New Orleans is a large coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Louisiana. With a population of 364,136 people and 195 associated neighborhoods, New Orleans is the largest community in Louisiana. Much of the housing stock in New Orleans was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.

New Orleans real estate is some of the most expensive in Louisiana, although New Orleans house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.

Of important note, New Orleans is also a city of artists. New Orleans has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape New Orleans’s character.

Also of interest is that New Orleans has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 11.31% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

New Orleans is one of the most attractive larger cities for people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters. This makes it a good place to live for young singles in their 20s and 30s and who have undergraduate or graduate degrees and are starting their professional careers. Although New Orleans is a large city, this demographic is significant enough that young professionals will find many others like themselves here, with really good opportunities for friendships, recreation, romance, and more.

New Orleans is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.

New Orleans is a big city, and with that comes lots of benefits. One benefit is that most big cities have public transit, but New Orleans really shines when it comes to the extensiveness and use of its public transit system. More than most large American cities, New Orleans citizens use public transit daily to get to and from work. And while there are transportation options, most people in New Orleans ride the bus. Whereas in some cities one is destined to sit in traffic every morning to get to work and every evening to get home, in New Orleans a lot leave their cars at home (if they even choose to own one), and hop a ride on the bus.

The education level of New Orleans ranks among the highest in the nation. Of the 25-and-older adult population in New Orleans, 40.74% have at least a bachelor's degree. The typical US community has just 21.84% of its adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree.

The per capita income in New Orleans in 2022 was $37,013, which is wealthy relative to Louisiana, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $148,052 for a family of four. However, New Orleans contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

New Orleans is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call New Orleans home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of New Orleans residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Important ancestries of people in New Orleans include German, Irish, French, English, and African.

The most common language spoken in New Orleans is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Vietnamese.