Overall
- Lake Charles
- 85.9
- Fort Smith
- 85.9
Diff +0.0 RPP
Lake Charles vs Fort Smith
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Fort Smith is 0% more expensive than Lake Charles.
0% more expensive
Fort Smith, AR-OK is 0% more expensive than Lake Charles, LA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.9 vs 85.9). A $100,000 salary in Lake Charles buys about the same as $100,042 in Fort Smith; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 85.9 (Lake Charles) vs 85.9 (Fort Smith)
- $100k in Lake Charles ≈ $100,042 purchasing power in Fort Smith
- Services drives the gap (+2.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair LA:AR 85.9→85.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE LA × AR
- 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.
Lake Charles
85.9
Cost Index
Fort Smith
85.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Lake Charles, LA and Fort Smith, AR-OK are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.0 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Fort Smith is 2.1 points higher. But goods 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 Lake Charles to $100,042 in Fort Smith, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Lake Charles
- 93.7
- Fort Smith
- 93.6
Diff -0.1 RPP
Services
- Lake Charles
- 71.7
- Fort Smith
- 73.8
Diff +2.1 RPP
Rents
- Lake Charles
- 51.8
- Fort Smith
- 53.4
Diff +1.7 RPP
| Category | Lake Charles | Fort Smith | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.9 | 85.9 | +0.0 |
| Goods | 93.7 | 93.6 | -0.1 |
| Services | 71.7 | 73.8 | +2.1 |
| Rents | 51.8 | 53.4 | +1.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Lake Charles 85.9
Fort Smith 85.9
Goods
Lake Charles 93.7
Fort Smith 93.6
Services
Lake Charles 71.7
Fort Smith 73.8
Rents
Lake Charles 51.8
Fort Smith 53.4
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Lake Charles would need to be in Fort Smith for the same purchasing power:
| In Lake Charles | In Fort Smith | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,021 | +$21 |
| $75,000 | $75,031 | +$31 |
| $100,000 | $100,042 | +$42 |
| $150,000 | $150,063 | +$63 |
$ in Lake Charles = in Fort Smith
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 Fort Smith more expensive than Lake Charles?
Fort Smith is 0% more expensive than Lake Charles. The overall cost index is 85.9 vs 85.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Fort Smith equals $100K in Lake Charles?
A $100,000 salary in Lake Charles has the same purchasing power as $100,042 in Fort Smith. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Lake Charles and Fort Smith?
Rents in Lake Charles are indexed at 51.8 while Fort Smith is at 53.4 (national average = 100). Fort Smith 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.