FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 19, 2025
For more information, contact:
mbhende1@lsu.edu

BATON ROUGE—The Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs at the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication today released the annual Louisiana Survey, which shows trending improvement in Louisiana residents' mood about the direction of the state, among other findings. To read the full report, visit the Reilly Center’s website here.

The 2025 Louisiana Survey includes two distinct efforts, telephone interviews along with a parallel survey administered online, to reflect the views of more than 1,000 Louisiana residents. The mission of the survey is to establish benchmarks as well as to capture changes in residents’ assessments of state government services and Louisiana’s quality of life. It is further dedicated to tracking public opinion on the contemporary policy issues that face the state. This year’s survey includes questions on the direction of the state, the economy, crime, state government finances, energy, insurance, education, and more.

“This year, we’re seeing signs of optimism,” said Louisiana Survey Director Michael Henderson, Ph.D. “A growing number of Louisianians now say the state is heading in the right direction. It’s a modest shift, but a meaningful one, given how entrenched negative sentiment has been in recent years.”

For instance, with the share of respondents saying the state is heading in the wrong direction having reached 66% in the 2022 telephone version and 68% in the 2023 online version – each setting a record high in the history of the Louisiana Survey – that share has dropped significantly in both versions of the survey. Today, respondents in the online survey split evenly between those who think the state is heading in the wrong direction (50%) and those who think it is heading in the right direction (50%).

Similarly, confidence in state government has risen over the past few years. In both versions of the survey, the share of respondents who say they are either “very confident” or “somewhat confident” in the government of Louisiana to address their concerns effectively grew by 14 percentage points from 2022 to 2025 (32% to 46% in the online version and 25% to 39% in the telephone version).

Touching on issues under consideration by the Legislature, majorities of both Republicans and Democrats agree that state income and sales taxes are too high. At the same time, the survey shows that more than three quarters of respondents support helping to pay homeowners for the cost of strengthening roofs against severe weather. Also, majorities want to see the state spend more on roads, bridges, and highways, as well as on elementary and secondary education – and, for only these two areas, indicate a willingness to pay more in taxes to support the spending increases.

Of note, most respondents also support the state providing families with funds to pay for educational expenses, including helping to pay for tuition at private schools. And a majority supports raising pay for public school teachers, again, even if it means increasing taxes to do so.

Other findings from the report include:

• The economy once again tops the list of problems about which the public is concerned. Crime and education follow as the second and third most named issues.
• Nearly half of respondents say that the amount of crime in Louisiana increased in the last year. However, when describing the amount of crime in their own community, only about one-third say it increased.
• Large majorities support expanding offshore oil and gas drilling as well as renewable energy sources like solar and wind. Nuclear power is far less popular than either oil and gas drilling or renewable sources of energy.
• Many in the state continue to face challenges with homeowners insurance. About two-thirds of respondents who currently have homeowners insurance say their premiums increased in the past year. About half of those who sought coverage last year say they had difficulty getting coverage. Among individuals who currently have or recently had coverage for their home, about one-in-ten say their insurance company cancelled their policy during the last year.

Dr. Henderson is available for interviews. Contact mbhende1@lsu.edu to schedule. Read the Louisiana Survey report on the LSU Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs website.

Methodology: The 2025 Louisiana Survey includes two distinct efforts to sample residents of the state and conduct interviews. The Louisiana Survey polled 507 adult residents from across the state via telephone about how they view their government and its policies. The survey was conducted from March 10 to April 21, 2025, and the total sample has a +/- 5.7% margin of error. Additionally, the Louisiana Survey sampled 500 adult residents in a parallel survey administered online. The survey was conducted from February 26 to March 13, 2025, and the total sample has a +/- 6% margin of error. The report describes results from the traditional telephone-based survey but also presents results of the online survey.

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The Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs is partnership-driven, action-oriented and dedicated to exploring contemporary issues at the intersection of mass communication and public life. Its interdisciplinary approach draws together experts from diverse fields to advance research and dialogue. The intent is to inspire our communities to think deeply, take action, develop solutions and broaden knowledge. Underlying the Center’s endeavors is to strengthen and advance the Manship School’s national and state leadership in media and politics. Follow us on Facebook @ReillyCenter, Twitter @ReillyCenter, Instagram @lsureillycenter and LinkedIn LSU Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs. LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication ranks among the strongest collegiate communication programs in the country, with its robust emphasis on media and public affairs. It offers undergraduate degrees in public relations, journalism, political communication, digital advertising and pre-law, along with four graduate degree programs: Master of Mass Communication, Ph.D. in Media and Public Affairs, Certificate of Strategic Communication and a dual MMC/Law degree. Like us on Facebook @ManshipSchool, or follow us on Twitter @ManshipSchool, Instagram @ManshipSchool and LinkedIn LSU Manship School of Mass Communication.