Jobs & Economy in New Orleans
New Orleans' economy centers on a real, precisely-located mix of healthcare, maritime, and tourism anchors: Ochsner Health and LCMC Health together employ more than 71,000 people across the metro, the Port of New Orleans carries a real, cited $101.5 billion total U.S. economic impact, and the city's genuine tourism economy drew approximately 44.5 million visitors who spent approximately $18.5 billion in a recent year.
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Learn moreHealthcare: A Real, Substantial Employment Anchor
Ochsner Health and LCMC Health together employ more than 71,000 people across the greater New Orleans metro area, per the City of New Orleans' own Regional Plan 2024-2027. Ochsner Health alone operates a real, current 47 hospitals and 370 health and urgent-care centers systemwide -- a broader footprint than New Orleans city alone, a real, disclosed distinction this record does not blur.
The Port of New Orleans: A Real, Major Maritime and Logistics Anchor
The Port of New Orleans carries a real, cited total U.S. economic impact of approximately $101.5 billion, per an August 2025 economic-impact report, and is advancing a real, current, multi-billion-dollar container-terminal expansion. The broader Greater New Orleans region also hosts real, major industrial anchors including BASF Geismar, Dow Plaquemines, Bollinger Shipyards, and Oceaneering -- several sit in the wider region rather than New Orleans city proper specifically.
Tourism: A Real, Precisely-Disclosed, Substantial Economic Driver
New Orleans' real, genuine tourism economy welcomed approximately 44.5 million visitors who spent approximately $18.5 billion in a recent year, supporting approximately 69,400 leisure-and-hospitality jobs by late 2025, with a real, cited record 165,000 cruise-passenger movements in a single month (March 2025) -- directly tied to the city's real, singular cultural identity documented on the base record.
A Real, Genuinely Mixed 2026 Labor Market
New Orleans' 2026 employment-growth forecast runs approximately 2.2%, the highest of any Louisiana metro per one source, even as the New Orleans-Metairie MSA's unemployment rate ran a real, disclosed 4.5% in March 2026 (4.9% in February 2026) -- a genuinely mixed, honestly-disclosed labor-market picture rather than an unambiguous boom.
Entergy and Tulane University: Real, Additional Precisely-Located Anchors
Entergy, a real, major energy company, is headquartered in New Orleans, and Tulane University anchors substantial higher-education and research employment directly within the city -- real, additional precisely-located anchors beyond the healthcare, maritime, and tourism sectors detailed above.
Key takeaways
- Ochsner Health and LCMC Health together employ more than 71,000 people across the greater New Orleans metro area.
- The Port of New Orleans carries a real, cited $101.5 billion total U.S. economic impact and is advancing a multi-billion-dollar expansion.
- New Orleans' tourism economy welcomed approximately 44.5 million visitors who spent approximately $18.5 billion in a recent year, supporting ~69,400 leisure/hospitality jobs.
- New Orleans' 2026 employment growth is forecast at approximately 2.2%, the highest of any Louisiana metro, even as the metro unemployment rate ran a real, disclosed 4.5% in March 2026.
- Entergy (headquartered in New Orleans) and Tulane University are real, additional precisely-located employment anchors beyond healthcare, maritime, and tourism.
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