New Orleans metropolitan area

New Orleans
Metropolitan Statistical Area
New Orleans–Metairie
From top: New Orleans, Kenner, Metairie, showcasing Downtown New Orleans, Kenner Old Rivertown, and Metairie Central Business District
Location of the New Orleans–Metairie–Slidell CSA and its components:   New Orleans–Metairie MSA   Slidell–Mandeville–Covington, MSA   Bogalusa μSA   Picayune μSA   Louisiana   Mississippi
Country	United States
State(s)	Louisiana
Largest city	New Orleans
Other cities	• Kenner  • Gretna
Area
• Total	3,755.2 sq mi (9,726 km2)
Highest elevation	371[1] ft (113 m)
Lowest elevation	−7 ft (−2 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	1,270,530
• Rank	45th
• Density	311/sq mi (120/km2)
GDP [2]
• MSA	$94.031 billion (2022)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code(s)	504, 985

The New Orleans metropolitan area, designated the New Orleans–Metairie metropolitan statistical area by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget,^[3] or simply Greater New Orleans (French: Grande Nouvelle-Orléans, Spanish: Gran Nueva Orleans), is a metropolitan statistical area designated by the United States Census Bureau encompassing seven Louisiana parishes—the equivalent of counties in other U.S. states—centered on the city of New Orleans. The population of Greater New Orleans was 1,271,845 in 2020,^[4] up from 1,189,166 at the 2010 United States census. Greater New Orleans is the most populous metropolitan area in Louisiana, and the 45th most populous in the United States. According to 2017 census estimates, the broader New Orleans–Metairie–Slidell combined statistical area (CSA) had a population of 1,510,562.

The New Orleans metropolitan area was devastated by Hurricane Katrina—once a category 5 hurricane, but a category 3 storm at landfall—on August 29, 2005.^[5] Within the city of New Orleans proper, multiple breaches and structural failures occurred in the system of levees and flood walls designed under federal government auspices. The city of New Orleans experienced a steep population decline after the hurricane, though by the 2020 Census, it had regained a good portion of that loss.

The post-August 2005 decline in the city's population negatively impacted population numbers for the entire metropolitan area, which had a population of 1,337,726 million as recorded in the 2000 United States census. Most of the decline in population was accounted for by the decline experienced in the city of New Orleans proper (coterminous with Orleans Parish); the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the city's population dropped from 453,728 prior to the storm (July 1, 2005) to 389,476, the estimate for 2020.^[6][7]

Greater New Orleans is the largest regional economy in Louisiana and borders the second largest economically-important area, Greater Baton Rouge.^[8] One Fortune 500 company is headquartered in the region, Entergy.^[9] The largest companies operating in the New Orleans metropolitan area are Globalstar, AT&T, GE Capital, and the Port of New Orleans. Home to some of Louisiana's most-visited tourist destinations, tourists have spent over $10.05 billion in 2019.^[10]