Louisiana's population declined for a third consecutive year this year. According to the United States Census Bureau, the state lost around 14,000 people this year.
One demographer says there's a simple reason why.
"Economy--money--simply put," Greg Rigamer said, noting that people are fleeing Louisiana to seek opportunities that pay better. "When you look at average household earnings, Louisiana is about two-thirds of what the nation is. When you look at our poverty rate, we're about 50 percent higher than the nation."
Rigamer says people need money to raise their families and live comfortably, and that's why they're going elsewhere.
"There are better opportunities in the area, and that's why we're not attracting people and why we're losing people."
According to Rigamer, the people leaving Louisiana aren't going too far away.
"Texas, Georgia, yes. There is a significant movement to other southern states with better economies," Rigamer said.
Rigamer says Louisiana's education system is the root of the state's population problem.
"It's a very difficult cycle to break," Rigamer said. "We have very low educational achievement in this state. When you look at these statistics and you're trying to determine whether or not you're going to make an investment in terms of someone who's coming in and create a significant number of jobs, Louisiana's not a healthy environment right now.
"In terms of assessing the problem of why we are where we are, it's a function of the economy and of education," Rigamer continued. "So many of our other shortcomings follow that. So we clearly have to take some dramatic steps (to address) these fundamentally basic needs."
