70607 — Lake Charles, Louisiana

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 70607. Its median home value runs 15% below Lake Charles as a whole, which is why this ZIP carries a profile of its own.

46out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 10% of 3,113 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity1,879th of 3,116 ZIP areas measured49
Schools2,253rd of 3,047 ZIP areas measured31
Growth2,498th of 3,124 ZIP areas measured33
Housing affordability2,199th of 3,112 ZIP areas measured58
ClimateTop 27% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured76
Physical resilience2,752nd of 3,127 ZIP areas measured20
AccessTop 30% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured97
Economic stability2,981st of 3,127 ZIP areas measured19
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.6% and median household income $60,351, putting employment conditions in the middle range of ZIP areas measured. The unemployment rate is published for Lake Charles, LA, which contains 70607, rather than for 70607 alone.

In the public schools here, 55% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 12.4 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 245 units authorized over the past twelve months, 49% below the prior year. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Lake Charles, LA, which contains 70607, rather than for 70607 alone.

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

Population
27,080
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$60,351
Bottom 30% nationally
Density
235/sq mi
115.3 sq mi of land
Median age
32.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Lake Charles
Louisiana
Nearest major airport
CWF
12 mi · Chennault Intl
Median home value
$181,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Lake Charles, LA, which contains 70607, is 4.6% — higher than in all but 41% of the 3,127 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment across Lake Charles, LA, which contains 70607, grew 0.4% over the past year, to 33,216 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$6,1802024 ACS 5-Year$60,351Bottom 30%of 31,0492024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,5402024 ACS 5-Year$27,801Bottom 20%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year21.4%Bottom 15%of 32,8462024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.5 min2024 ACS 5-Year20.4 minTop 14%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year17.5%Bottom 32%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±7%2024 ACS 5-Year80.3%67th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentLake Charles, LA’s figureJuly 202633,216Bottom 36%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Lake Charles, LA’s figureJuly 2026+2.1%Top 22%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Lake Charles, LA’s figureJuly 2026+0.4%Top 29%of 3,127July 2026
Labor forceLake Charles, LA’s figureJuly 202634,82536th percentileof 3,127July 2026
Labor force participation ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year73.8%Bottom 34%of 32,8832024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageLake Charles, LA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$56,630Bottom 11%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Median annual wageLake Charles, LA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$45,700Bottom 12%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%68th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Lake Charles, LA’s figureJuly 2026−0.2%Top 45%of 3,127July 2026
Unemployment rateLake Charles, LA’s figureJuly 20264.6%Bottom 41%of 3,127July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year6.7%33rd percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202460k45k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $60,351 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Lake Charles, LA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Cashiers2,840$27,480
Retail Salespersons2,620$28,780
Registered Nurses2,460$90,690
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,350$22,500
General and Operations Managers2,140$101,370
Home Health and Personal Care Aides2,140$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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Lake Charles, LA, the city containing this ZIP code.

55% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 64% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 12.4 students for every full-time teacher across 10 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
10
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
12.4
across all schools here
Math proficiency
55.0%
Bottom 16% in Louisiana
Reading proficiency
64.3%
Bottom 18% in Louisiana
All 10 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Lake Charles Charter Academy · charterLake Charles Charter Academy Foundation Inc.95116.462%71%
Southwest Louisiana Charter Academy · charterSouthwest Louisiana Charter Academy85215.245%56%
Lake Charles College Prep · charterLake Charles College Prep62417.352%62%
F. K. White Middle SchoolCalcasieu Parish6148.954%65%
Fairview Elementary SchoolCalcasieu Parish51811.337%47%
Grand Lake ElementaryCameron Parish35110.6——
Grand Lake High SchoolCameron Parish32211.588%87%
Henry Heights Elementary SchoolCalcasieu Parish3159.557%67%
M. J. Kaufman Elementary SchoolCalcasieu Parish30810.366%70%
Brentwood Elementary SchoolCalcasieu Parish27210.552%67%

72.3% 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.

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 $612 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.34% 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 8% above the $1,128 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 81% of the median household income here of $60,351.

The typical renter household here spends 38% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,128 a month.

A median home at $181,100 costs 2.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $71,063, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
87.1

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.

Rent as a share of income
38.1%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,217
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,128
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$181,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against 70607’s median household income of $60,351, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Lake Charles, LA Metro Area’s figure202387.1Top 3%of 2,7372023
Home price change (1 year)the Lake Charles, LA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+7.7%97th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Lake Charles, LA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+17.6%2nd percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Lake Charles, LA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+33.6%1st percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.52024 ACS 5-Year2.5Top 44%of 29,2752024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year66.5%23rd percentileof 32,7502024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±8702024 ACS 5-Year13,71990th percentileof 33,4602024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$928Top 21%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,459Top 20%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,217Top 29%of 3,031FY2026
Median gross rent ±$782024 ACS 5-Year$1,128Bottom 40%of 26,3962024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$24,1542024 ACS 5-Year$181,10039th percentileof 30,8122024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1572024 ACS 5-Year$6127th percentileof 28,9352024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$11,1702024 ACS 5-Year$71,063Bottom 32%of 29,8022024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.10%2024 ACS 5-Year0.34%3rd percentileof 24,0992024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±9%2024 ACS 5-Year38.1%Bottom 11%of 26,2472024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1132024 ACS 5-Year11277th percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.8%47th percentileof 32,9612024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year26.2%95th percentileof 32,7882024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±6502024 ACS 5-Year3,70399th percentileof 33,7722024 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.

Development Momentum

33/ 100
Ranks 2,498 of 3,124 published ZIP profiles

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.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 245 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes. The multifamily share is published for Lake Charles, LA, which contains 70607, rather than for 70607 alone.

At 3.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas. The permit rate is published for Lake Charles, LA, which contains 70607, rather than for 70607 alone.

Units permitted
245
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.0
Top 50% nationally
Year over year
−49%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Lake Charles, LA, the city containing this ZIP code.

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.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station LAKE CHARLES, 6.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND6.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year642024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals59.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals43°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals92°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year42024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year492024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals31°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
49
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
64
90th percentile index
Days above 100
4
unhealthy for sensitive groups

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

20 / 100
Physical resilience

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.

HurricaneHigh
WildfireModerate
Coastal floodingModerate
DroughtModerate
TornadoModerate
HailModerate
Inland floodingModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, ice storm, cold wave, 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. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Homicide
7.9
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
21.1
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
28.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
16.2
per 100,000 residents

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.

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 70607 (Calcasieu Parish) rather than 70607 itself. They are shown and not scored. How to read 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.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. A ZIP area is not a jurisdiction, so no department reports for one. Lake Charles carries the figure where its department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
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 12 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year83.4%Bottom 25%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle12 miTop 34%of 3,127NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Bottom 40%of 3,127NASR current cycle
No internet access ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year11.9%Bottom 30%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Chennault IntlCWF12 mi10,702 ft
Lafayette Rgnl/Paul Fournet FldLFT73 mi8,000 ft
Acadiana RgnlARA78 mi8,002 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
46
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
SafetyU.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
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA 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.

70607 vs Lake Charles

How this ZIP area compares with Lake Charles as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like — a gap here is a real difference between the two places, not two surveys disagreeing.

70607
Lake Charles
Median household income: 70607 is the more favorable of the two.
Median household income
$60,351
vs
$59,235
Per capita income: Lake Charles is the more favorable of the two.
Per capita income
$27,801
vs
$35,860
Population density
235/sq mi
vs
1,709/sq mi
Median home value
$181,100
vs
$214,300
Median gross rent: Lake Charles is the more favorable of the two.
Median gross rent
$1,128
vs
$1,109
Homeownership rate
66.5%
vs
60.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher: Lake Charles is the more favorable of the two.
Bachelor's degree or higher
17.5%
vs
29.1%
Poverty rate: 70607 is the more favorable of the two.
Poverty rate
21.4%
vs
21.6%
Median age
32.3
vs
36.6

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.