How many people are employed in Louisiana?

According to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data, Louisiana has 1,658,849 employees across 107,326 business establishments in 805 tracked industries.

What are the largest industries in Louisiana?

The largest industries in Louisiana by employment are General Medical and Surgical Hospitals (90,182), Full-Service Restaurants (71,744), and Limited-Service Restaurants (71,389).

What is the average payroll in Louisiana?

Average payroll per employee varies widely by industry in Louisiana. The highest-paying tracked industry is Securities and Commodity Contracts Intermediation and Brokerage at $190,228/yr. All data is from Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023.

How many businesses operate in Louisiana?

Louisiana has 107,326 business establishments across 805 industries tracked by the Census Bureau County Business Patterns program. Each establishment represents a single physical location or operating unit.

State overview · LA · Census CBP 2023

Louisiana Industry Benchmarks

Name: Louisiana Industry Employment and Payroll Benchmarks
Creator: PlainBizBench
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Employment, establishments, and payroll for 805 industries in Louisiana. Drill into any industry for a Louisiana-specific view, then cross-reference the national page for margins.

Compiled by PlainBizBench

1.7M
Workers: 107K
Establishments: 805
Industries tracked

Data updated August 2026

The verdict · Louisiana

Louisiana employs 1,658,849 workers across 805 tracked industries, led by General Medical and Surgical Hospitals (90,182 workers).

Health Care and Social Assistance anchors Louisiana; top-three cumulative share is 44%. Margins stay on national industry pages.

Louisiana sector employment mix

Share of private-sector employment by NAICS-2 sector (Census CBP 2023). Tile area = workers.

Louisiana private employment by sector · Census CBP 2023

Health Care and Social Assistance is the clear anchor in Louisiana (18% of 1,658,849 private-sector workers (about the 49th percentile of states by employment)), but sibling sectors still take meaningful shares. Read the treemap as an anchor-plus-breadth economy rather than a one-sector state.

#1 · NAICS 62

Health Care and Social Assistance

305,645 · 18%

#2 · NAICS 44

Retail Trade

221,758 · 13%

#3 · NAICS 72

Accommodation and Food Services

205,093 · 12%

Anchor economy · Herfindahl 0.098 (open) · top-three 44% of Louisiana private payroll.

Profit margins are national (IRS SOI); open any industry row below, then the matching national industry page for profitability.

Census CBP firm roll

County Business Patterns LA ANCHORED · CBP

#26/51 · 1,658,849 workers · 107,326 firms

EMP 1,658,849
EST 107,326
RANK #26/51
PCT 49th pct
LEAD Health Care and Soci…
SHARE 18% lead
BAND anchored
DENS 15.5 /firm
BOOK 805 NAICS
PHOTO Kentucky

Nearest employment-scale peer: Kentucky (1,674,114 workers)

According to Census County Business Patterns 2023, Louisiana ranks #26 of 51 states and territories by total private-sector employment (level-2 sector totals, the same non-double-counted aggregate shown above). Margins stay on national industry pages (IRS SOI). Read with this state → · Lead 6-digit industry →

Census CBP level-2 private employment among this state and nearest nationwide peers

Top Industries by Employment

Industry	Employment	Establishments	Annual Payroll	Avg Payroll/Emp
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals NAICS 622110	90,182	130	$6.7B	$74,052/yr
Full-Service Restaurants NAICS 722511	71,744	3,085	$1.7B	$23,839/yr
Limited-Service Restaurants NAICS 722513	71,389	3,759	$1.3B	$18,072/yr
Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except Convenience) Stores NAICS 445110	37,262	886	$940.9M	$25,252/yr
Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists) NAICS 621111	36,426	2,994	$3.6B	$98,804/yr
Temporary Help Services NAICS 561320	28,541	460	$1.2B	$40,853/yr
Elementary and Secondary Schools NAICS 611110	27,319	413	$1.2B	$44,162/yr
Religious Organizations NAICS 813110	27,256	2,929	$679.8M	$24,942/yr
Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities NAICS 624120	26,366	565	$647.0M	$24,540/yr
Support Activities for Oil and Gas Operations NAICS 213112	25,466	706	$2.4B	$93,697/yr
Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities) NAICS 623110	23,444	289	$907.2M	$38,695/yr
Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels NAICS 721110	19,622	887	$682.6M	$34,787/yr
Engineering Services NAICS 541330	19,446	1,093	$1.9B	$98,224/yr
Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors NAICS 238210	18,512	1,046	$1.2B	$67,055/yr
Offices of Lawyers NAICS 541110	17,533	3,217	$1.6B	$90,693/yr
New Car Dealers NAICS 441110	16,849	343	$1.2B	$70,503/yr
Home Health Care Services NAICS 621610	15,720	486	$604.2M	$38,434/yr
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools NAICS 611310	15,174	41	N/A	N/A
Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores NAICS 447110	14,209	2,032	$344.8M	$24,265/yr
Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors NAICS 238220	14,032	1,623	$877.2M	$62,512/yr

Scale peers for Louisiana's anchor economy

Nearest other states by Census CBP level-2 private employment (1,658,849 in Louisiana), excluding LA.

Kentucky 1,674,114 Oregon 1,635,645 Alabama 1,727,530 Connecticut 1,527,746 Utah 1,512,504 Oklahoma 1,358,788 Iowa 1,306,260 Nevada 1,298,196

Disclaimer: Louisiana (LA) figures on this page are Census CBP employment and payroll counts for informational registry use only, not financial, tax, or business advice. Consult a qualified accountant for decisions about Louisiana businesses.

Source: Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 · LA

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official public datasets for Louisiana (LA). See our methodology.

Verify with U.S. Census Bureau → · Verify with IRS SOI →