† Citizen voting-age population estimated for prior cycles; 2004 predates the ACS and is extrapolated. Source: ACS 5-year, table B05003.
——
D+60R+60
4 counties by 2024 margin · County returns · MIT Election Lab
People and households
Who lives here
Exact values for this place, its state, and the United States.
Race · ethnicity · ancestry
Communities and origins
GroupLake CharlesLouisianaUnited States
French10.5%9.6%1.6%
English8.6%7.3%9.5%
American7.1%7.4%5.3%
Irish6.9%6.6%9.4%
German6.6%6.9%12.5%
French Canadian3.5%1.6%—
Italian2.1%4.3%4.8%
Scottish1.1%1.0%1.3%
African American†20.6%29.3%9.9%
African0.2%0.8%0.5%
Mexican2.1%2.1%11.3%
Honduran0.5%1.6%0.3%
Spanish0.4%0.7%—
Cuban0.4%0.3%0.7%
Puerto Rican0.3%0.4%1.8%
Spaniard0.3%0.2%—
Salvadoran0.2%—0.7%
Venezuelan0.2%——
Pakistani0.2%——
Asian Indian0.2%0.2%1.4%
Chinese0.2%0.2%1.3%
Filipino0.2%—0.9%
Hispanic or Latino counts residents of any race; the race groups count only their non-Hispanic residents, so the groups are mutually exclusive and sum to 100%. Expand a row to see ancestries reported within that group.
Age and life stage
Measure
Lake Charles
Louisiana
United States
Median age
37.5
38
39.1
Age 18–24
8.1%
9.1%
9.2%
Age 65 and older
16.2%
16.8%
17.2%
Household economy
Measure
Lake Charles
Louisiana
United States
Median household income
$65,740
$60,756
$84,427
Poverty rate
17.3%
19.0%
12.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)
22.6%
27.1%
35.6%
Languages at home
Measure
Lake Charles
Louisiana
United States
Speaks a non-English language at home
6.4%
8.5%
22.3%
Spanish
3.2%
4.7%
13.6%
French (incl. Cajun & Haitian)
1.5%
1.5%
0.7%
Religious landscape
Measure
Lake Charles
Louisiana
United States
Catholic
21.2%
26.8%
18.6%
Evangelical Protestant
29.6%
25.0%
16.5%
Unclaimed / not counted
38.9%
36.8%
51.5%
Black Protestant
5.3%
5.4%
2.2%
American Community Survey 2024 5-year (CVAP, income, age, poverty, education, language, race, ancestry) · presidential returns from MIT Election Lab through 2024 · 2020 U.S. Religion Census (ASARB) — congregational adherents; unclaimed is the residual not counted by congregations.
Lake Charles, Louisiana
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1892–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over time
Year
Margin (D minus R)
1892
+30.8%
1896
+51.1%
1900
+42.1%
1904
+48.5%
1908
+49.5%
1912
+61.4%
1916
+83.8%
1920
+66.9%
1924
+47.3%
1928
+35.2%
1932
+84.3%
1936
+71.7%
1940
+71.0%
1944
+62.7%
1948
+43.2%
1952
+21.2%
1956
−4.9%
1960
+34.8%
1964
+13.9%
1968
+10.1%
1972
−25.5%
1976
+32.5%
1980
+13.1%
1984
−6.2%
1988
+5.1%
1992
+12.2%
1996
+14.3%
2000
−9.5%
2004
−20.8%
2008
−30.9%
2012
−35.3%
2016
−40.6%
2020
−43.4%
2024
−47.4%
DemocraticRepublican
34 presidential elections
Third column names the leading third-party or independent finisher. Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024). Swing · margin change from the prior cycle. vs U.S. · margin relative to the national result that year.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Other
Margin
Swing
vs U.S.
Total
R
25.6%Harris27,990
73.0%Trump79,691
1.4%
R+47.4
R+4.0
R+45.9
109,188
R
27.4%Biden30,956
70.8%Trump79,886
1.8%
R+43.4
R+2.7
R+47.8
112,869
R
27.8%Clinton31,118
68.5%Trump76,552
3.7%
R+40.6
R+5.3
R+42.7
111,800
R
31.4%Obama34,212
66.7%Romney72,717
1.9%
R+35.3
R+4.5
R+39.2
109,002
R
33.6%Obama36,819
64.5%McCain70,589
1.9%
R+30.9
R+10.1
R+38.1
109,465
R
39.1%Kerry41,688
59.8%Bush63,875
1.1%
R+20.8
R+11.3
R+18.3
106,743
R
44.0%Gore43,226
53.5%Bush52,576
2.6%
R+9.5
R+23.9
R+10.0
98,316
D
50.6%Clinton50,196
36.3%Dole35,974
13.1%
D+14.3
D+2.1
D+5.8
99,152
D
47.8%Clinton46,218
35.5%Bush34,364
16.7%
D+12.2
D+7.1
D+6.7
96,768
D
52.1%Dukakis46,097
47.0%Bush41,564
0.9%
D+5.1
D+11.3
D+12.9
88,443
R
46.6%Mondale43,863
52.7%Reagan49,658
0.7%
R+6.2
R+19.2
D+12.1
94,146
D
55.2%Carter49,280
42.1%Reagan37,627
2.7%
D+13.1
R+19.4
D+22.8
89,280
D
65.1%Carter47,107
32.6%Ford23,580
2.4%
D+32.5
D+58.0
D+30.4
72,392
R
34.0%McGovern19,826
59.5%Nixon34,705
6.6%
R+25.5
R+35.5
R+2.3
58,376
O
30.5%Humphrey18,721
20.4%Nixon12,544
49.1%
Wallace +18.7
R+3.8
D+10.7
61,447
D
56.9%Johnson31,697
43.1%Goldwater23,970
0.0%
D+13.9
R+20.9
R+8.7
55,667
D
62.9%Kennedy32,799
28.1%Nixon14,673
9.0%
D+34.8
D+39.7
D+34.6
52,147
R
46.2%Stevenson17,609
51.1%Eisenhower19,487
2.7%
R+4.9
R+26.1
D+10.5
38,132
D
60.6%Stevenson21,569
39.4%Eisenhower14,036
0.0%
D+21.2
R+22.0
D+31.9
35,605
D
56.6%Truman11,465
13.4%Dewey2,717
30.0%
D+43.2
R+19.6
D+38.7
20,253
D
81.4%Roosevelt13,317
18.6%Dewey3,048
0.0%
D+62.7
R+8.2
D+55.3
16,365
D
85.4%Roosevelt13,437
14.5%Willkie2,278
0.1%
D+71.0
R+0.7
D+61.0
15,726
D
85.8%Roosevelt11,714
14.1%Landon1,926
0.1%
D+71.7
R+12.6
D+47.4
13,653
D
92.0%Roosevelt11,437
7.8%Hoover964
0.2%
D+84.3
D+49.1
D+66.5
12,427
D
67.6%Smith6,743
32.4%Hoover3,231
0.0%
D+35.2
R+12.1
D+52.7
9,977
D
73.4%Davis5,050
26.1%Coolidge1,794
0.5%
D+47.3
R+19.5
D+72.5
6,878
D
83.2%Cox4,780
16.3%Harding938
0.5%
D+66.9
R+16.9
D+93.1
5,745
D
91.7%Wilson3,637
7.9%Hughes315
0.4%
D+83.8
D+22.4
D+80.6
3,966
D
66.8%Wilson2,263
5.4%Taft184
27.8%
D+61.4
D+11.9
D+41.8
3,387
D
71.7%Bryan2,255
22.2%Taft698
6.1%
D+49.5
D+1.0
D+59.1
3,145
D
71.8%Parker1,280
23.3%Roosevelt416
4.8%
D+48.5
D+6.4
D+68.2
1,782
D
71.0%Bryan1,744
29.0%McKinley711
0.0%
D+42.1
R+9.1
D+49.6
2,455
D
75.1%Bryan2,909
24.0%McKinley928
0.9%
D+51.1
D+20.3
D+57.2
3,873
D
65.4%Cleveland1,273
34.6%Harrison673
0.0%
D+30.8
—
D+29.2
1,946
voter registration
Registered voters
By party of registration, over time
Party registration · 2024R+10.0
vs
Presidential vote · 2024R+47.4
Registration leans Republican; the presidential vote runs 37 points more Democratic.
169,597 registered voters · 2024
Democratic30.4%Republican40.4%Other29.3%
domestic migration
Who moves in and out
Net domestic migration over time
+401 net domestic migration · 2025
20112025
Net −11,993 over 2011–2025 · gain loss
Domestic migration in Lake Charles in Lake Charles: net domestic migration by year
Year
Net domestic migration
2011
−356
2012
−604
2013
−188
2014
+92
2015
+1,051
2016
+1,303
2017
+443
2018
+116
2019
−709
2021
−11,190
2022
−3,664
2023
+485
2024
+827
2025
+401
The Lake Charles media market anchors Louisiana's southwestern corner, where refinery and chemical plant payrolls have historically anchored working-class Democratic loyalty that has since shifted sharply toward Republican margins over two decades.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 84.3 points in 1932 and a Republican high of 47.4 points in 2024. Between 2020 and 2024 the market moved 4.0 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 47.4 points.
A population of 271,256, a 67% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $65,740 describe the market. The market's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Beaumont-Port Arthur and Alexandria, LA.
Akashic
Political twins — media markets
The media markets whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →
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All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Lake Charles, Louisiana. Akashic. https://akashic.app/dma/643/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
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In 2024, Lake Charles, Louisiana voted Republican by 47.4 points (R+47.4), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 109,188 votes cast, 27,990 went Democratic and 79,691 went Republican.
When did Lake Charles, Louisiana last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Lake Charles, Louisiana voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Lake Charles, Louisiana?
Lake Charles, Louisiana has a population of 271,256 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Lake Charles, Louisiana?
Median household income in Lake Charles, Louisiana is $65,740 — below the national median of $80,734. The Louisiana state median is $60,756.
What is the political history of Lake Charles, Louisiana?
Akashic tracks 34 presidential elections in Lake Charles, Louisiana from 1892 to 2024. Of those, 23 went Democratic and 10 went Republican.
