Two, and only two. Our development team is awarding territory inside the Baton Rouge DMA and the Shreveport DMA. Every other Louisiana market, including New Orleans, Lafayette and Lake Charles, is not currently available for new franchise development.
That is a deliberate narrowing, not a placeholder. Baton Rouge and Shreveport are different kinds of markets, and we evaluate each one for population, traffic patterns and site availability before territory is awarded. Below is what we look at in each.
Why is Louisiana a strong state for a restaurant franchise?
Louisiana's case is not built on population growth, and any page that tells you otherwise is selling you something. The honest version is more useful: the state's population is roughly flat while its labor market is getting deeper, and for a quick service operator, labor depth is the constraint that actually decides whether a restaurant runs.
Start with the population, plainly. The U.S. Census Bureau put Louisiana at 4,618,189 residents as of July 1, 2025. The state added 3,311 people over the prior year, its second straight annual increase, with births exceeding deaths by 2,774 and net migration contributing 513, per the Vintage 2025 estimates. Measured against April 2020, Louisiana is still down about 1 percent. Those are the numbers. We are not going to dress them up.
Now the part that changed. Louisiana's labor force participation rate climbed to 58.8 percent in May 2026, rising in four of the first five months of the year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the prior year the state tied for the largest year over year increase in labor force participation in the country, and the civilian labor force grew by roughly 33,000 people. More residents working or actively looking for work is the single most relevant macro signal a restaurant operator can get, because it speaks directly to the applicant pool behind your hiring.
The output side holds up under the same scrutiny. Louisiana's real GDP reached $261.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025 in chained 2017 dollars, up from $256.9 billion in the first quarter, with three consecutive quarters of gains after a Q1 contraction, per Bureau of Economic Analysis data retrieved from FRED.
Narrow that to our own sector and the trend is the same shape. Louisiana's accommodation and food services real GDP moved from $7.54 billion in Q1 2025 to $7.83 billion in Q4 2025, four consecutive quarters of increase. That is the industry a franchisee is actually buying into, measured on its own, not inferred from a statewide average.
The restaurant sector here is large and long established. The National Restaurant Association counts $18.2 billion in Louisiana restaurant and foodservice sales and 213,700 industry jobs, making it the state's third largest private employer, with $2.9 billion in taxes paid by Louisiana restaurants. Louisiana also does not have to teach anyone to eat out.
Then add the visitors. Louisiana drew 45 million domestic and international travelers in 2025 who spent $19.5 billion, up $1 billion over 2024, supporting 225,600 tourism and hospitality jobs, according to MMGY Global research released by the Lieutenant Governor's office. Tourists eat on the road and residents commute year round. Our full menu runs all day, and our late night hours line up with a state that keeps unusual hours.
Finally, geography. I-10 and I-12 split at Baton Rouge. I-20 and I-49 cross at Shreveport. Those four interstates are the reason both trade areas carry traffic that has nothing to do with resident count, and high visibility interstate corridors are exactly the site profile we look for.