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Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.

Lake Charles, LA
Real Estate & Demographic Data






Lake Charles profile


Living in Lake Charles



Lake Charles is a larger medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Louisiana. With a population of 79,113 people and 37 associated neighborhoods, Lake Charles is the sixth largest community in Louisiana.

Lake Charles 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. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.

Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Lake Charles spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 18.66 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be.

In terms of college education, Lake Charles is somewhat better educated than the 21.84% who have a 4-year degree or higher in the typical US community: 27.47% of adults 25 and older in the city have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Lake Charles in 2018 was $34,341, which is wealthy relative to Louisiana, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $137,364 for a family of four. However, Lake Charles contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

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

The most common language spoken in Lake Charles is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and French.