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

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Santa Barbara or is it cheaper to live in Lake Charles?
- Santa Barbara is 83.9% more expensive than Lake Charles.

Which city has more affordable housing, Santa Barbara or Lake Charles?
- Santa Barbara housing costs are 665.2% more expensive than Lake Charles housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Lake Charles or is Health Care more affordable in Santa Barbara.
- Health related expenses are 11.1% more in Santa Barbara.
 Lake Charles, LASanta Barbara, CAUnited States
 Overall  Unlock154.7100
 Food & Groceries92.9  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock113.2100
 Housing62.3  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$1,525,500$338,100
 Utilities90  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock97.0100
 Miscellaneous93.4  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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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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Reviews for Santa Barbara    51 Reviews

I moved to Santa Barbara around 23 years ago to study at Brooks, which like most of the Santa Barbara that I knew—has been destroyed. Homelessness, drugs, gangs, high  More

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Over 4 years ago

I fell in love with Santa Barbara about thirty years ago and finally moved here a few years ago. Because of the price of homes, it is an expensive place to live. The  More

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If you like high crime, paying a $4,500 a month mortgage and crazy high taxes, this is the place for you. It’s too bad because it wasn’t always like this. When I moved  More

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