Louisiana’s Economy is One of the Nation’s Absolute Worst

Just how bad do things have to be financially for a state to have the absolute worst economy in the entire country?

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Thankfully, we wouldn't know here in Louisiana. But, we certainly know what it's like to have the third worst economy in the United States. I can hear the cheering now, "We're NOT Number One. We're NOT Number One."

The website WalletHub.com just conducted some economic research on all fifty states and the District of Columbia and their findings have sounded out what most Louisiana citizens already knew. The economy here is the pits!

As the chart above indicates, only Alaska and West Virginia fared worse than Louisiana and sadly, it was only slightly that their economies finished worse than ours.

How Did Wallet Hub Arrive At Their Figures?

To determine the economic health of each state, Wallet Hub used twenty eight key indicators of economic performance and strength. These indicators were drawn from three key dimensions including economic activity, economic health and innovation potential.

According to the website,

Our data set ranges from GDP growth to startup activity to the share of jobs in high-tech industries.

Among the indicators chosen, Wallet Hub used unemployment rate, underemployment rate, foreclosure rate, fiscal health and building permit activity.

Evidently, Louisiana Isn't High-Tech Enough

Louisiana's worst score, which positioned us as the 48th worst in the country, came in the area of innovation potential. This was derived from a number of variables including "Share of Jobs in High Tech Industries" along with "Industry Research and Development Investment Amount."

If I'm understanding these findings correctly, a full third of the assessment came about because most Louisiana citizens are blue collar workers. If I were an easily offended person, that one might bother me. I'm guessing that it's a bad thing to be a carpenter, a mechanic or welder, an electrician or plumber, or even a chef.

Considering These Points, You'd Have To Agree With Their Findings

However, to prove their point, consider some of these economic statistics. Currently, the average price of a gallon of gasoline is $4.45 per gallon. A year ago it was $2.71 per gallon.

Louisiana income tax is 6% of any amount earned over $50,000 per year.  Sales tax in Bossier Parish is 9.45%. And according to the United States Census Bureau the median Louisiana Household income from 2016 to 2020 was $50,800. Compare that to Washington, who finished #1 regarding economic health, where the median household income for the same time period was $77,006 per year.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that things are rough around here. Course, it appears we're not training rocket scientists anyway, so that's actually a good thing.