Lafayette seems to have fared a bit better than other places in the state economically, with sales tax revenue hitting $2.6 billion over the summer.

Despite COVID-19 shutting down businesses had an impact on many local businesses, and despite economic worries over inflation, gas prices, and supply chain issues, the Lafayette business community appears to have done fairly well.

According to a survey released by the website Smartest Dollar, Lafayette actually ranks No. 15 in cities with the most new businesses per capita. Here's the breakdown for the city.

  • New business applications per 1k residents: 19.71
  • Total new business applications (2021): 9,428
  • 1-year change in new business applications: +22.8%
  • 2-year change in new business applications: +76.6%

Compare that to the stats from across the nation:

  • New business applications per 1k residents: 16.18
  • Total new business applications (2021): 5,364,025
  • 1-year change in new business applications: +23.5%
  • 2-year change in new business applications: +53.4%

Lafayette appears at No. 15 on the list of mid-size metropolitan areas. Baton Rouge also appears on the list at No. 5, and Shreveport-Bossier appears at No. 4. On the list of small metropolitan areas, Louisiana is represented by Hammond.

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According to Smartest Dollar, the data from this study comes from the U.S. Census Bureau.

To determine the locations with the most new businesses per capita, researchers at Smartest Dollar—a website that compares small business insurance and products—calculated the number of new business applications per 1,000 residents for the year 2021. In the event of a tie, the location with the greater total number of business applications in 2021 was ranked higher. Researchers also provided statistics on the one-year (2020–2021) and two-year (2019–2021) change in new business applications.

New Orleans appears at No. 4 on the site's list of large U.S. cities. Here are their new business statistics.

  • New business applications per 1k residents: 25.65
  • Total new business applications (2021): 32,617
  • 1-year change in new business applications: +9.1%
  • 2-year change in new business applications: +69.4%

So, when it comes to starting a new business, it looks like Lafayette is a great place to be.

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