Overall
- Lake Charles
- 85.9
- Coeur d'Alene
- 98.3
Diff +12.4 RPP
Lake Charles vs Coeur d'Alene
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Coeur d'Alene is 14.5% more expensive than Lake Charles.
14.5% more expensive
Coeur d'Alene, ID is 14.5% more expensive than Lake Charles, LA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.3 vs 85.9). A $100,000 salary in Lake Charles buys about the same as $114,491 in Coeur d'Alene; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 85.9 (Lake Charles) vs 98.3 (Coeur d'Alene)
- $100k in Lake Charles ≈ $114,491 purchasing power in Coeur d'Alene
- Rents drives the gap (+53.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair LA:ID 85.9→98.3
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE LA × ID
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Lake Charles
- 93.7
- Coeur d'Alene
- 96.2
Diff +2.5 RPP
Services
- Lake Charles
- 71.7
- Coeur d'Alene
- 70.8
Diff -1.0 RPP
Rents
- Lake Charles
- 51.8
- Coeur d'Alene
- 105.6
Diff +53.8 RPP
| Category | Lake Charles | Coeur d'Alene | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.9 | 98.3 | +12.4 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 96.2 | +2.5 |
| Services | 71.7 | 70.8 | -1.0 |
| Rents | 51.8 | 105.6 | +53.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Lake Charles 85.9
Coeur d'Alene 98.3
Goods
Lake Charles 93.7
Coeur d'Alene 96.2
Services
Lake Charles 71.7
Coeur d'Alene 70.8
Rents
Lake Charles 51.8
Coeur d'Alene 105.6
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Coeur d'Alene is 53.8 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Lake Charles, LA and Coeur d'Alene, ID sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 12.4 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
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.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
For a housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Lake Charles corresponds to $114,491 in Coeur d'Alene.
Lake Charles
85.9
Cost Index
Coeur d'Alene
98.3
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Lake Charles would need to be in Coeur d'Alene for the same purchasing power:
| In Lake Charles | In Coeur d'Alene | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $57,246 | +$7,246 |
| $75,000 | $85,868 | +$10,868 |
| $100,000 | $114,491 | +$14,491 |
| $150,000 | $171,737 | +$21,737 |
$ in Lake Charles = in Coeur d'Alene
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.9 → 98.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Lake Charles and Coeur d'Alene share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 7.7 to 12.4 RPP points. Coeur d'Alene remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 25.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (28.7 to 53.8 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Lake Charles RPP | Coeur d'Alene RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 90.5 | 98.1 | 7.7 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2012 | 90.6 | 94.9 | 4.2 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2016 | 91.2 | 97.5 | 6.3 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2020 | 91.2 | 93.0 | 1.8 points Coeur d'Alene higher |
| 2024 | 85.9 | 98.3 | 12.4 points Coeur d'Alene 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Coeur d'Alene more expensive than Lake Charles?
Coeur d'Alene is 14.5% more expensive than Lake Charles. The overall cost index is 98.3 vs 85.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Coeur d'Alene equals $100K in Lake Charles?
A $100,000 salary in Lake Charles has the same purchasing power as $114,491 in Coeur d'Alene. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Lake Charles and Coeur d'Alene?
Rents in Lake Charles are indexed at 51.8 while Coeur d'Alene is at 105.6 (national average = 100). Coeur d'Alene 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.