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 2021, at 255,203 jobs. Tensas Parish had the lowest, at 823 jobs. The median was 9,883 jobs and the figure for Louisiana was 1,816,296 jobs. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest255,203East Baton Rouge Parish
Lowest823Tensas Parish
Median9,88364 counties
Louisiana1,816,296History

Map of counties, 2021

Acadia Parish: 14,326 jobsAllen Parish: 6,950 jobsAscension Parish: 45,086 jobsAssumption Parish: 3,585 jobsAvoyelles Parish: 9,653 jobsBeauregard Parish: 8,618 jobsBienville Parish: 3,827 jobsBossier Parish: 42,389 jobsCaddo Parish: 105,222 jobsCalcasieu Parish: 85,259 jobsCaldwell Parish: 2,182 jobsCameron Parish: 8,104 jobsCatahoula Parish: 2,070 jobsClaiborne Parish: 3,034 jobsConcordia Parish: 5,196 jobsDe Soto Parish: 6,719 jobsEast Baton Rouge Parish: 255,203 jobsEast Carroll Parish: 1,495 jobsEast Feliciana Parish: 4,544 jobsEvangeline Parish: 7,463 jobsFranklin Parish: 4,714 jobsGrant Parish: 3,255 jobsIberia Parish: 23,789 jobsIberville Parish: 14,805 jobsJackson Parish: 3,384 jobsJefferson Parish: 179,578 jobsJefferson Davis Parish: 7,935 jobsLafayette Parish: 127,106 jobsLafourche Parish: 32,303 jobsLaSalle Parish: 4,666 jobsLincoln Parish: 18,269 jobsLivingston Parish: 29,351 jobsMadison Parish: 3,034 jobsMorehouse Parish: 6,392 jobsNatchitoches Parish: 13,275 jobsOrleans Parish: 174,451 jobsOuachita Parish: 67,037 jobsPlaquemines Parish: 11,125 jobsPointe Coupee Parish: 5,048 jobsRapides Parish: 55,739 jobsRed River Parish: 2,417 jobsRichland Parish: 6,243 jobsSabine Parish: 5,413 jobsSt. Bernard Parish: 10,113 jobsSt. Charles Parish: 23,038 jobsSt. Helena Parish: 1,503 jobsSt. James Parish: 7,659 jobsSt. John the Baptist Parish: 12,614 jobsSt. Landry Parish: 23,177 jobsSt. Martin Parish: 11,111 jobsSt. Mary Parish: 19,828 jobsSt. Tammany Parish: 89,688 jobsTangipahoa Parish: 44,364 jobsTensas Parish: 823 jobsTerrebonne Parish: 45,827 jobsUnion Parish: 4,625 jobsVermilion Parish: 12,578 jobsVernon Parish: 12,545 jobsWashington Parish: 10,278 jobsWebster Parish: 10,870 jobsWest Baton Rouge Parish: 12,518 jobsWest Carroll Parish: 2,016 jobsWest Feliciana Parish: 5,432 jobsWinn Parish: 4,181 jobs
  • Under 3,000
  • 3,000 to 5,000
  • 5,000 to 10K
  • 10K to 14K
  • 14K to 45K
  • 45K and over
jobs, 2021. 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, 2021

East Baton Rouge Parish: 255,203 jobsEast Baton Rouge Parish255,203Jefferson Parish: 179,578 jobsJefferson Parish179,578Orleans Parish: 174,451 jobsOrleans Parish174,451Lafayette Parish: 127,106 jobsLafayette Parish127,106Caddo Parish: 105,222 jobsCaddo Parish105,222St. Tammany Parish: 89,688 jobsSt. Tammany Parish89,688Calcasieu Parish: 85,259 jobsCalcasieu Parish85,259Ouachita Parish: 67,037 jobsOuachita Parish67,037Rapides Parish: 55,739 jobsRapides Parish55,739Terrebonne Parish: 45,827 jobsTerrebonne Parish45,827Ascension Parish: 45,086 jobsAscension Parish45,086Tangipahoa Parish: 44,364 jobsTangipahoa Parish44,364Bossier Parish: 42,389 jobsBossier Parish42,389Lafourche Parish: 32,303 jobsLafourche Parish32,303Livingston Parish: 29,351 jobsLivingston Parish29,351Iberia Parish: 23,789 jobsIberia Parish23,789St. Landry Parish: 23,177 jobsSt. Landry Parish23,177St. Charles Parish: 23,038 jobsSt. Charles Parish23,038St. Mary Parish: 19,828 jobsSt. Mary Parish19,828Lincoln Parish: 18,269 jobsLincoln Parish18,269Iberville Parish: 14,805 jobsIberville Parish14,805Acadia Parish: 14,326 jobsAcadia Parish14,326Natchitoches Parish: 13,275 jobsNatchitoches Parish13,275St. John the Baptist Parish: 12,614 jobsSt. John the Baptist Parish12,614Vermilion Parish: 12,578 jobsVermilion Parish12,578Vernon Parish: 12,545 jobsVernon Parish12,545West Baton Rouge Parish: 12,518 jobsWest Baton Rouge Parish12,518Plaquemines Parish: 11,125 jobsPlaquemines Parish11,125St. Martin Parish: 11,111 jobsSt. Martin Parish11,111Webster Parish: 10,870 jobsWebster Parish10,870Washington Parish: 10,278 jobsWashington Parish10,278St. Bernard Parish: 10,113 jobsSt. Bernard Parish10,113Avoyelles Parish: 9,653 jobsAvoyelles Parish9,653Beauregard Parish: 8,618 jobsBeauregard Parish8,618Cameron Parish: 8,104 jobsCameron Parish8,104Jefferson Davis Parish: 7,935 jobsJefferson Davis Parish7,935St. James Parish: 7,659 jobsSt. James Parish7,659Evangeline Parish: 7,463 jobsEvangeline Parish7,463Allen Parish: 6,950 jobsAllen Parish6,950De Soto Parish: 6,719 jobsDe Soto Parish6,719East Baton Rouge Parish: 255,203 jobsEast Baton Rouge Parish255,203Jefferson Parish: 179,578 jobsJefferson Parish179,578Orleans Parish: 174,451 jobsOrleans Parish174,451Lafayette Parish: 127,106 jobsLafayette Parish127,106Caddo Parish: 105,222 jobsCaddo Parish105,222St. Tammany Parish: 89,688 jobsSt. Tammany Parish89,688Calcasieu Parish: 85,259 jobsCalcasieu Parish85,259Ouachita Parish: 67,037 jobsOuachita Parish67,037Rapides Parish: 55,739 jobsRapides Parish55,739Terrebonne Parish: 45,827 jobsTerrebonne Parish45,827Ascension Parish: 45,086 jobsAscension Parish45,086Tangipahoa Parish: 44,364 jobsTangipahoa Parish44,364Bossier Parish: 42,389 jobsBossier Parish42,389Lafourche Parish: 32,303 jobsLafourche Parish32,303Livingston Parish: 29,351 jobsLivingston Parish29,351Iberia Parish: 23,789 jobsIberia Parish23,789St. Landry Parish: 23,177 jobsSt. Landry Parish23,177St. Charles Parish: 23,038 jobsSt. Charles Parish23,038St. Mary Parish: 19,828 jobsSt. Mary Parish19,828Lincoln Parish: 18,269 jobsLincoln Parish18,269Iberville Parish: 14,805 jobsIberville Parish14,805Acadia Parish: 14,326 jobsAcadia Parish14,326Natchitoches Parish: 13,275 jobsNatchitoches Parish13,275St. John the Baptist Parish: 12,614 jobsSt. John the Baptist Parish12,614Vermilion Parish: 12,578 jobsVermilion Parish12,578Vernon Parish: 12,545 jobsVernon Parish12,545West Baton Rouge Parish: 12,518 jobsWest Baton Rouge Parish12,518Plaquemines Parish: 11,125 jobsPlaquemines Parish11,125St. Martin Parish: 11,111 jobsSt. Martin Parish11,111Webster Parish: 10,870 jobsWebster Parish10,870Washington Parish: 10,278 jobsWashington Parish10,278St. Bernard Parish: 10,113 jobsSt. Bernard Parish10,113Avoyelles Parish: 9,653 jobsAvoyelles Parish9,653Beauregard Parish: 8,618 jobsBeauregard Parish8,618Cameron Parish: 8,104 jobsCameron Parish8,104Jefferson Davis Parish: 7,935 jobsJefferson Davis Parish7,935St. James Parish: 7,659 jobsSt. James Parish7,659Evangeline Parish: 7,463 jobsEvangeline Parish7,463Allen Parish: 6,950 jobsAllen Parish6,950De Soto Parish: 6,719 jobsDe Soto Parish6,719
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

RankCounties2021
jobs		Change on 2020
1East Baton Rouge Parish255,203+3.3%
2Jefferson Parish179,578+1.7%
3Orleans Parish174,451+1.7%
4Lafayette Parish127,106+2.9%
5Caddo Parish105,222+1.5%
6St. Tammany Parish89,688+4.4%
7Calcasieu Parish85,259-1.2%
8Ouachita Parish67,037+1.6%
9Rapides Parish55,739+2.1%
10Terrebonne Parish45,827-1.1%
11Ascension Parish45,086+3.9%
12Tangipahoa Parish44,364+3%
13Bossier Parish42,389+3.4%
14Lafourche Parish32,303-1.4%
15Livingston Parish29,351+5.4%
16Iberia Parish23,789-2%
17St. Landry Parish23,177+0.6%
18St. Charles Parish23,038+1.8%
19St. Mary Parish19,828+0.7%
20Lincoln Parish18,269+1.1%
21Iberville Parish14,805+0.1%
22Acadia Parish14,326+4.2%
23Natchitoches Parish13,275+3.5%
24St. John the Baptist Parish12,614-3.2%
25Vermilion Parish12,578+0.9%
26Vernon Parish12,545+2.5%
27West Baton Rouge Parish12,518+7.5%
28Plaquemines Parish11,125-0.9%
29St. Martin Parish11,111+0.1%
30Webster Parish10,870-2%
31Washington Parish10,278+3%
32St. Bernard Parish10,113+3.6%
33Avoyelles Parish9,653-0.9%
34Beauregard Parish8,618+4.1%
35Cameron Parish8,104+14.8%
36Jefferson Davis Parish7,935+1.1%
37St. James Parish7,659-3.1%
38Evangeline Parish7,463+2.2%
39Allen Parish6,950-1.6%
40De Soto Parish6,719+4%
41Morehouse Parish6,392+0.6%
42Richland Parish6,243+1.4%
43West Feliciana Parish5,432+0.8%
44Sabine Parish5,413+1.2%
45Concordia Parish5,196+0.3%
46Pointe Coupee Parish5,0480%
47Franklin Parish4,714+2.6%
48LaSalle Parish4,666-2.3%
49Union Parish4,625-3%
50East Feliciana Parish4,544-1.9%
51Winn Parish4,181-1%
52Bienville Parish3,827-4%
53Assumption Parish3,585+2.2%
54Jackson Parish3,384+1.3%
55Grant Parish3,255-0.2%
56Claiborne Parish3,034+0.3%
56Madison Parish3,034-1.2%
58Red River Parish2,417+4.2%
59Caldwell Parish2,182+3.8%
60Catahoula Parish2,070+0.3%
61West Carroll Parish2,016-1.7%
62St. Helena Parish1,503+1.8%
63East Carroll Parish1,495-3.7%
64Tensas Parish823-0.5%

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/2021/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), 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/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), 2021. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 21 Aug. 2026, https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/a/industry/10.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/louisiana-counties?period=2021. 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), 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/a/industry/10.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/louisiana-counties?period=2021.

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), 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/a/industry/10.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/louisiana-counties?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_counties_in_louisiana_by_2021,
  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), 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/a/industry/10.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/louisiana-counties?period=2021. 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/2021/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), 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/21
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2021/a/industry/10.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/louisiana-counties?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/covered-employment/louisiana-counties?period=2021.
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/2021/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 255,203 jobs in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which county has the lowest covered employment (QCEW)?

Tensas Parish, with 823 jobs in 2021.

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