New Orleansruns on a handful of strong industries. If you’re job-hunting or weighing a move, here’s where the opportunities (and the big-name employers) are.
Top industries & employers
Health care & bioscience
Ochsner Health, LCMC Health, University Medical Center New Orleans, Children's Hospital New Orleans, Tulane Medical Center, the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System, the New Orleans BioInnovation Center
Ochsner is the largest private employer in Louisiana and the two systems between them define both the job market and the insurance-network map. The downtown biomedical district built around University Medical Center and the VA hospital is the city's most deliberate attempt to grow an industry that is not tourism.
Port, logistics & maritime
Port of New Orleans, Port of South Louisiana, Bollinger Shipyards, Associated Terminals, the river pilots' associations, Coast Guard Sector New Orleans
The reason the city exists. Between the deep-water port and the barge traffic on the lower Mississippi, the river corridor moves an enormous share of American grain and petrochemicals — a steady, unglamorous, well-paid employment base that is largely invisible to visitors.
Tourism, hospitality & events
The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, the Caesars Superdome, the hotel groups along Canal and Poydras, Commander's Palace and the independent restaurant sector, the Carnival and festival economy
The largest employer of people in the city and the most cyclical. Wages in the sector are low and hours are seasonal, but the festival calendar — Carnival, Jazz Fest, French Quarter Fest, Essence — is also what makes a lot of the rest of the economy work.
Energy & offshore services
The offshore Gulf support sector, Entergy, Chevron and Shell regional operations, the Port Fourchon supply chain south of the city
New Orleans is the onshore office for a great deal of Gulf of Mexico oil and gas activity — engineering, logistics, marine services and law — even though the rigs themselves are a long way away. Hiring tracks the oil price, so it is the most cyclical white-collar sector here.
Aerospace & advanced manufacturing
NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Textron Systems, Blade Dynamics legacy
Michoud, in New Orleans East, is where the core stages of NASA's Space Launch System are built — a 43-acre building on the Intracoastal Waterway that has been assembling rockets since Saturn V. Employment there rises and falls with federal programme decisions, so check the current manifest before treating it as a reason to move.
Higher education, film & culture
Tulane University, Loyola University New Orleans, Xavier University of Louisiana, the University of New Orleans, Dillard University, the Louisiana film tax credit production sector
Five universities in a city this size, including Xavier — which sends more Black students to medical school than any other institution in the country. The film industry that earned the state the 'Hollywood South' label runs on a capped transferable tax credit that the legislature has repeatedly rewritten, so treat production volume as a policy variable rather than a fixture.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.