BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana ranked 49th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in WalletHub’s 2026 Best & Worst State Economies report, placing near the bottom nationally across several measures of economic performance and innovation.
The personal finance website evaluated states using 28 indicators of economic strength, including gross domestic product growth, unemployment rates, startup activity, income levels and the concentration of high-tech jobs.
Louisiana finished with an overall ranking of 49th, ahead of only Kentucky and West Virginia. The state ranked 43rd for GDP growth, 44th for startup activity, 48th for the share of jobs in high-tech industries and 51st for annual median household income adjusted for cost of living. Louisiana performed better in employment-related measures, ranking 20th for change in nonfarm payrolls and 33rd for unemployment rate. It ranked 34th for government surplus or deficit per capita.
WalletHub grouped its analysis into three broad categories: economic activity, economic health and innovation potential. Louisiana ranked 37th in economic activity, 48th in economic health and 47th in innovation potential.
Massachusetts topped the national rankings, followed by Washington and Utah. California and Delaware rounded out the top five. Texas ranked eighth nationally, while Florida placed 10th.
According to WalletHub, states with stronger economies tend to combine low unemployment, higher incomes, business growth and investments in technology and innovation. The report noted that several state economies, including California, Texas, New York and Florida, are large enough that they would rank among the world’s 20 largest economies if measured as independent countries.
The rankings were based on data from federal agencies and other research sources and measured factors including GDP growth, startup formation, business growth, exports, labor market conditions, household income and fiscal health.
The full WalletHub 2026 Best & Worst State Economies report, including methodology, rankings and state-by-state data, is available at https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-best-economies/21697.