People in Louisiana spend a good deal of time wondering how we compare with other Southern states. So let’s take a look at where we were, and where we are now.
A century ago, Louisiana’s population was nearly twice Florida’s. Back then, Louisiana had one city (New Orleans) in the nation’s top 20, while Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee had none.
But times have changed. Since 1970, Texas has added 21 million people and Florida 17 million. Clearly, these two states are in a class by themselves. They’ve left every other Southern state — not to mention New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois — in the dust…