In 2021, the population of the New Orleans-Metairie metropolitan area in the United States was about 1.26 million people. This is consistent with the previous year, when the population was around 1.27 million.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the New Orleans metro area from 1950 to 2025. United Nations population projections are also included through the year 2035.

Graph and download economic data for Employed Persons in New Orleans-Metairie, LA (MSA) (LAUMT223538000000005) from Jan 1990 to Jan 2025 about New Orleans, LA, household survey, employment, persons, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Civilian Labor Force in New Orleans-Metairie, LA (MSA) (LAUMT223538000000006A) from 1990 to 2023 about New Orleans, LA, civilian, labor force, labor, household survey, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate in New Orleans-Metairie, LA (MSA) (LAUMT223538000000003A) from 1990 to 2023 about New Orleans, LA, household survey, unemployment, rate, and USA.

Percent Population by Race in New Orleans Metro and Parishes and United States in 2000 and 2017

Graph and download economic data for Unemployed Persons in New Orleans-Metairie, LA (MSA) (LAUMT223538000000004A) from 1990 to 2023 about New Orleans, LA, household survey, unemployment, persons, and USA.

Residential addresses actively receiving mail by ZIP code and parish for the New Orleans metro area and other selected parishes.

Monthly data for July 2005 and August 2006-Present month for Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. Tammany.

Monthly data for January 2016-Present month for Ascensions, East Baton Rouge, and Livingston.

Monthly data for August 2017-Present month for St. James.

Note: Trends in residential addresses actively receiving mail can serve as a useful indicator of the rate of change in occupied housing units. However, active residential addresses are not the same as occupied housing units. For the decennial census, the Census Bureau defines an occupied housing unit as the usual place of residence for an individual or group of individuals on Census Day (April 1). The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) defines a residential address as actively receiving mail if mail has been picked up within the previous 90 days. The USPS counts of active residential addresses may be higher than Census Bureau counts of occupied households in cities, and lower in rural areas. In cities, the USPS counts may be higher because they include each room in group quarters such as college dormitories, military quarters, and single room occupancies (residences for formerly homeless persons). The Census Bureau does not include group quarters in its count of occupied housing units. In rural areas, mail is frequently delivered to rural route boxes and P.O. boxes rather than street addresses, and thus may lead to an undercount compared to Census Bureau occupied housing units.

Graph and download economic data for All Employees: Leisure and Hospitality in New Orleans-Metairie, LA (MSA) (NEWO322LEIH) from Jan 1990 to Jan 2025 about New Orleans, leisure, hospitality, LA, employment, and USA.

In 2022, the New Orleans-Metairie, LA metro area recorded the highest homicide rate of U.S. cities with a population over 250,000, at 27.1 homicides per 100,000 residents, followed by the Memphis, TN-MS-AR metro area. However, homicide data was not recorded in all U.S. metro areas, meaning that there may be some cities with a higher homicide rate.

St. Louis

St. Louis, which had a murder and nonnegligent manslaughter rate of 11.6 in 2022, is the second-largest city by population in Missouri. It is home to many famous treasures such as the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team, Washington University in St. Louis, the Saint Louis Zoo, and the renowned Gateway Arch. It is home to many corporations such as Monsanto, Arch Coal, and Emerson Electric. The economy of St. Louis is centered around business and healthcare, and in addition is home to ten Fortune 500 companies.

Crime in St. Louis

Despite all of this, St. Louis suffers from high levels of crime and violence. As of 2023, it was listed as the seventh most dangerous city in the world as a result of their extremely high murder rate. Not only does St. Louis have one of the highest homicide rates in the United States, it also reports one of the highest numbers of violent crimes. In spite of high crime levels, the GDP of the St. Louis metropolitan area has been increasing since 2001.