of a driver and future driver of the economy, maybe it’s starting to come from other areas of the state,” Scott said.

State directs some projects elsewhere

That shift comes as the Landry administration has intentionally worked to draw economic development projects to rural parishes.

“This governor has said, ‘Okay, for Louisiana to expand and to be successful, we have got to move economic development projects out of New Orleans,’” said State Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, in a June interview.

“We can’t ignore New Orleans, but we’ve got to start in North Louisiana and capitalize on what they have up there, which is a lot of land and hardworking people.”

Rural land also makes sense for companies like Meta. Data centers expand across the country in areas that can accommodate their massive land, water and power needs. The Meta project is one of several data centers in the works in the state.

In a statement on Thursday, Louisiana Economic Development spokesperson Emma Wagner said that the agency’s “focus is ensuring every part of the state, including New Orleans, has opportunities for growth and success.”

Economist Stephen Barnes, director of the Kathleen Blanco Public Policy Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette who also serves on the Louisiana Revenue Estimating conference, said that while data centers may bring short-term development wins, the 300-year-old New Orleans’ economic contributions to the state — spurred by a tourism-centered economy that benefits from the city’s unique culture and celebrations such as Mardi Gras, festivals, Super Bowl and Sugar Bowl, to name but a few — are far more consistent.

“$50 billion is a one-time investment that takes place over a period of several years,” said Barnes, referring to Meta’s potential investment in the Richland Parish data center. “The New Orleans economy is contributing many tens of billions of dollars every year, year after year.”

Staff writer Tyler Bridges contributed to this report.