Overall
- Johnstown
- 85.9
- Lake Charles
- 85.9
Diff -0.1 RPP
Johnstown vs Lake Charles
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lake Charles is 0.1% less expensive than Johnstown.
0.1% less expensive
Lake Charles, LA is 0.1% less expensive than Johnstown, PA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.9 vs 85.9). A $100,000 salary in Johnstown buys about the same as $99,910 in Lake Charles; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 85.9 (Johnstown) vs 85.9 (Lake Charles)
- $100k in Johnstown ≈ $99,910 purchasing power in Lake Charles
- Services drives the gap (-37.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair PA:LA 85.9→85.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE PA × LA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- 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.
Johnstown
85.9
Cost Index
Lake Charles
85.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Johnstown, PA 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 creates the largest separation: Lake Charles is 37.1 points lower. But rents move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
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 Johnstown to $99,910 in Lake Charles, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Johnstown
- 100.7
- Lake Charles
- 93.7
Diff -7.0 RPP
Services
- Johnstown
- 108.9
- Lake Charles
- 71.7
Diff -37.1 RPP
Rents
- Johnstown
- 42.3
- Lake Charles
- 51.8
Diff +9.4 RPP
| Category | Johnstown | Lake Charles | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.9 | 85.9 | -0.1 |
| Goods | 100.7 | 93.7 | -7.0 |
| Services | 108.9 | 71.7 | -37.1 |
| Rents | 42.3 | 51.8 | +9.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Johnstown 85.9
Lake Charles 85.9
Goods
Johnstown 100.7
Lake Charles 93.7
Services
Johnstown 108.9
Lake Charles 71.7
Rents
Johnstown 42.3
Lake Charles 51.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Johnstown and Lake Charles share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 0.3 to 0.1 RPP points. Johnstown remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 11.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (25.3 to 37.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Johnstown RPP | Lake Charles RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 90.7 | 90.5 | 0.3 points Johnstown higher |
| 2012 | 86.8 | 90.6 | 3.8 points Lake Charles higher |
| 2016 | 88.7 | 91.2 | 2.5 points Lake Charles higher |
| 2020 | 87.6 | 91.2 | 3.7 points Lake Charles higher |
| 2024 | 85.9 | 85.9 | 0.1 points Johnstown higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Johnstown would need to be in Lake Charles for the same purchasing power:
| In Johnstown | In Lake Charles | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,955 | $-45 |
| $75,000 | $74,933 | $-67 |
| $100,000 | $99,910 | $-90 |
| $150,000 | $149,866 | $-134 |
$ in Johnstown = in Lake Charles
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.9 → 85.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lake Charles more expensive than Johnstown?
Lake Charles is 0.1% less expensive than Johnstown. The overall cost index is 85.9 vs 85.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lake Charles equals $100K in Johnstown?
A $100,000 salary in Johnstown has the same purchasing power as $99,910 in Lake Charles. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Johnstown and Lake Charles?
Rents in Johnstown are indexed at 42.3 while Lake Charles is at 51.8 (national average = 100). Lake Charles 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.