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Welcome to Lake Charles ...

The city of Lake Charles is located in Calcasieu Parish<1> and is the Parish Seat for Calcasieu Parish.



Lake Charles was established in 1861.

A typical abbreviation for Lake Charles: Lk. Charles

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Lake Charles has a population of 78,510 people<2> (see below for details).

The community of Lake Charles is near sea level<3>.

Time Zone: Lake Charles lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

The telephone area code for Lake Charles: (337)

The ZIP codes for Lake Charles: 70601-70602, 70605-70607, 70609, 70611-70612, 70615-70616, 70629<4>

Websites for Lake Charles ...

Official Website:   www.cityoflakecharles.com/

Chamber of Commerce:   www.chamberswla.org/

Junior League:   www.jllc.net/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Lake Charles had an population of 78,510 people. This is an increase of 9.05% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 9.41% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Lake Charles had a population of 71,993 people (which is 37.35% of the total population of Calcasieu Parish). This makes Lake Charles the parish's most populous community.

The population of Lake Charles represents 1.59% of the population of Louisiana (which has 4,533,372 people), making it the state's 5th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 71,993 people, the population of Lake Charles has remained roughly the same as the 2000 Census (which had a count of 71,757 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Lake Charles.

Communities Also Named Lake Charles ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 3 communities that are also named Lake Charles - they are located in Florida, New York and Ontario.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Lake Charles.

Communities near Lake Charles ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Lake Charles.

  • Sulphur
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Iowa
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iowa have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa
    • Iowa is located in Calcasieu Parish
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,109 people
  • Westlake
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westlake have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westlake
    • Westlake is located in Calcasieu Parish
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,873 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Westlake <5>
  • Ararat
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ararat
    • Ararat is located in Calcasieu Parish
  • Moss Bluff
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moss Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moss Bluff
    • Moss Bluff is located in Calcasieu Parish
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moss Bluff <5>
  • Carlyss
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlyss
    • Carlyss is located in Calcasieu Parish
  • Grand Lake
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grand Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Lake
    • Grand Lake is located in Cameron Parish
  • Bell City
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bell City have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell City
    • Bell City is located in Calcasieu Parish
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bell City <5>
  • Hackberry
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hackberry have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackberry
    • Hackberry is located in Cameron Parish
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hackberry <5>
  • Edgerly
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerly
    • Edgerly is located in Calcasieu Parish

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Lake Charles. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Lake Charles.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Lake Charles. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Lake Charles.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Lake Charles. Our list includes 30 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Lake Charles.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Lake Charles ...

Looking for more information about Lake Charles? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Lake Charles, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Lake Charles.

Adding Lake Charles to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Lake Charles in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Lake Charles was in the book titled Table of U.S. Post Offices in the United States (Jan. 1851).

We also found Lake Charles in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Lake Charles.

The official website for Lake Charles: www.cityoflakecharles.com/

The official website for Calcasieu Parish: www.cppj.net/

The official website for State of Louisiana: louisiana.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Louisiana's parishes, including Calcasieu, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Lake Charles.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Lake Charles - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Lake Charles). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Lake Charles or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).

Our list of ZIP Codes for Lake Charles includes: 70601, 70605, 70606, 70609, 70611, 70615 & 70616.
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 10 Mar 2024