SHREVEPORT, La. — Community Foundation of North Louisiana has released its 2026 Community Counts report, measuring economic, educational, health and other quality-of-life indicators across the Shreveport-Bossier metropolitan area.
Published by the foundation since 2008, Community Counts uses publicly available data to track the region in six categories: population, economic well-being, human capital, health, social environment and physical environment. Most of the data included in the latest report was collected in 2024.
Researchers Dave N. Norris and Amanda M. Norris compiled the report using 41 indicators and compared Shreveport-Bossier with 10 peer communities.
Among the findings, Shreveport-Bossier ranked fourth among its peers for the percentage of 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled in school, at 48.9%. The region also placed among the top four in per capita personal income, per capita real gross domestic product growth and air quality.
Median household income in the Shreveport-Bossier metropolitan statistical area increased by more than $2,600 from 2023 to 2024, according to the report.
The region also improved its standing for median Air Quality Index in 2025, moving from ninth to fourth among the communities included in the comparison. Air quality was rated moderate or worse on 31% of days in 2025, compared with 50% in 2024.
Other indicators point to continuing economic and educational challenges. The report found 28% of families with children younger than 5 live below the poverty threshold. Although high school cohort graduation rates have increased by more than 10 percentage points over the past decade, 11.9% of residents ages 16 to 19 were neither enrolled in school, employed nor active in the labor force.
The report also found 7.5% of the Shreveport-Bossier population lacked health insurance, placing the region fifth among the peer communities on that measure.
The foundation said Community Counts is intended to help local organizations and leaders monitor economic and social trends rather than determine the underlying causes of changes in the data.
Community Foundation of North Louisiana has used the report’s findings to help guide its grantmaking priorities, including early childhood education and programs for at-risk students. In April, the foundation awarded $4.1 million in competitive grants to 69 local nonprofits. More than 80% of the competitive grant funding went to programs addressing issues identified in Community Counts, including poverty, educational attainment and health outcomes.
Norris presented an overview of the report Sept. 23 at Noel Memorial Library at Louisiana State University Shreveport. Community Foundation CEO Kristi Gustavson also marked the organization’s 65th anniversary with a presentation on its development since its founding in 1961.
The event included an interactive exhibit developed by Callie Dean, director of applied research in nonprofit administration and research at LSUS and a member of the foundation’s Women’s Philanthropy Network. Participants were given a hypothetical $1 million to allocate among areas including arts and culture, economic development, education, health and science, and human services.
The complete Community Counts 2026 report is available through Community Foundation of North Louisiana’s website.