2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Fresno, CA vs Lake Charles, LA

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Lake Charles or is it cheaper to live in Fresno?
- Lake Charles is 18.9% less expensive than Fresno.

Which city has more affordable housing, Lake Charles or Fresno?
- Lake Charles housing costs are 42.6% less expensive than Fresno housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Fresno or is Health Care more affordable in Lake Charles.
- Health related expenses are 9.5% more in Lake Charles.
 Fresno, CALake Charles, LAUnited States
 Overall  Unlock84.1100
 Food & Groceries99.2  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock101.9100
 Housing108.5  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$179,400$338,100
 Utilities112  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock89.1100
 Miscellaneous110.2  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Fresno    77 Reviews

I'm not gonna say this city is terrible, but it certainly has many issues that need to be taken care of and unfortunately the city council has done a poor job keeping up  More

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I've lived in Fresno my entire life and when I became an adult, I began to realize how much being a resident here really sucks, it might be cheaper than most other  More

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Lived here since 2002. I may be flamed for this, but.. total dump and I would rate 0 stars if I could. You only really move here to move out. As good as a gas stop.  More

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Reviews for Lake Charles    34 Reviews

Over 2 years ago

I’ve lived in the city for years and it’s great, you should really check it  More

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Over 4 years ago

Lake Charles, Louisiana is one of the absolute creepiest cities in the USA. The people feel dead inside. They also seem to secretly hate each other. It is also an  More

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Beware reader, the city of Lake Charles is an absolute sh*thole. If you are traveling through I-10 you might want to skip this place. This place is the very worst of the  More

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