New Orleans by the Numbers

NEW ORLEANS HAS A REPUTATION— FOR A WHOLE LOT OF THINGS.

Depending on who you ask and what kind of a mood they’re in at the time, New Orleans has a reputation for being the best city or the worst. The holiest or the potholiest. The hottest, the oddest, the prettiest, the most frozen drink machines per square mile, but how does New Orleans really stack up to other cities?

For starters, the rumors are true: The Big Easy is the number 1 city for music lovers, the number 1 city for jazz, the quirkiest city with the weirdest people, and the most humid large city in the country.

We’ll set the record straight about where the Big Easy comes in on everything from weddings to weed.

Sizing Up The Competition

New Orleans, with 396,048 residents, is the biggest city in Louisiana (by population) and the 52nd largest in the country—right above Cleveland. And at 169.5 square miles, the Greater New Orleans Area is considered the 53rd largest U.S. city by area.

MARRY, MARRY, QUITE CONTRARY

Looking for a date to the crawfish boil? You’re in luck. New Orleans was voted the best city for singles and the best city for gay dating. Gear up your dating apps, it also came in at number 3 on the list of cities with the highest percentage of singles and swiped one of the top five spots for most romantic cities

So you can woo as many suitors as Derek Jeter at a speed-dating session, but don’t be surprised if your relationships don’t go anywhere. Apparently, New Orleanians aren’t likely to take a spouse. We’re simply not the marryin’ kind. The rate of marriage for males in New Orleans is the third-lowest in the country, and for females, secondlowest

Another thing that’s not going anywhere? Traffic. New Orleans is the 9th worst city for traffic.

Of course, all that rampant extramarital hooking up might play a part in why New Orleans is the sixth worst city for STDs The whole of Louisiana was ranked as the worst state for gonorrhea

Eat Your Heart Out

New Orleans is known for its food, and not for nothing. The Big Easy beat out the Big Apple to be voted the no. 1 foodie city by U.S. News. Stick that in your knish, NYC.

NOLA is also the 3rd best city for seafood and the 11th best city for a cup of coffee, and we have the secondmost ice cream shops in the country and the most ice creameries per capita—almost twice as many as the average, in fact.

All that fudge ripple and mint chocolate chip surely contribute to the fact that we have the highest sugar consumption of all American cities.

It’s not surprising, then, that New Orleans is also the 5th fattest city in the country. Beyond that, Louisiana is the third worst state for heart health Blame it on the boudin.

IT’S SIMPLY CRIMINAL

Everyone’s talking about the crime in New Orleans, but is it really as bad as people say? Sadly, New Orleans came in at number 1 for cities with the most murders (approximately 280) and earned the lessthan-sought-after title of Murder Capital of the U.S. As for overall crime, the city fared slightly better there. According to a study evaluating a bunch of complicated statistics, New Orleans is the 8th most dangerous city in America for 2023—followed by Shreveport at number 9 and Baton Rouge at number 10. Louisiana is really knockin’ ‘em dead. But don’t worry, you’ll be in very good hands. New Orleans ranks 30th for cities with the most hospitals, and we’re number 10 on the list of large cities with the most ICU hospital beds per 100,000 residents.

FUN FACTS

They say we like to party in New Orleans, and they’re not wrong. According to U.S. News & World Report, NOLA has the 3rd best nightlife of American cities. It’s also the 2nd best festival city and the 5th most fun

By some statistics, Louisiana alcohol consumption ranks 22nd, which is pretty much middle of the road. And speaking of drinking and the middle of the road, everyone loves that you can drink right there in the street—surely a factor in why New Orleans is the number 1 most popular bachelorette destination and the 5th most popular spot for bachelor parties

How much fun is anyone really having, when the city is way down in the rankings as the 158th happiest city? Nonetheless, depending on who’s doing the research, New Orleans always ranks high on “best city” lists—as high as the number 1 city to visit in the world, the 10th most visited city (with the record number being 2019’s 19 million visitors), and Travel & Leisure’s 2nd best U.S. city

A Rat Race For Rankings

You know who else really loves New Orleans? The vermin. The city crawled to the top of the list for cockroaches and ranked the no. 1 most roach-infested city. Orkin rated New Orleans the 37th most rat-filled city in 2022

New Orleans Is Going To Pot

There’s just something in the air in New Orleans. The city is ranked the 27th best city for marijuana. But along with that high also comes the low. According to Twitter, NOLA is the 4th worst city for potholes

OTHER COOL STATS:

• Louisiana ranked the 35th best state to survive a zombie apocalypse

• With an average per capita IQ of 95.2, Louisiana is the 2nd dumbest state

• Louisiana ranked third for the highest number of serial killer victims per 100,000, with 7.33.

• The Superdome is the 5th biggest dome in the world

• New Orleans’s City Park is the 87th largest public urban park in the country. It also ranked 20th for number of visitors

• At just shy of 24 miles long, the Causeway Bridge across Lake Pontchartrain is the longest continuous bridge over water in the world.