Data / Rankings / Covered employment (QCEW) / Counties in Louisiana

Counties in Louisiana by covered employment (QCEW)

East Baton Rouge Parish had the highest covered employment (QCEW) of 64 counties in 2017, at 265,343 jobs. Tensas Parish had the lowest, at 966 jobs. The median was 10,583 jobs and the figure for Louisiana was 1,907,721 jobs. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest265,343East Baton Rouge Parish
Lowest966Tensas Parish
Median10,58364 counties
Louisiana1,907,721History

Map of counties, 2017

Acadia Parish: 14,413 jobsAllen Parish: 7,883 jobsAscension Parish: 45,543 jobsAssumption Parish: 3,745 jobsAvoyelles Parish: 10,650 jobsBeauregard Parish: 8,142 jobsBienville Parish: 4,339 jobsBossier Parish: 42,988 jobsCaddo Parish: 112,617 jobsCalcasieu Parish: 98,358 jobsCaldwell Parish: 2,342 jobsCameron Parish: 13,437 jobsCatahoula Parish: 2,021 jobsClaiborne Parish: 3,381 jobsConcordia Parish: 5,322 jobsDe Soto Parish: 6,691 jobsEast Baton Rouge Parish: 265,343 jobsEast Carroll Parish: 1,790 jobsEast Feliciana Parish: 4,857 jobsEvangeline Parish: 8,099 jobsFranklin Parish: 4,697 jobsGrant Parish: 3,399 jobsIberia Parish: 26,364 jobsIberville Parish: 16,921 jobsJackson Parish: 3,540 jobsJefferson Parish: 190,944 jobsJefferson Davis Parish: 8,405 jobsLafayette Parish: 129,053 jobsLafourche Parish: 33,502 jobsLaSalle Parish: 4,283 jobsLincoln Parish: 19,034 jobsLivingston Parish: 27,455 jobsMadison Parish: 3,336 jobsMorehouse Parish: 6,791 jobsNatchitoches Parish: 13,033 jobsOrleans Parish: 193,947 jobsOuachita Parish: 70,772 jobsPlaquemines Parish: 12,517 jobsPointe Coupee Parish: 4,907 jobsRapides Parish: 56,931 jobsRed River Parish: 2,567 jobsRichland Parish: 6,526 jobsSabine Parish: 5,107 jobsSt. Bernard Parish: 10,037 jobsSt. Charles Parish: 24,161 jobsSt. Helena Parish: 1,444 jobsSt. James Parish: 7,954 jobsSt. John the Baptist Parish: 14,632 jobsSt. Landry Parish: 23,473 jobsSt. Martin Parish: 11,985 jobsSt. Mary Parish: 21,154 jobsSt. Tammany Parish: 88,373 jobsTangipahoa Parish: 43,713 jobsTensas Parish: 966 jobsTerrebonne Parish: 49,667 jobsUnion Parish: 4,956 jobsVermilion Parish: 12,727 jobsVernon Parish: 12,892 jobsWashington Parish: 10,516 jobsWebster Parish: 11,313 jobsWest Baton Rouge Parish: 12,628 jobsWest Carroll Parish: 2,347 jobsWest Feliciana Parish: 5,458 jobsWinn Parish: 4,638 jobs
  • Under 4,000
  • 4,000 to 5,000
  • 5,000 to 11K
  • 11K to 15K
  • 15K to 45K
  • 45K and over
jobs, 2017. Source: BLS, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Top 40 counties, 2017

East Baton Rouge Parish: 265,343 jobsEast Baton Rouge Parish265,343Orleans Parish: 193,947 jobsOrleans Parish193,947Jefferson Parish: 190,944 jobsJefferson Parish190,944Lafayette Parish: 129,053 jobsLafayette Parish129,053Caddo Parish: 112,617 jobsCaddo Parish112,617Calcasieu Parish: 98,358 jobsCalcasieu Parish98,358St. Tammany Parish: 88,373 jobsSt. Tammany Parish88,373Ouachita Parish: 70,772 jobsOuachita Parish70,772Rapides Parish: 56,931 jobsRapides Parish56,931Terrebonne Parish: 49,667 jobsTerrebonne Parish49,667Ascension Parish: 45,543 jobsAscension Parish45,543Tangipahoa Parish: 43,713 jobsTangipahoa Parish43,713Bossier Parish: 42,988 jobsBossier Parish42,988Lafourche Parish: 33,502 jobsLafourche Parish33,502Livingston Parish: 27,455 jobsLivingston Parish27,455Iberia Parish: 26,364 jobsIberia Parish26,364St. Charles Parish: 24,161 jobsSt. Charles Parish24,161St. Landry Parish: 23,473 jobsSt. Landry Parish23,473St. Mary Parish: 21,154 jobsSt. Mary Parish21,154Lincoln Parish: 19,034 jobsLincoln Parish19,034Iberville Parish: 16,921 jobsIberville Parish16,921St. John the Baptist Parish: 14,632 jobsSt. John the Baptist Parish14,632Acadia Parish: 14,413 jobsAcadia Parish14,413Cameron Parish: 13,437 jobsCameron Parish13,437Natchitoches Parish: 13,033 jobsNatchitoches Parish13,033Vernon Parish: 12,892 jobsVernon Parish12,892Vermilion Parish: 12,727 jobsVermilion Parish12,727West Baton Rouge Parish: 12,628 jobsWest Baton Rouge Parish12,628Plaquemines Parish: 12,517 jobsPlaquemines Parish12,517St. Martin Parish: 11,985 jobsSt. Martin Parish11,985Webster Parish: 11,313 jobsWebster Parish11,313Avoyelles Parish: 10,650 jobsAvoyelles Parish10,650Washington Parish: 10,516 jobsWashington Parish10,516St. Bernard Parish: 10,037 jobsSt. Bernard Parish10,037Jefferson Davis Parish: 8,405 jobsJefferson Davis Parish8,405Beauregard Parish: 8,142 jobsBeauregard Parish8,142Evangeline Parish: 8,099 jobsEvangeline Parish8,099St. James Parish: 7,954 jobsSt. James Parish7,954Allen Parish: 7,883 jobsAllen Parish7,883Morehouse Parish: 6,791 jobsMorehouse Parish6,791East Baton Rouge Parish: 265,343 jobsEast Baton Rouge Parish265,343Orleans Parish: 193,947 jobsOrleans Parish193,947Jefferson Parish: 190,944 jobsJefferson Parish190,944Lafayette Parish: 129,053 jobsLafayette Parish129,053Caddo Parish: 112,617 jobsCaddo Parish112,617Calcasieu Parish: 98,358 jobsCalcasieu Parish98,358St. Tammany Parish: 88,373 jobsSt. Tammany Parish88,373Ouachita Parish: 70,772 jobsOuachita Parish70,772Rapides Parish: 56,931 jobsRapides Parish56,931Terrebonne Parish: 49,667 jobsTerrebonne Parish49,667Ascension Parish: 45,543 jobsAscension Parish45,543Tangipahoa Parish: 43,713 jobsTangipahoa Parish43,713Bossier Parish: 42,988 jobsBossier Parish42,988Lafourche Parish: 33,502 jobsLafourche Parish33,502Livingston Parish: 27,455 jobsLivingston Parish27,455Iberia Parish: 26,364 jobsIberia Parish26,364St. Charles Parish: 24,161 jobsSt. Charles Parish24,161St. Landry Parish: 23,473 jobsSt. Landry Parish23,473St. Mary Parish: 21,154 jobsSt. Mary Parish21,154Lincoln Parish: 19,034 jobsLincoln Parish19,034Iberville Parish: 16,921 jobsIberville Parish16,921St. John the Baptist Parish: 14,632 jobsSt. John the Baptist Parish14,632Acadia Parish: 14,413 jobsAcadia Parish14,413Cameron Parish: 13,437 jobsCameron Parish13,437Natchitoches Parish: 13,033 jobsNatchitoches Parish13,033Vernon Parish: 12,892 jobsVernon Parish12,892Vermilion Parish: 12,727 jobsVermilion Parish12,727West Baton Rouge Parish: 12,628 jobsWest Baton Rouge Parish12,628Plaquemines Parish: 12,517 jobsPlaquemines Parish12,517St. Martin Parish: 11,985 jobsSt. Martin Parish11,985Webster Parish: 11,313 jobsWebster Parish11,313Avoyelles Parish: 10,650 jobsAvoyelles Parish10,650Washington Parish: 10,516 jobsWashington Parish10,516St. Bernard Parish: 10,037 jobsSt. Bernard Parish10,037Jefferson Davis Parish: 8,405 jobsJefferson Davis Parish8,405Beauregard Parish: 8,142 jobsBeauregard Parish8,142Evangeline Parish: 8,099 jobsEvangeline Parish8,099St. James Parish: 7,954 jobsSt. James Parish7,954Allen Parish: 7,883 jobsAllen Parish7,883Morehouse Parish: 6,791 jobsMorehouse Parish6,791
jobs. Source: BLS, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCounties2017
jobs		Change on 2016
1East Baton Rouge Parish265,343-1%
2Orleans Parish193,947+0.2%
3Jefferson Parish190,944-1.3%
4Lafayette Parish129,053-0.9%
5Caddo Parish112,617-1.5%
6Calcasieu Parish98,358+4.3%
7St. Tammany Parish88,373+0.3%
8Ouachita Parish70,772-0.9%
9Rapides Parish56,931-2.3%
10Terrebonne Parish49,667-3.9%
11Ascension Parish45,543+2.6%
12Tangipahoa Parish43,713+3.2%
13Bossier Parish42,988-1.4%
14Lafourche Parish33,502-3.4%
15Livingston Parish27,455+3.8%
16Iberia Parish26,364-3.8%
17St. Charles Parish24,161-2.5%
18St. Landry Parish23,473-1.4%
19St. Mary Parish21,154-6.2%
20Lincoln Parish19,034+1.9%
21Iberville Parish16,921+8.6%
22St. John the Baptist Parish14,632+0.4%
23Acadia Parish14,413+1.2%
24Cameron Parish13,437+20.6%
25Natchitoches Parish13,033-1.9%
26Vernon Parish12,892-2.7%
27Vermilion Parish12,727-0%
28West Baton Rouge Parish12,628-4.4%
29Plaquemines Parish12,517-6.9%
30St. Martin Parish11,985-0.5%
31Webster Parish11,313-2.7%
32Avoyelles Parish10,650+0.8%
33Washington Parish10,516+0.3%
34St. Bernard Parish10,037-2.8%
35Jefferson Davis Parish8,405-1%
36Beauregard Parish8,142-5.8%
37Evangeline Parish8,099+1.3%
38St. James Parish7,954+1.1%
39Allen Parish7,883+0.8%
40Morehouse Parish6,791-0.4%
41De Soto Parish6,691+3.1%
42Richland Parish6,526+1.2%
43West Feliciana Parish5,458+3.8%
44Concordia Parish5,322-2.6%
45Sabine Parish5,107-2.6%
46Union Parish4,956+2.4%
47Pointe Coupee Parish4,907-1.7%
48East Feliciana Parish4,857-0.3%
49Franklin Parish4,697+2.1%
50Winn Parish4,638-1.8%
51Bienville Parish4,339+2.2%
52LaSalle Parish4,283-0.2%
53Assumption Parish3,745-2.9%
54Jackson Parish3,540-1.6%
55Grant Parish3,399+1%
56Claiborne Parish3,381-0.2%
57Madison Parish3,336-0.8%
58Red River Parish2,567+3%
59West Carroll Parish2,347-3.5%
60Caldwell Parish2,342-2%
61Catahoula Parish2,021+3.6%
62East Carroll Parish1,790-4.5%
63St. Helena Parish1,444-1.4%
64Tensas Parish966-1.6%

Other periods

About this ranking

Average number of jobs covered by unemployment insurance during the year, all industries, private and government, from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Counted where the job is located, from the reports employers file each quarter; monthly employment counts the jobs in the pay period that includes the 12th.

Counts jobs, not people: someone with two jobs counts twice. Covers about 95 percent of US wage and salary jobs. Excludes the self-employed, most agricultural workers on small farms, the armed forces, elected officials in most states, most railroad employees, some domestic workers and most student workers at schools. A count of employer reports, not a survey estimate like oews_employment.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2017/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties (Counties in Louisiana by covered employment (QCEW), 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2017/a/industry/10.csv

MLA 9

Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties, Counties in Louisiana by covered employment (QCEW), 2017. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 21 Aug. 2026, https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2017/a/industry/10.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/louisiana-counties?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Counties in Louisiana by covered employment (QCEW), 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2017/a/industry/10.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/louisiana-counties?period=2017.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties, Counties in Louisiana by covered employment (QCEW), 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2017/a/industry/10.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/louisiana-counties?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_counties_in_louisiana_by_2017,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties: Counties in Louisiana by covered employment (QCEW), 2017}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2017/a/industry/10.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/louisiana-counties?period=2017. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2017/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties: Counties in Louisiana by covered employment (QCEW), 2017
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/21
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2017/a/industry/10.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/louisiana-counties?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/louisiana-counties?period=2017.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2017/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which county has the highest covered employment (QCEW)?

East Baton Rouge Parish, with 265,343 jobs in 2017, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which county has the lowest covered employment (QCEW)?

Tensas Parish, with 966 jobs in 2017.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average employment, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Covered employment (QCEW): other rankings

Counties in Louisiana: more rankings