Overall
- Lake Charles
- 85.9
Diff -0.1 RPP
Brownsville-Harlingen vs Lake Charles
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lake Charles is 0.1% less expensive than Brownsville-Harlingen.
0.1% less expensive
Lake Charles, LA is 0.1% less expensive than Brownsville-Harlingen, TX on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.9 vs 86.0). A $100,000 salary in Brownsville-Harlingen buys about the same as $99,857 in Lake Charles; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 86.0 (Brownsville-Harlingen) vs 85.9 (Lake Charles)
- $100k in Brownsville-Harlingen ≈ $99,857 purchasing power in Lake Charles
- Services drives the gap (-9.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair TX:LA 86.0→85.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE TX × LA
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Brownsville-Harlingen
86.0
Cost Index
Lake Charles
85.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Brownsville-Harlingen, TX and Lake Charles, LA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.1 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with Lake Charles 9.4 points lower than Brownsville-Harlingen. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
For a service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Brownsville-Harlingen to $99,857 in Lake Charles, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Lake Charles
- 93.7
Diff -0.1 RPP
Services
- Lake Charles
- 71.7
Diff -9.4 RPP
Rents
- Lake Charles
- 51.8
Diff -6.0 RPP
| Category | Brownsville-Harlingen | Lake Charles | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 86.0 | 85.9 | -0.1 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 93.7 | -0.1 |
| Services | 81.2 | 71.7 | -9.4 |
| Rents | 57.7 | 51.8 | -6.0 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Brownsville-Harlingen 86.0
Lake Charles 85.9
Goods
Brownsville-Harlingen 93.8
Lake Charles 93.7
Services
Brownsville-Harlingen 81.2
Lake Charles 71.7
Rents
Brownsville-Harlingen 57.7
Lake Charles 51.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Brownsville-Harlingen would need to be in Lake Charles for the same purchasing power:
| In Brownsville-Harlingen | In Lake Charles | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,928 | $-72 |
| $75,000 | $74,893 | $-107 |
| $100,000 | $99,857 | $-143 |
| $150,000 | $149,785 | $-215 |
$ in Brownsville-Harlingen = in Lake Charles
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (86.0 → 85.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lake Charles more expensive than Brownsville-Harlingen?
Lake Charles is 0.1% less expensive than Brownsville-Harlingen. The overall cost index is 85.9 vs 86.0 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lake Charles equals $100K in Brownsville-Harlingen?
A $100,000 salary in Brownsville-Harlingen has the same purchasing power as $99,857 in Lake Charles. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Brownsville-Harlingen and Lake Charles?
Rents in Brownsville-Harlingen are indexed at 57.7 while Lake Charles is at 51.8 (national average = 100). Brownsville-Harlingen has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.