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Lake Charles vs Monroe

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

Monroe comes out ahead, winning 5 of the 8 clearly-decided measures.

Lake Charles and Monroe cost about the same to live in, but Lake Charles households earn about 15% more. 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
Monroe, LA
$59,439
take-home / yr · 21% to tax
$71,101
real value after local prices

On $75,000 for just you, Monroe leaves you about $1,868/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
Monroe
Livability (CityLedger)
34/100
32/100
Cost of living (price level, US = 100)
85.9
83.6
Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
$75,879
$67,548
Median household income
$65,144
$56,468
Median rent
$977/mo
$928/mo
Median home value
$213,100
$176,900
Unemployment
6.4%
4.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher
22.2%
25.7%
Average commute
23.2 min
23.1 min
Air quality (median AQI)
49
41
Avg temperature
70°F
66°F

Choose Lake Charles for

  • + Livability (CityLedger)
  • + Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
  • + Median household income
Full Lake Charles profile →

Choose Monroe for

  • + Median rent
  • + Median home value
  • + Unemployment
  • + Bachelor's degree or higher
  • + Air quality (median AQI)
Full Monroe profile →

Lake Charles vs Monroe — frequently asked

Is Lake Charles cheaper than Monroe?
They are about even — the overall cost of living in the Lake Charles and Monroe metros is within 3% of each other (BEA Regional Price Parities), so neither is meaningfully cheaper.
Which has higher household income, Lake Charles or Monroe?
Lake Charles has the higher median household income — $65,144 versus $56,468 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 15% more.
Does a paycheck go further in Lake Charles or Monroe?
A paycheck stretches further in Lake Charles. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $75,879 there versus $67,548 in Monroe.
Which has cheaper rent, Lake Charles or Monroe?
Monroe has cheaper rent — a median of $928/mo versus $977/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).