HomeLouisianaCalcasieu ParishLake Charles city
Lake Charles city, Louisiana: commercial real estate data.
Lake Charles city is a Census city of 81,143 people across 47.47 square miles of land, in Calcasieu Parish. Median household income is $59,235, 60.9 percent of occupied homes are owned, and the SBA record carries 86 7(a) approvals to borrowers here worth $59.6 m.
77 sourced place values · tier FULL · 8 sections · underlined figures are computed by MMCG Analytics, not published by the agency
Lake Charles
What Lake Charles is
- Census place typecity
- Land area47.47 sq mi
- Water area2.87 sq mi
- Population per square mile of land1,709
- County holding the largest share of its areaCalcasieu Parish, 100.0 percent
US Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file, places, 2024 vintage. US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Lake Charles
How many people live in Lake Charles
- Population81,143
- Median age36.6
- Population under 1817,749
- Share under 1821.9 percent
- Population 65 and over13,747
- Share 65 and over16.9 percent
- Households32,077
- Family households18,634
- Share of households that are families58.1 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Lake Charles
Income and work in Lake Charles
- Median household income$59,235
- Per capita income$35,860
- Civilian labor force39,957
- Employed37,303
- Unemployed2,654 plus or minus 593
- Unemployment rate6.6 percent plus or minus 1.5
- Adults 25 and over54,137
- Adults 25 and over with a high school diploma or higher90.5 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a bachelor degree or higher29.1 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a graduate degree10.9 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Lake Charles
Housing in Lake Charles
- Housing units40,742
- Occupied units32,077
- Vacant units8,665
- Vacancy rate21.3 percent
- Owner occupied19,532
- Renter occupied12,545
- Ownership rate60.9 percent
- Median owner-occupied home value$214,300
- Median gross rent, monthly$1,109
- Annual rent as a share of median income22.5 percent
- Single family units28,559
- Share single family70.1 percent
- Units in buildings of two or more11,099
- Share in buildings of two or more27.2 percent
- Mobile homes1,058 plus or minus 440
- Median year structure built1981
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Lake Charles
How Lake Charles gets to work
- Workers 16 and over who commute35,130
- Commuting under 15 minutes15,857
- Share commuting under 15 minutes45.1 percent
- Commuting 30 minutes or more4,448
- Share commuting 30 minutes or more12.7 percent
- Drove alone80.2 percent
- Carpooled10.7 percent
- Public transport0.1 percent plus or minus 0.1
- Walked2.4 percent plus or minus 0.9
- Worked from home5.0 percent plus or minus 1.1
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Lake Charles
SBA loans in Lake Charles (7(a))
- Approvals86
- Gross approval$59,618,300
- Average approval$693,236
- Median approval$350,000
- Ninetieth percentile approval$1,861,000
- Largest approval$5,000,000
- Jobs supported900
- Jobs per approval10.5
- Loans with a final outcome23
- Paid in full17
- Charged off6
- Charge-off rate over resolved loans26.1 percent
- Median term120 months
- Share on real estate terms of 20 years or more24.4 percent
- Share to franchises33.7 percent
- Distinct lenders32
- Distinct industries by NAICS51
US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA release, FY2020 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Lake Charles
SBA loans in Lake Charles (504)
- Approvals12
- Gross approval$12,096,000
- Average approval$1,008,000
- Median approval$441,000
- Largest approval$4,997,000
- Jobs supported161
- Loans with a final outcome3
- Charged off0
- Median term300 months
- Distinct CDCs3
US Small Business Administration, 504 FOIA release, FY2010 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Calcasieu Parish, not Lake Charles
Calcasieu Parish context, not Lake Charles figures
These are Calcasieu Parish figures. There is no place level equivalent published for any of them, so they are shown as the county backdrop and never as Lake Charles measurements.
- Establishments in Calcasieu Parish4,705
- Employment at those establishments, Calcasieu Parish75,412
- Covered employment, Calcasieu Parish88,649
- Average annual pay, Calcasieu Parish$61,711
- Average weekly wage, Calcasieu Parish$1,187
- Housing units permitted, Calcasieu Parish1,361
- Of those, single family, Calcasieu Parish829
- County product, 2024, Calcasieu Parish$18,357,421,000
- County product change over the prior year, Calcasieu Parish-3.7 percent
- Average income of an arriving household, Calcasieu Parish$48,691
Every figure in this section is published for Calcasieu Parish as a whole and is not a measurement of Lake Charles. It is here because a county backdrop is what a credit committee reads a place against, and it is labelled so that it can never be quoted as the place's own.
US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 annual averages. US Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, 2024 annual. US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional, table CAGDP2, CAGDP2, through 2024. US Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income county migration flows, 2021 to 2022 filing years.
Coverage
What this page does not hold.
Every item below could be filled with a plausible figure. None of them is. On a page a lender may read, a number that cannot be traced is worse than an absence, so the absences are named.
- This place is not listed as a community in the FEMA Community Status Book, so no NFIP participation or CRS class is shown.
- Parcel level detail, zoning and flood zone at an address are resolved in the platform, not on this page.
SBA figures count approvals to borrowers whose address is in the place. They are not approvals for projects inside the place boundary: the tape records a borrower city and a project county, and those can differ.
Common questions
Lake Charles questions, answered from the record.
How many people live in Lake Charles, Louisiana?
81,143, in 32,077 households. Lake Charles city covers 47.47 square miles of land, which is 1,709 people per square mile. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
What county is Lake Charles in?
Calcasieu Parish, which holds 100.0 percent of the place by area. Source: US Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file, places, 2024 vintage.
What is the median household income in Lake Charles?
$59,235. The median owner-occupied home is valued at $214,300. Median gross rent is $1,109 per month. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
How much SBA lending goes to Lake Charles businesses?
86 7(a) approvals totalling $59.6 m, across 32 lenders, median approval $350,000, plus 12 504 approvals worth $12.1 m. These count approvals to borrowers whose address is in Lake Charles, not projects sited inside the place boundary, and they are approvals recorded in the release rather than loans disbursed.
Do SBA loans to Lake Charles borrowers get paid back?
Of the 23 loans that have reached a final outcome, 17 were paid in full and 6 charged off, a charge off rate of 26.1 percent. Loans still running are excluded because they have not yet succeeded or failed.
Are the county figures on this page Lake Charles figures?
No, and they are labelled so. County Business Patterns, QCEW, the Building Permits Survey, BEA product and IRS migration are published for Calcasieu Parish as a whole and there is no place level equivalent. They appear in one clearly marked section as context and are never presented as measurements of Lake Charles.
Is zoning published for Lake Charles?
Not yet. The zoning layer is in build. Nothing on this page presents parcel level zoning.
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