Fastest-Growing Cities in Louisiana Reflect Rural Moves

Louisiana's fastest-growing cities list reflects a national trend, but is there more to the story?

19 hours ago

Alyssa Schiaffino,

The World Population Review, an online site for global population research and analysis, ranked the 2026 fastest-growing cities in Louisiana, based on population growth patterns from 2020 to 2025.

The list ranks 155 cities across the state, classifying a city as having over 1,000 residents.

Of the 155 cities, 45 experienced population increases and 110 had decreases.

The top 10 cities all have populations under 30,000, and seven of the top 10 have populations under 15,000. Central, Louisiana, is the highest-ranked city with a population of over 30,000 at #24.

Top 10 Fastest-Growing Cities in Louisiana

#1 Maurice, +6.78% annual change
- Population: 3,433
#2 Carencro, +6.71% annual change
- Population: 14,111
#3 Sterlington, 5.29% annual change
- Population: 2,804
#4 Hammond, +3.88% annual change
- Population: 24,964
#5 Youngsville, +3.7% annual change
- Population: 20,720
#6 Scott, +3.31% annual change
- Population: 9,954
#7 Gonzales, +2.88% annual change
- Population: 14,331
#8 Broussard,+2.85% annual change
- Population: 16,249
#9 Stonewall, +2.84% annual change
- Population: 2,793
#10 Addis, +2.57% annual change
- Population: 7,876

The top 10 cities are the only ones with an average annual growth above 2%.

In addition to rural areas dominating the top of the list, Louisiana’s largest cities had population decreases.

Population sizes for New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shreveport all decreased from 2020 to 2025, with Lafayette being Louisiana’s only city with at least 100,000 residents to see an increase.

#127 New Orleans, -1.37% annual change
- Population: 357,183
#71 Baton Rouge, -0.51% annual change
- Population: 221,663
#131 Shreveport, -1.4% annual change
- Population: 173,439
#38 Lafayette, +0.25% annual change
- Population: 123,618

National Trends Toward Rural Areas

The list of fastest-growing cities in Louisiana suggests that Louisianians are moving out of big cities and into smaller, more rural ones. But why?

According to research by Hamilton Lombard at the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, the shift to more rural areas is a surprising trend the entire country has seen since the start of the 2020’s.

The data show that people ages 25-44 have been steadily moving to cities with populations of 1 to 4 million since the 1980’s, with a peak in the 2010’s. However, the 2020’s have seen a decline in moves to big cities and an increase in moves to smaller rural areas.

Lomnard wrote in his research, “Perhaps the most striking statistic within the 2023 age estimates is the fact that since 2020, the country’s small towns and rural areas have been attracting younger adults at the highest rate in nearly a century.”

Likewise, Richelle L. Winkler and Julia Petersen of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service found that the rate of people moving out of rural areas has declined since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and has continued years later.

While the list for Louisiana cities reflects this national trend, there must be more to the story. After all, while the three largest cities had declines, the three smallest did too. More than just a rural trend, these smaller cities must have more going on.

More to the Story?

Looking at the top 10, I noticed that six of the cities are in Acadiana, with five located above Vermilion Parish, where Elon Musk has plans to build the largest SpaceX center. Could this also be why Lafayette, located less than 45 miles outside of Vermilion Parish, was the only city with over 100,000 people to see population growth?

It makes you wonder, but Acadiana does have a lot to offer for hunting, fishing, eating and more. It is a major cultural hub, representing and preserving a group of people unique to Louisiana: the Cajuns, especially those still speaking French.

Similarly, Sterlington, #3 on the list, is less than an hour from Richland Parish, the site of Meta’s largest data center. Yet, Sterlington is also 30 minutes outside a city of 46,686 people that experienced a population decrease: Monroe.

Sterlington is also surrounded by Louisiana’s natural beauty, including Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

As for the others on the list, each is located less than an hour away from one of Louisiana’s major cities. Stonewall is less than 20 minutes from Shreveport, and Addis and Gonzales are located outside of Baton Rouge and Hammond is east of Baton Rouge and north of New Orleans.