Most Louisiana cities lost people between 2020 and 2023. Sulphur and Lake Charles were at the top of the list. Sulphur had the biggest loss percentage-wise, a net loss of 1,414 residents (6.5%) of its 21,814 population. Second in terms of percentage was Lake Charles at 6.2%, where the population dropped from 84,879 to 79,633.

Repeated severe weather events during those years are to blame for the population decline, but in Sulphur, the completion of industrial projects was also a factor, according to Mayor Mike Danahay. Construction crews did their jobs and left town for future assignments.            

Obviously, the hurricane had an impact on the population, said Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter, adding how important it is that such reports be put into proper context. To demonstrate, he shared a few  numbers of his own – and good news for growth going forward.

According to the 2010 Census, the City of Lake Charles had 72,000 people. In 2020, the number had risen significantly to 84,000. That rate of growth was the highest recorded not just in the state, but in the country, the mayor said.

He is not dismissive of the population figures cited by the study. However, in the light of back-to-back hurricanes, a flood and ice storm, the population here has not been impacted as it has in other cities.

The population of New Orleans declined more than half after Katrina (2005), and it has never fully recovered, Hunter said. This recent census described New Orleans as the biggest loser. Its population decreased from 383,241 in 2020 to 364,136 in 2023, a loss of 19,015 residents or nearly 5% of the population. Panama City, Florida lost about 12 percent of its population after Hurricane Michael (2018), and it hasn’t recovered, Hunter said.      

Here, the story is different. For one thing, Lake Charles is experiencing a robust housing recovery. “We will have more rental housing at the end of the year than we had before Hurricane Laura,” the Mayor said. Not only that, but Lake Charles will have more Fortified Gold Standard housing than any other city in the state. Fortified Gold Standard housing is built for resilience with a continuous path load that stands up better to high rinds.

The Mayor described new housing options as “attainable.” Woodring Apartments in Downtown Lake Charles, Calcasieu Heights on Fitzenreiter Road and Capstone at the Oaks on Sixth Street will be mixed-income housing that meets the current model for tax credits. New housing will be managed by the same companies that developed it, companies with a good track record, not just a build-and-flip scenario.

“The amount of housing coming back on line, plus the population trickling back to the city are all positives – especially projected into the future,” Hunter said.

The only city to experience growth is Hammond, with a 14.4 percent increase in its population.