Lake Charles, Louisiana
Area Profile
81,143 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Lake Charles, in Calcasieu Parish.
How this area ranks
Data updated · 16 sourcesUnemployment is 4.6% and median household income $59,235, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured.
In the public schools here, 63% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 12.5 students for every teacher.
Residential permitting has slowed: 245 units authorized over the past twelve months, 49% below the prior year.
These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 4.6% — higher than in all but 40% of the 4,226 measured US cities.
Employment grew 0.4% over the past year, to 33,216 employed residents.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income of new arrivalsCalcasieu Parish, LA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $49,387 | 7th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Income of those who leftCalcasieu Parish, LA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $57,410 | 20th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Median household income ±$3,5752024 ACS 5-Year | $59,235 | Bottom 38%of 29,223 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$2,7362024 ACS 5-Year | $35,860 | Top 43%of 31,420 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 21.6% | Bottom 20%of 31,773 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year | 18.4 min | Top 12%of 31,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 29.1% | Top 32%of 31,919 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 80.2% | 60th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| EmploymentJuly 2026 | 33,216 | Bottom 37%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years)July 2026 | +2.1% | Top 19%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year)July 2026 | +0.4% | Top 29%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor forceJuly 2026 | 34,825 | 37th percentileof 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 72.3% | Bottom 32%of 31,513 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wageLake Charles, LA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS | $56,630 | Bottom 7%of 3,729 | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wageLake Charles, LA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS | $45,700 | Bottom 8%of 3,729 | 2025 OEWS |
| Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.1% | 74th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026 | −0.2% | Top 44%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Unemployment rateJuly 2026 | 4.6% | Bottom 40%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 5.0% | 36th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Unemployment rate
Median household income, successive ACS releases
Largest occupations — Lake Charles, LA
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Cashiers | 2,840 | $27,480 |
| Retail Salespersons | 2,620 | $28,780 |
| Registered Nurses | 2,460 | $90,690 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 2,350 | $22,500 |
| General and Operations Managers | 2,140 | $101,370 |
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 2,140 | $23,000 |
Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.
Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
63% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 71% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 12.5 students for every full-time teacher across 30 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfred M. Barbe High School | Calcasieu Parish | 1,908 | 17.0 | 79% | 89% |
| S. J. Welsh Middle School | Calcasieu Parish | 1,011 | 11.2 | 64% | 78% |
| Lake Charles Charter Academy · charter | Lake Charles Charter Academy Foundation Inc. | 951 | 16.4 | 62% | 71% |
| LaGrange High School | Calcasieu Parish | 881 | 9.5 | 53% | 59% |
| Southwest Louisiana Charter Academy · charter | Southwest Louisiana Charter Academy | 852 | 15.2 | 45% | 56% |
| A. A. Nelson Elementary School | Calcasieu Parish | 736 | 15.3 | 84% | 84% |
| St. John Elementary School | Calcasieu Parish | 670 | 13.1 | 70% | 84% |
| Prien Lake Elementary School | Calcasieu Parish | 639 | 13.0 | 90% | 89% |
| Lake Charles College Prep · charter | Lake Charles College Prep | 624 | 17.3 | 52% | 62% |
| F. K. White Middle School | Calcasieu Parish | 614 | 8.9 | 54% | 65% |
| Washington/Marion Magnet High School | Calcasieu Parish | 597 | 12.7 | 47% | 62% |
| Fairview Elementary School | Calcasieu Parish | 518 | 11.3 | 37% | 47% |
65.7% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.
Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Louisiana’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated — housing affordability →Prices for everything a household buys run about 13% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 87.1, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Lake Charles, LA Metro Area is up 18% over five years, and up 7.7% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.
Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $774 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.36% of the median home value.
HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,217, some 10% above the $1,109 tenants already here pay.
At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,217 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $48,700 a year, about 82% of the median household income here of $59,235.
The typical renter household here spends 35% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,109 a month.
A median home at $214,300 costs 2.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $76,524, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.
Prices here run about 13% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.
Published for the Lake Charles, LA Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.
The figures above are measured against Lake Charles’s median household income of $59,235, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of living indexthe Lake Charles, LA Metro Area’s figure2023 | 87.1 | Top 2%of 3,700 | 2023 |
| Home price change (1 year)the Lake Charles, LA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +7.7% | 98th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (5 years)the Lake Charles, LA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +17.6% | 4th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (10 years)the Lake Charles, LA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +33.6% | 1st percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year | 2.8 | Bottom 40%of 26,815 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 60.9% | 22nd percentileof 31,717 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±7452024 ACS 5-Year | 40,742 | 99th percentileof 32,177 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Market rent, one bedroomFY2026 | $928 | Top 16%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, three bedroomFY2026 | $1,459 | Top 16%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, two bedroomFY2026 | $1,217 | Top 22%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Median gross rent ±$432024 ACS 5-Year | $1,109 | Bottom 38%of 23,120 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$12,6542024 ACS 5-Year | $214,300 | 57th percentileof 29,111 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median property taxes ±$1012024 ACS 5-Year | $774 | 15th percentileof 26,440 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Owner household income ±$7,4582024 ACS 5-Year | $76,524 | Bottom 47%of 27,548 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.36% | 4th percentileof 20,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 34.6% | Bottom 21%of 22,950 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Seasonal and second homes ±2412024 ACS 5-Year | 573 | 97th percentileof 32,330 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.4% | 65th percentileof 31,895 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year | 19.9% | 88th percentileof 31,769 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacant housing units ±6562024 ACS 5-Year | 8,665 | 99th percentileof 32,330 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated — growth →Development Momentum
An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.
Population has fallen 4% since 2020, to 81,157 in 2024.
Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 207 units authorized in 2025, 79% below the prior year.
New construction is predominantly single-family: of 245 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.
Federal tax returns show Calcasieu Parish, which contains Lake Charles, gained about 0.2% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $49,387, below the $57,410 of households that moved out.
At 3.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.
Population, annual estimates
People moving in and out
Where newcomers came from
- Beauregard Parish, LA 599 people · 8.6% of arrivals
- Jefferson Davis Parish, LA 537 people · 7.7% of arrivals
- Harris County, TX 450 people · 6.4% of arrivals
- Lafayette Parish, LA 341 people · 4.9% of arrivals
- Allen Parish, LA 240 people · 3.4% of arrivals
Where people who left went
- Beauregard Parish, LA 593 people · 8.9% of departures
- Harris County, TX 586 people · 8.8% of departures
- Jefferson Davis Parish, LA 448 people · 6.8% of departures
- Lafayette Parish, LA 237 people · 3.6% of departures
- Orange County, TX 214 people · 3.2% of departures
Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Calcasieu Parish, LA. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.
Housing units permitted per year
Weather & climate
7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 92°F and January a low of 43°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 59.7 inches.
Air quality measures a median index of 49, in the Good band, and about 4 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Precipitation
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| 90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year | 64 | 2024 calendar year |
| Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals | 59.7" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low1991-2020 Normals | 43°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high1991-2020 Normals | 92°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals | 7 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year | 4 | 2024 calendar year |
| Median air quality index2024 calendar year | 49 | 2024 calendar year |
| Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals | 31°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Air quality
A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, inland flooding and tornado, with hurricane alone responsible for 43% of it.
Low or minimal exposure: lightning, cold wave, wildfire, ice storm, heat wave, strong wind, earthquake, landslide, winter weather, volcanic activity, tsunami, avalanche.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.
Lake Charles's police department reported 665 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 2,424.
Calcasieu Parish records 7.9 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.
Firearm deaths of all intents run at 21.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.
Drug overdose deaths run at 28.0 per 100,000 residents in Calcasieu Parish.
Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.
Offenses are reported to the FBI by Lake Charles’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Lake Charles (Calcasieu Parish) rather than Lake Charles itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.
What this profile does not cover
Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.
- Taxes
- Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
- Anything about a specific address
- Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.
Access
4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Chennault Intl at 4 miles.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 85.4% | Bottom 32%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Distance to major airportNASR current cycle | 4 mi | Top 6%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle | 4 | Bottom 38%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 11.6% | Bottom 31%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chennault Intl | CWF | 4 mi | 10,702 ft |
| Lafayette Rgnl/Paul Fournet Fld | LFT | 73 mi | 8,000 ft |
| Acadiana Rgnl | ARA | 80 mi | 8,002 ft |
Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.
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Other cities in Lake Charles, LA
Same metropolitan area, measured the same way| City | County | Population | Area Score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sulphur | Calcasieu Parish | 20,775 | 56 | Sulphur vs Lake Charles |
| Moss Bluff | Calcasieu Parish | 12,482 | 63 | Moss Bluff vs Lake Charles |
Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.
Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyCompare
Put Lake Charles side by side with a similar place.
Moving to Lake Charles from somewhere else?
You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.
Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle |
| Safety | Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency | 2025 calendar year |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) |
| Demographics, Income | Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county) | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Housing | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional price parities and county personal income | 2023 |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | July 2026 |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 |
| Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Safety | U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics Provisional county-level mortality by intent | March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026 |
| Schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year |
| Housing | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research Fair Market Rents | FY2026 |
| Climate | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System Daily Air Quality Index by county | 2024 calendar year |
| Housing | U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions) | 2026 Q2 |
| Current conditions | NOAA National Weather Service National Weather Service current conditions | Live observation, read when the page opens |
Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.
ZIP codes in Lake Charles
4 ZIP areasEvery ZIP area in Lake Charles with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Lake Charles closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.