Money Magazine: Best places to retire 2006: Lake Charles, LA snapshot

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Winners

Lake Charles, LA Population: 68,654 Population, age 50+: 21,974 Population growth, age 50+: 4.70%
Taxes
	City stats
State income tax rate (highest bracket)	6.00%^*
State income tax rate (lowest bracket)	2.00%^*
Retirement tax break from state?	Yes
State property taxes	Below average
Sales tax	8.50%
State gas tax (cents per gallon)	20.0
Housing
	City stats
Median home price	$94,500
Home price gain (2004-2005)	11.20%
Financial
	City stats
Median household income (per year)	$33,018
Auto insurance premiums (Average for the state)	$3,099
Quality of life
	City stats
Air quality index (% of days AQI ranked as good)	67.4%
Personal crime risk (100 is nat'l average; lower is better)	137
Property crime risk (100 is nat'l average; lower is better)	143
Personal crime incidents (per 100,000)	777
Property crime incidents (per 100,000)	5,652
Leisure and culture
	City stats
Movie theaters (within 15 miles)	4
Restaurants (within 15 miles)	318
Bars (within 15 miles)	43
Public golf courses (within 30 miles)	6
Libraries (within 15 miles)	12
Museums (accredited by AAM within 30 miles)	0
Colleges, universities and professional schools	1
Ski resorts (within 100 miles)	0
Weather
	City stats
Annual precipitation (inches)	57.19
Clear days	98
High temp in July ° F	91.0°
Low temp in Jan ° F	41.2°
Health***
	City stats
Hospitals (within 30 miles)	29
Doctors' offices	123
Body mass index (avg. for residents)	27
Cancer mortality (per 100,000, age-adjusted)	222.2
Cardiac mortality (per 100,000)	271.3
Meet the neighbors
	City stats
Median age	35.4
Completed at least some college (% of residents)	50.6%
Married	41.9%
Divorced	11.3%

*Income tax notes:
For joint returns, the taxes are twice the tax imposed on half the income.
Combined personal exemption and standard deduction.
***County data

Data: OnBoard, FORTUNE. Details

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Additional data and consulting services provided by Bert Sperling's bestplaces.net.

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