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Lake Charles, LA crime analytics

Source & Methodology

Analytics built by:   Location, Inc.

Raw data sources:   18,000 local law enforcement agencies in the U.S.

Date(s) & Update Frequency:   Reflects 2021 calendar year; released from FBI in Oct. 2022 (latest available). Updated annually. Where is 2022 data?

Methodology:   Our nationwide meta-analysis overcomes the issues inherent in any crime database, including non-reporting and reporting errors. This is possible by associating the 9.4 million reported crimes in the U.S, including over 2 million geocoded point locations…. Read more about Scout's Crime Data

The crime rate in Lake Charles is considerably higher than the national average across all communities in America from the largest to the smallest, although at 29 crimes per one thousand residents, it is not among the communities with the very highest crime rate. The chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime in Lake Charles is 1 in 35. Based on FBI crime data, Lake Charles is not one of the safest communities in America. Relative to Louisiana, Lake Charles has a crime rate that is higher than 81% of the state's cities and towns of all sizes.

Importantly, when you compare Lake Charles to other communities of similar population, then Lake Charles crime rate (violent and property crimes combined) is quite a bit higher than average. Regardless of how Lake Charles does relative to all communities in America of all sizes, when NeighborhoodScout compared it to communities of similar population size, its crime rate per thousand residents stands out as higher than most.

Now let us turn to take a look at how Lake Charles does for violent crimes specifically, and then how it does for property crimes. This is important because the overall crime rate can be further illuminated by understanding if violent crime or property crimes (or both) are the major contributors to the general rate of crime in Lake Charles.

From our analysis, we discovered that violent crime in Lake Charles occurs at a rate higher than in most communities of all population sizes in America. The chance that a person will become a victim of a violent crime in Lake Charles; such as armed robbery, aggravated assault, rape or murder; is 1 in 213. This equates to a rate of 5 per one thousand inhabitants.

Significantly, based on the number of murders reported by the FBI and the number of residents living in the city, NeighborhoodScout's analysis shows that Lake Charles experiences one of the higher murder rates in the nation when compared with cities and towns for all sizes of population, from the largest to the smallest.

NeighborhoodScout's analysis also reveals that Lake Charles's rate for property crime is 24 per one thousand population. This makes Lake Charles a place where there is an above average chance of becoming a victim of a property crime, when compared to all other communities in America of all population sizes. Property crimes are motor vehicle theft, arson, larceny, and burglary. Your chance of becoming a victim of any of these crimes in Lake Charles is one in 41.

Lake Charles Crime Data

total Crime Index

12

(100 is safest)


Safer than 12% of U.S. neighborhoods.

Lake Charles Annual Crimes

  Violent Property Total

Number of Crimes

380

1,958

2,338

Crime Rate
(per 1,000 residents)

4.69

24.14

28.83

Violent Crime

Violent Crime Comparison (per 1,000 residents)

20 15 10 5 0
4.69
6.81
National Median: 4
    Lake Charles
    Louisiana

Chances of Becoming a Victim of a Violent Crime

1 in 213

in Lake Charles

1 in 147

in Louisiana

Lake Charles Violent Crimes

Population: 81,097
Murder Rape Robbery Assault
Report Total 9 28 36 307
Rate per 1,000 0.11 0.35 0.44 3.79

United States Violent Crimes

Population: 331,888,310
Murder Rape Robbery Assault
Report Total 22,941 144,285 202,155 943,774
Rate per 1,000 0.07 0.43 0.61 2.84

Property Crime

Property Crime Comparison (per 1,000 residents)

100 75 50 25 0
24.14
26.72
National Median: 19
    Lake Charles
    Louisiana

Chances of Becoming a Victim of a Property Crime

1 in 41

in Lake Charles

1 in 37

in Louisiana

Property Crimes

Population: 81,097
burglary theft motor vehicle theft
Report Total 405 1,355 198
Rate per 1,000 4.99 16.71 2.44

United States Property Crimes

Population: 331,888,310
burglary theft motor vehicle theft
Report Total 899,656 4,626,970 890,179
Rate per 1,000 2.71 13.94 2.68

Lake Charles Crimes Per Square Mile

200 150 100 50 0
52
29
National Median: 26.8
    Lake Charles
    Louisiana