Market rankings · Louisiana

Restaurants and cafes in Louisiana

Every metro area, small-town market and county in Louisiana, ranked by the Groundwork market score for restaurants and cafes, with competitor counts and household spending for each.

Listings: 19,966; 6,894 chain locations (35%)
Official establishments: 8,018; +5.8% since 2019
Household spending a year: $6.3B; On food away from home
Listings per 10k households: 110.6; In line with the U.S.
Spending per listing: $314K; 15% below the U.S.
Rank among states: #50 of 51; Market score 19 · Low

A site report maps the restaurants and cafes on map listings around any address in Louisiana by name and distance, and the spending within reach.

Free10 actions over 3 days, no card

Survey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure

What this means

There are 19,966 restaurants and cafes on map listings in Louisiana as of September 2026. 6,894 of them (35%) are chain locations, against 34% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 110.6, in line with the U.S. rate of 109.8.

Households in Louisiana spend about $6.3B a year on food away from home, or $3,469 per household, 15% below the U.S. average. That is about $314K of household spending for each restaurant on map listings, 15% below the U.S. figure of $371K.

In 2023, official counts showed 8,018 businesses with payroll in Louisiana classed as restaurants and other eating places, up 5.8% from 2019. That is one for every 225 households, against one for every 209 across the U.S. Across the U.S., the count rose 6.0% over the same years. Since fiscal 2022, 208 SBA-backed loans worth $124.1M have gone to businesses classed as restaurants and other eating places in Louisiana.

Among the 50 states and DC, Louisiana ranks #50 for restaurants and cafes, with a Groundwork market score of 19 (low). Of the 10 scored metro areas in or partly in Louisiana, the Alexandria metro area scores highest (44). Of the 9 scored small-town markets in or partly in Louisiana, the DeRidder area scores highest (80).

Every market in Louisiana for restaurants and cafes

Download the ranking (CSV)

Numbered by Groundwork market score among the markets based in Louisiana, highest first; the U.S. rank compares each market with every other of its kind. A metro area that crosses a state line is listed in each state it reaches, and numbered only in the state its page is under. How the score works.

Metro areas

Metro areas reaching Louisiana, ranked for restaurants and cafes by Groundwork market score
Market	Score	Listings	Per 10k households	Spending per listing	Population growth	U.S. rank
1Alexandria, LA	44	493	87.4	$382K	−2.5%	#228 of 387
2Baton Rouge, LA	43	3,427	103.0	$361K	+2.1%	#240 of 387
3Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA	41	1,243	118.3	$340K	+5.3%	#255 of 387
4Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA	38	796	99.6	$348K	−3.5%	#276 of 387
5Monroe, LA	35	812	93.3	$344K	−1.9%	#296 of 387
6Hammond, LA	34	525	101.0	$328K	+5.8%	#306 of 387
7Lafayette, LA	31	1,854	112.8	$307K	+3.8%	#330 of 387
8Lake Charles, LA	29	1,035	112.4	$320K	−3.8%	#338 of 387
9Shreveport-Bossier City, LA	25	1,593	101.4	$327K	−2.3%	#354 of 387
10New Orleans-Metairie, LA	9	5,929	148.8	$239K	−3.4%	#387 of 387

Small-town markets

Small-town markets reaching Louisiana, ranked for restaurants and cafes by Groundwork market score
Market	Score	Listings	Per 10k households	Spending per listing	Population growth	U.S. rank
1DeRidder, LA	80	76	55.3	$642K	+0.2%	#27 of 538
2Opelousas, LA	52	244	75.8	$384K	−1.9%	#239 of 538
3Bogalusa, LA	50	144	81.3	$363K	−0.9%	#261 of 538
4New Iberia, LA	41	248	92.5	$347K	−4.6%	#361 of 538
5Morgan City, LA	32	200	108.3	$287K	−5.3%	#444 of 538
Natchez, MS-LA	32	210	101.3	$286K	−0.9%	#445 of 538
6Minden, LA	24	134	93.5	$302K	−5.2%	#488 of 538
7Natchitoches, LA	22	143	98.6	$313K	−3.5%	#501 of 538
8Ruston, LA	21	198	107.1	$281K	+0.1%	#512 of 538

Counties

Counties in Louisiana, ranked for restaurants and cafes by Groundwork market score
Market	Score	Listings	Per 10k households	Spending per listing	Population growth	U.S. rank
1Grant Parish, LA	74	15	20.2	$1.7M	−0.3%	#253 of 2,405
2East Feliciana Parish, LA	74	31	48.4	$773K	−2.8%	#254 of 2,405
3Livingston Parish, LA	74	424	79.1	$476K	+8.5%	#275 of 2,405
4Beauregard Parish, LA	70	76	55.3	$642K	+0.2%	#391 of 2,405
5Winn Parish, LA	69	31	64.7	$477K	+9.1%	#431 of 2,405
6Ascension Parish, LA	68	448	94.0	$454K	+6.4%	#456 of 2,405
7De Soto Parish, LA	66	69	65.7	$487K	+2.0%	#509 of 2,405
8St. Helena Parish, LA	65	13	31.1	$919K	−1.2%	#530 of 2,405
9Assumption Parish, LA	64	36	40.8	$793K	−5.9%	#582 of 2,405
10Jackson Parish, LA	61	37	66.4	$436K	+5.6%	#720 of 2,405
11St. Charles Parish, LA	59	166	89.2	$447K	−3.7%	#795 of 2,405
12Evangeline Parish, LA	58	74	58.9	$489K	−1.0%	#821 of 2,405
13Vermilion Parish, LA	58	165	75.7	$432K	+1.3%	#829 of 2,405
14St. James Parish, LA	57	64	84.8	$438K	−5.9%	#869 of 2,405
15Union Parish, LA	56	48	56.4	$516K	−2.5%	#900 of 2,405
16Iberville Parish, LA	56	85	75.2	$444K	−1.6%	#913 of 2,405
17West Baton Rouge Parish, LA	55	117	106.6	$365K	+5.5%	#988 of 2,405
18Franklin Parish, LA	54	47	62.5	$488K	−3.6%	#993 of 2,405
19Lafourche Parish, LA	54	309	81.8	$428K	−2.0%	#1,001 of 2,405
20LaSalle Parish, LA	52	39	77.2	$448K	+2.2%	#1,085 of 2,405
21Claiborne Parish, LA	51	28	54.3	$463K	−5.3%	#1,120 of 2,405
22Sabine Parish, LA	51	67	76.3	$412K	−1.2%	#1,134 of 2,405
23Morehouse Parish, LA	50	61	62.4	$457K	−6.9%	#1,169 of 2,405
24Vernon Parish, LA	48	139	76.0	$422K	−7.3%	#1,260 of 2,405
25Bienville Parish, LA	47	35	63.0	$423K	−5.0%	#1,301 of 2,405

Show all 64 counties

Counties in Louisiana, ranked for restaurants and cafes by Groundwork market score, continued
Market	Score	Listings	Per 10k households	Spending per listing	Population growth	U.S. rank
26St. Martin Parish, LA	47	176	89.9	$366K	−1.0%	#1,316 of 2,405
27Allen Parish, LA	46	60	76.4	$383K	0.0%	#1,352 of 2,405
28St. Tammany Parish, LA	45	1,243	118.3	$340K	+5.3%	#1,418 of 2,405
29St. Landry Parish, LA	44	244	75.8	$384K	−1.9%	#1,445 of 2,405
30Bossier Parish, LA	44	515	101.3	$357K	+2.5%	#1,463 of 2,405
31West Feliciana Parish, LA	41	42	104.3	$372K	−0.7%	#1,570 of 2,405
32Washington Parish, LA	41	144	81.3	$363K	−0.9%	#1,573 of 2,405
33Jefferson Davis Parish, LA	40	107	88.7	$374K	−2.4%	#1,608 of 2,405
34Richland Parish, LA	40	71	98.1	$330K	−2.2%	#1,625 of 2,405
35Avoyelles Parish, LA	39	113	78.2	$363K	−4.3%	#1,646 of 2,405
36St. John the Baptist Parish, LA	38	148	97.7	$347K	−5.9%	#1,696 of 2,405
37Tangipahoa Parish, LA	38	525	101.0	$328K	+5.8%	#1,710 of 2,405
38Concordia Parish, LA	37	54	79.7	$363K	−4.0%	#1,734 of 2,405
39Plaquemines Parish, LA	37	90	109.5	$363K	−5.3%	#1,735 of 2,405
40Pointe Coupee Parish, LA	35	87	104.4	$344K	−5.6%	#1,825 of 2,405
41Acadia Parish, LA	35	199	90.0	$334K	−0.8%	#1,832 of 2,405
42Lafayette Parish, LA	35	1,314	130.2	$280K	+6.5%	#1,846 of 2,405
43Iberia Parish, LA	33	248	92.5	$347K	−4.6%	#1,899 of 2,405
44Rapides Parish, LA	29	478	97.6	$341K	−2.9%	#2,058 of 2,405
45Ouachita Parish, LA	29	632	102.8	$321K	−1.0%	#2,064 of 2,405
46Calcasieu Parish, LA	29	908	116.5	$313K	−3.7%	#2,069 of 2,405
47St. Bernard Parish, LA	29	197	121.5	$277K	+4.1%	#2,079 of 2,405
48East Baton Rouge Parish, LA	28	2,144	120.9	$299K	+0.1%	#2,101 of 2,405
49Terrebonne Parish, LA	26	487	115.6	$298K	−4.8%	#2,156 of 2,405
50St. Mary Parish, LA	26	200	108.3	$287K	−5.3%	#2,162 of 2,405
51Jefferson Parish, LA	22	2,158	121.9	$294K	−1.9%	#2,249 of 2,405
52Webster Parish, LA	20	134	93.5	$302K	−5.2%	#2,282 of 2,405
53Caddo Parish, LA	20	1,009	105.4	$301K	−5.4%	#2,283 of 2,405
54Natchitoches Parish, LA	19	143	98.6	$313K	−3.5%	#2,298 of 2,405
55Lincoln Parish, LA	19	198	107.1	$281K	+0.1%	#2,307 of 2,405
56Orleans Parish, LA	10	3,106	199.3	$174K	−5.5%	#2,395 of 2,405
Madison Parish, LA	Not scored	29	95.0	$289K	−10.9%
Caldwell Parish, LA	Not scored	21	56.5	$565K	−2.8%
West Carroll Parish, LA	Not scored	21	54.5	$578K	−5.5%
Catahoula Parish, LA	Not scored	26	81.2	$355K	−7.0%
Red River Parish, LA	Not scored	27	87.1	$351K	−5.5%
East Carroll Parish, LA	Not scored	13	49.7	$537K	−8.6%
Cameron Parish, LA	Not scored	20	99.1	$382K	−16.1%
Tensas Parish, LA	Not scored	11	69.7	$355K	−9.9%

Markets with fewer than 5 restaurants and cafes on map listings, and counties under 10,000 people, aren’t scored; they’re listed last in each table.

Questions

How many restaurants and cafes are in Louisiana?

As of September 2026, map listings count 19,966 restaurants and cafes in Louisiana. 6,894 of them (35%) are chain locations. The listings count every restaurant, cafe, bar, bakery and food truck. Official counts show 8,018 businesses with payroll classed as restaurants and other eating places in 2023, up 5.8% from 2019. Another 2,720 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

How much do households in Louisiana spend on food away from home?

About $6.3B a year, or $3,469 per household. That is 15% below the U.S. average (an index of 85, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 19,966 restaurants and cafes on map listings, it comes to $314K per restaurant. It is estimated from the incomes of the 1,804,780 households in Louisiana and national spending patterns by income.

How does Louisiana compare with the U.S. for restaurants and cafes?

Louisiana has 110.6 restaurants and cafes per 10,000 households, in line with the U.S. rate of 109.8. Spending per restaurant is $314K, 15% below the U.S. figure of $371K. At the U.S. ratio of restaurants and cafes to household spending, Louisiana would have about 16,884, against 19,966 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 225 households, against one for every 209 across the U.S. The official count rose 5.8% from 2019 to 2023, against +6.0% for the U.S.

Which market in Louisiana has the highest market score for restaurants and cafes?

Among 10 scored metro areas in or partly in Louisiana, the Alexandria metro area scores highest, at 44 (lower middle). Among 9 scored small-town markets in or partly in Louisiana, the DeRidder area scores highest, at 80 (high). Among 56 scored counties in Louisiana, Grant Parish scores highest, at 74 (upper middle). Scores compare each market with others of its kind across the U.S.

What is the Groundwork market score?

The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. Louisiana scores 19 for restaurants and cafes (low), #50 of the 50 states and DC.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in Louisiana. It maps the restaurants and cafes on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.

Sit-down restaurants10,851 listings
Fast food and sandwich shops2,655 listings
Pizza972 listings
Coffee shops and cafes1,798 listings
Bakeries and dessert shops1,798 listings

Screening a site or an acquisition in Louisiana?

A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.

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