Louisiana’s capital combines business with pleasure with an aplomb rarely seen elsewhere. It’s what you’d expect from a state capital that’s also home to one of the nation’s proudest student bodies (as seen on most school-year weekends around the #59-ranked Louisiana State University campus). The 102,321-seat LSU Tiger Stadium is the seventh largest in the world, with the city’s urban grid as the on- and off-ramp to the revelry (giving you a sense that, in the Red Stick, partying only has one speed). But the state’s second-largest city is also a portal into the American South, awash with history and #45-ranked green spaces. A year-round calendar of festivals—from film circuits to Mardi Gras—grows ever more packed, with the Louisiana Cann Festival, focused on medicinal cannabis, returning for its third year in 2025. Then there’s the growing culinary scene (#57), fed by new arrivals like The Colonel’s Club—a swanky dining room in a historic mechanical shop. The city ranks #9 in our Poverty Rate subcategory, and it’s primed to build on a good thing. Its Baton Rouge III Masterplan will set ambitious goals to enhance its downtown, from commerce to housing. Meanwhile, an Amtrak line to New Orleans is planned for 2027.