Louisiana Is the Second Worst State to Do Business, Analysis Shows

BATON ROUGE, La. (KPEL News) - Louisiana comes in nearly dead last when it comes to the business climate, beating out only Alaska according to a business report.

Over the summer, CNBC released its annual "Top States For Business" survey, and while North Carolina is the top spot in the country for businesses, Louisiana is one of the worst states for businesses trying to establish or grow.

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Alaska takes the top spot as the worst place for business, followed by Louisiana and its neighbor, Mississippi.

50. Alaska
49. Louisiana
48. Mississippi
47. Hawaii
46. West Virginia
45. Rhode Island
44. Arkansas
43. New Mexico
42. Alabama
41. Oklahoma

However, most of the South does pretty well when it comes to business climate. Six of the top ten states for business are southern states, with four of them in the top five.

1. North Carolina
2. Virginia
3. Tennessee
4. Georgia
5. Minnesota
6. Texas
7. Washington
8. Florida
9. Utah
10. Michigan

Why Does Louisiana Rank So Low?

CNBC used several categories to grade each state. Louisiana was among the worst states when it came to Workforce, Infrastructure, and Economy. It also got poor marks in the Life, Health, and Inclusion category as well as Technology and Innovation.

Louisiana, based on CNBC's analysis, simply does not have a widely available and skilled workforce. This has been a concern for some time as the population of the state continues to shrink.

The state has also struggled with infrastructure issues and funding to make the necessary repairs to roads and bridges throughout the state. While some funding has come in from a federal infrastructure bill, there are still several projects in the state's backlog that appear to be on the back burner or ignored completely.

Louisiana does shine in one area, however: Cost of Doing Business. The state ranks 7th in the nation in that category, thanks to the state's efforts in reducing the tax burden on businesses and easing regulations on new businesses coming in.

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The state is currently in political flux, where Republicans are struggling to agree on priorities and Democrats struggle to gain a political foothold. While Attorney General Jeff Landry won the Governor's Mansion in a landslide in 2023, and Republicans did sweep statewide races and many legislative ones throughout Louisiana, there are few signs that the party is in complete consensus as to how to fix the state's economic woes.

However, it's clear that the legislature will have to work hard to resolve many of the issues laid out in the CNBC report that will need to be addressed in Baton Rouge during legislative sessions.