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Lake Charles vs Longview

Metro-area medians — Lake Charles, LA Metro Area vs Longview, TX Metro Area — not the cities proper.

Lake Charles and Longview are evenly matched, each taking 3 of the clearly-decided measures.

Lake Charles costs about 4% less to live in, and household incomes are similar. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches further in Lake Charles.

For your salary & household

Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.

Lake Charles, LA
$59,439
take-home / yr · 21% to tax
$69,234
real value after local prices
Longview, TX
$61,314
take-home / yr · 18% to tax
$68,518
real value after local prices

On $75,000 for just you, Lake Charles leaves you about $715/yr better off after tax and local prices.

Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.

Measure
Lake Charles
Longview
Livability (CityLedger)
34/100
37/100
Cost of living (price level, US = 100)
85.9
89.5
Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
$75,879
$73,432
Median household income
$65,144
$65,711
Median rent
$977/mo
$1,091/mo
Median home value
$213,100
$208,000
Unemployment
6.4%
4.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher
22.2%
21.9%
Average commute
23.2 min
23.1 min
Air quality (median AQI)
49
37
Avg temperature
70°F
66°F

Choose Lake Charles for

  • + Cost of living (price level, US = 100)
  • + Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
  • + Median rent
Full Lake Charles profile →

Choose Longview for

  • + Livability (CityLedger)
  • + Unemployment
  • + Air quality (median AQI)
Full Longview profile →

Lake Charles vs Longview — frequently asked

Is Lake Charles cheaper than Longview?
Lake Charles is cheaper: its overall cost of living runs about 4% below Longview's (BEA Regional Price Parities).
Which has higher household income, Lake Charles or Longview?
Household incomes are similar — $65,144 in the Lake Charles metro versus $65,711 in Longview (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).
Does a paycheck go further in Lake Charles or Longview?
A paycheck stretches further in Lake Charles. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $75,879 there versus $73,432 in Longview.
Which has cheaper rent, Lake Charles or Longview?
Lake Charles has cheaper rent — a median of $977/mo versus $1,091/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).