This result was not a surprise, as Louisiana is no stranger to gambling. In November of 2020, Louisiana voters in 55 out of 64 parishes voted to make sports betting legal within their parish, which will lead to the legalization of sports betting in a majority of the state. For Louisiana, sports gambling provides just that. Logically, a state struggling financially might want to embrace a new stream of income. When ranking states based on a combination of variables, including state finances, state economies, and state job markets, Louisiana ranks, once again, second to last.
For example, when using the percentage of the population living at or under the poverty line as the standard for whether a state is poor, Louisiana ranks second to last. There are different metrics for what makes a state “poor” however, Louisiana earns the label regardless of how it is defined.
Louisiana is consistently one of the poorest states in America.
