Calcasieu Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States, in the southwest corner of the state along the Texas border. It had a population of 216,785 at the 2020 census and covers 1,094 square miles (2,830 km2) centred near 30°14′N 93°22′W.
Lake Charles is the parish seat and its postal code is 70601. The parish holds 4 cities, 2 towns, 6 census-designated places and dozens of unincorporated communities. It sits in the Central time zone. Calcasieu was long nicknamed “Imperial Calcasieu” for its original size before four neighboring parishes were carved out of it.
Towns & Villages in Calcasieu Parish
Calcasieu Parish has 4 incorporated cities, 2 incorporated towns, 6 Census Bureau-designated places (CDPs) and a long list of unincorporated communities and rural crossroads. Louisiana parishes have no civil townships, so places below are grouped only by incorporation status. CDP = census-designated place, an unincorporated community the Census Bureau tracks for statistics; Unincorp. = an unincorporated community with no CDP boundary or population count of its own.
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Charles | City · seat | 84,872 | 70601 |
| Sulphur | City | 20,410 | 70663 |
| Westlake | City | 4,724 | 70669 |
| DeQuincy | City | 3,033 | 70633 |
| Iowa | Town | 3,224 | 70647 |
| Vinton | Town | 2,932 | 70668 |
| Moss Bluff | CDP | 16,353 | — |
| Carlyss | CDP | 8,242 | 70665 |
| Prien | CDP | 7,545 | 70605 |
| Gillis | CDP | 1,972 | — |
| Hayes | CDP | 1,468 | 70646 |
| Starks | CDP | 1,236 | 70661 |
| Bell City | Unincorp. | — | 70630 |
| Ararat | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Belfield | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Bellevue | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Big Woods | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Bon Air | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Bridge Junction | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Brimstone | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Buhler | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Burton Landing | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Chalkley | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Chloe | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Choupique | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Eastern Heights | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Edgerly | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Goosport | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Goss | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Greinwich Village | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Harbor | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Hargrove | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Hecker | Unincorp. | — | — |
| High School Park | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Hipple | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Hollywood | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Holmwood | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Le Bleu | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Lockmoor | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Lucas | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Lunita | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Mallard Junction | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Manchester | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Maplewood | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Moss Lake | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Mossville | Unincorp. | — | — |
| New Addition | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Newton | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Niblett Bluff | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Perkins | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Pine Acres | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Prairieland | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Rose Bluff | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Rossignol | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Stegall | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Toomey | Unincorp. | — | — |
| University Place | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Verret | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Vincent Landing | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Western Pines | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Westwood | Unincorp. | — | — |
Sulphur and Westlake sit only a few miles apart on the Calcasieu River’s west bank and are sometimes confused with each other; Sulphur is the larger of the two and grew up around its namesake sulfur mines, while Westlake grew up around the petrochemical plants directly across the river from Lake Charles.
ZIP Codes
- 70601 — Lake Charles (also serves 70602, 70606, 70607, 70609, 70611, 70612, 70615, 70616, 70629)
- 70663 — Sulphur (also serves 70664, 70665)
- 70669 — Westlake
- 70633 — DeQuincy
- 70647 — Iowa
- 70668 — Vinton
- 70661 — Starks
- 70630 — Bell City
- 70646 — Hayes
Lake Charles alone carries ten ZIP codes because it is by far the parish’s largest city; CDPs such as Moss Bluff and Gillis and most of the unincorporated communities share a neighboring town’s ZIP rather than having one of their own.
Geography
Calcasieu Parish lies on the flat coastal prairie of southwest Louisiana, where pine-and-hardwood upland gradually gives way to marsh near the coast. The Calcasieu River runs north to south through the middle of the parish and empties into Calcasieu Lake before reaching the Gulf of Mexico via the Calcasieu Ship Channel, a deep-draft waterway that serves the Lake Charles port and the parish’s petrochemical plants. Lake Charles, the city, sits on a widening of the river also called Lake Charles.
Calcasieu Parish borders Beauregard Parish to the north, Jefferson Davis Parish to the east, Cameron Parish to the south, and Orange County and Newton County, Texas, across the Sabine River to the west.
Demographics
Calcasieu Parish had 216,785 residents at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous parish in Louisiana. Lake Charles (84,872) and Sulphur (20,410) are its two largest communities and together hold roughly half the parish population. Median household income runs close to the Louisiana median of $58,229, reflecting the parish’s mix of industrial wages and rural farm income. With 1,064 square miles of land, the parish has a population density of about 204 people per square mile.
Economy & Local Life
Petrochemical refining and manufacturing anchor the local economy: Citgo’s Lake Charles refinery, the Sasol chemical complex in Westlake, and Phillips 66’s Lake Charles refinery are among the region’s largest employers, alongside the deep-water Port of Lake Charles. Gaming is a second major sector, with L’Auberge Casino Resort and the Golden Nugget Lake Charles drawing visitors from Texas and across the Gulf South. McNeese State University, based in Lake Charles, is the parish’s main institution of higher education. The annual Contraband Days festival each spring, a pirate-themed celebration tied to local Jean Lafitte legend, is the parish’s best-known civic event.
History
Calcasieu Parish was created on March 24, 1840, from part of Saint Landry Parish. Its name comes from the Atakapa word for “crying eagle,” rendered by early French settlers as “Calcasieu.” The original parish was so large it was nicknamed “Imperial Calcasieu”; between 1908 and 1913 the legislature carved Cameron, Jefferson Davis, Allen and Beauregard parishes out of its territory, leaving Calcasieu at roughly its present size. More recently, Hurricanes Laura and Delta struck the parish within six weeks of each other in 2020, causing widespread damage across Lake Charles and the surrounding communities.
Getting There
Interstate 10 crosses the parish east–west through Lake Charles, Westlake and Sulphur; US Route 90 parallels it to the south, and US Routes 165 and 171 run north out of Lake Charles toward Alexandria and Shreveport.
- Beaumont, Texas — 35 miles west
- Lafayette — 75 miles east
- Alexandria — 110 miles north
- Houston, Texas — 140 miles west
Lake Charles Regional Airport (LCH) offers commercial service and sits within the city limits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Calcasieu Parish located?
It is in southwest Louisiana on the Texas border, centred on the city of Lake Charles.
What is the population of Calcasieu Parish?
216,785 people at the 2020 census, the fourth-highest of Louisiana’s 64 parishes.
How big is Calcasieu Parish?
1,094 square miles (2,830 km2), of which about 31 square miles is water.
What is the county seat of Calcasieu Parish?
Lake Charles is the parish seat.
How many towns are in Calcasieu Parish?
4 cities, 2 towns, 6 census-designated places and dozens of smaller unincorporated communities.
What ZIP codes are in Calcasieu Parish?
Lake Charles carries ten ZIP codes (70601–70629 range); Sulphur, Westlake, DeQuincy, Iowa, Vinton, Starks, Bell City and Hayes each have their own.
Why was Calcasieu Parish once called “Imperial Calcasieu”?
Because at its 1840 founding it covered nearly all of southwest Louisiana, before Cameron, Jefferson Davis, Allen and Beauregard parishes were split off from it in the early 1900s.