Cost of living in Lexington, KY
The Lexington-Fayette, KY metro area (533,366 people) ranks #117 of 149 for prices among the U.S. metro areas we cover. Here's what it costs to live there.
Hover over or tap a dot to see its value.
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Price level, from cheaper to pricier.
- The Villages, FL 85.4
- McAllen, TX 85.9
- Springfield, MO 88.6
- Wichita, KS 88.9
- Jackson, MS 89.0
- Tulsa, OK 89.2
- Columbus, GA 89.3
- Little Rock, AR 89.4
- El Paso, TX 89.9
- Oklahoma City, OK 90.4
- Sioux Falls, SD 90.6
- Baton Rouge, LA 90.8
- Clarksville, TN 90.9
- Fargo, ND 90.9
- Killeen, TX 91.1
- Spartanburg, SC 91.1
- Fayetteville, AR 91.4
- Chattanooga, TN 91.5
- Toledo, OH 91.5
- Birmingham, AL 91.6
- Des Moines, IA 91.7
- Augusta, GA 91.9
- Omaha, NE 91.9
- Fayetteville, NC 92.0
- Winston-Salem, NC 92.0
- Jacksonville, NC 92.1
- Memphis, TN 92.2
- Kansas City, MO 92.5
- Fort Wayne, IN 92.6
- Knoxville, TN 92.6
- New Orleans, LA 92.6
- Dayton, OH 92.7
- Greensboro, NC 92.9
- Lexington, KY 92.9
- Huntsville, AL 93.1
- Louisville, KY 93.1
- Greenville, SC 93.3
- Akron, OH 93.4
- Billings, MT 93.5
- Myrtle Beach, SC 93.6
- Columbia, SC 93.7
- Cleveland, OH 93.9
- Daphne, AL 94.7
- Pittsburgh, PA 94.7
- San Antonio, TX 94.7
- St. Louis, MO 95.1
- Ocala, FL 95.2
- Savannah, GA 95.2
- Cincinnati, OH 95.4
- Albuquerque, NM 95.5
- Columbus, OH 95.5
- Grand Rapids, MI 95.5
- Indianapolis, IN 95.7
- Syracuse, NY 95.7
- Buffalo, NY 95.8
- Nashville, TN 96.3
- Wilmington, NC 96.4
- Asheville, NC 96.5
- Cheyenne, WY 96.5
- Gainesville, FL 96.7
- Milwaukee, WI 96.9
- Tucson, AZ 96.9
- Crestview, FL 97.0
- Rochester, NY 97.0
- Lakeland, FL 97.1
- Charlotte, NC 97.3
- Madison, WI 97.3
- Panama City, FL 97.3
- Durham, NC 97.6
- Pensacola, FL 97.7
- Richmond, VA 97.9
- Virginia Beach, VA 97.9
- Hilton Head Island, SC 98.0
- Austin, TX 98.1
- Provo, UT 98.2
- Raleigh, NC 98.2
- Prescott, AZ 98.3
- Boise, ID 98.4
- Houston, TX 98.6
- Harrisburg, PA 98.7
- Daytona Beach, FL 99.4
- Jacksonville, FL 99.5
- Albany, NY 99.6
- Allentown, PA 100.0
- Palm Bay, FL 100.0
- Atlanta, GA 100.1
- Greeley, CO 100.2
- Las Vegas, NV 100.2
- Port St. Lucie, FL 100.2
- Detroit, MI 100.3
- Ogden, UT 100.3
- Spokane, WA 100.3
- Norwich, CT 100.4
- Punta Gorda, FL 100.5
- Colorado Springs, CO 100.7
- Ann Arbor, MI 100.9
- Bakersfield, CA 100.9
- Burlington, VT 100.9
- Salt Lake City, UT 100.9
- Tampa, FL 100.9
- Charleston, SC 101.0
- Reno, NV 101.0
- Fort Collins, CO 101.1
- Orlando, FL 101.4
- Eugene, OR 101.6
- Providence, RI 101.8
- Portland, ME 101.9
- Fresno, CA 102.2
- Cape Coral, FL 102.3
- Sarasota, FL 102.4
- Worcester, MA 102.5
- Philadelphia, PA 102.6
- Hartford, CT 102.7
- Dallas, TX 103.1
- Naples, FL 103.2
- Trenton, NJ 103.2
- Phoenix, AZ 103.3
- Bend, OR 103.6
- Chicago, IL 103.6
- Olympia, WA 103.7
- Baltimore, MD 104.5
- New Haven, CT 104.6
- Minneapolis, MN 104.8
- Stockton, CA 105.1
- Boulder, CO 105.2
- Anchorage, AK 105.4
- Portland, OR 105.4
- Bremerton, WA 105.6
- Manchester, NH 105.7
- Denver, CO 105.8
- Riverside, CA 106.4
- Sacramento, CA 106.7
- Bridgeport, CT 106.9
- Santa Rosa, CA 107.8
- Boston, MA 108.3
- Vallejo, CA 108.5
- Santa Barbara, CA 108.8
- Washington, D.C. 108.9
- Salinas, CA 109.0
- Poughkeepsie, NY 109.4
- San Jose, CA 110.4
- Oxnard, CA 110.5
- Honolulu, HI 111.0
- Seattle, WA 111.1
- San Diego, CA 111.9
- New York, NY 112.6
- Los Angeles, CA 113.6
- Miami, FL 114.2
- San Francisco, CA 115.6
Compare Lexington with your city
See what you'd need to earn in Lexington to keep your lifestyle, after taxes and local prices. The calculator starts from Louisville, KY, which sends the most households here of the metros we cover (IRS, 2022–2023), using its median household income as an illustrative single-earner salary. Household income can include several earners and other income; it is not a typical individual wage. Pick your own city, salary and filing status.
Equal salary in Lexington: $75,500
Compare any two of 149 U.S. metro areas. All cities
To keep the same lifestyle, you need about $75,500 in Lexington, KY to match $75,000 in Louisville, KY ($500 more), after 2026 taxes and local prices.
Single filer, W-2 salary. Both are in Kentucky, so state income tax is the same; includes Louisville resident tax $1,650 (in Jefferson County) and Lexington resident tax $2,063 (inside city limits).
Prices and housing cover the metro area; taxes use Kentucky, its principal state. A metro can span several states; living in its other state can change the tax result.
What things cost in Lexington
The vertical line marks the U.S. average (100). BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 for the metropolitan area.
Taxes in Lexington
In this fixed example, one single filer earning a $70,000 W-2 salary keeps $53,818 after 2026 federal tax ($6,570), Social Security and Medicare ($5,355) and Kentucky income tax ($2,332), and $1,925 in Lexington resident income tax. The salary is rounded from median household income, not an observed individual wage. This example stays fixed when you change the calculator.
Lexington-Fayette residents who work in the county pay 2.75% in occupational license taxes on wages (Urban County Government 2.25%, Fayette County schools 0.5%). The fee covers all of Fayette County (Lexington and the county share one merged government). People who live outside the county but work in it pay the 2.25% fee (no school tax). Surrounding counties tax work done there at their own rates, such as 1% in Scott and Jessamine counties, 1.25% in Bourbon County and 1.5% in Woodford County. Some cities there (Georgetown, Nicholasville, Versailles and Winchester among them) and some school districts charge their own tax too, so the local total can be higher; the suburban estimate uses the county rate alone.
Housing
| Measure | Lexington area |
|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,245/mo |
| Median home value | $306,900 |
| Median property tax | $2,361/yr |
| Monthly cost to own the median home (20% down) | $1,987 |
| Median household income | $71,444 |
Climate and jobs in Lexington
In the Lexington area the average January low is 25°F and the average July high 87°F, and the area has about 25 days a year at 90°F or hotter. Unemployment averaged 3.8% in 2025, below the U.S. rate (4.3%), and the median wage across all jobs was $48,620 a year, 5% below the U.S. median.
| Climate | 1991–2020 average |
|---|---|
| January low | 25°F |
| July high | 87°F |
| Days 90°F or hotter | 25 a year |
| Precipitation | 50 in a year |
| Snowfall | 15 in a year |
| Jobs and pay | Metro area | U.S. |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate, 2025 average | 3.8% | 4.3% |
| Median wage, all jobs (May 2025) | $48,620 | $50,980 |
| Wage and salary jobs (May 2025) | 286,910 | 155.5 million |
Climate: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020 averages at the Lexington Bluegrass Airport station (USW00093820). Weather varies across a metro area, especially with elevation and distance from the coast. Jobs: unemployment from BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics; wages and job counts from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, which count wage and salary jobs, not the self-employed; wages are before taxes. The 2025 average covers 11 months: October 2025 data were not collected during the federal government shutdown.
Retiring in Lexington
Our modeled retiree budget is about $2,965 a month here with a home owned outright, or $3,527 renting. It uses spending benchmarks for households with a reference person age 65 or older (BLS 2024), adjusted for local prices. These are household-based estimates, not observed spending by a single retiree in Lexington. See where your budget goes furthest.
Where people move to and from Lexington
IRS county-to-county migration data, 2022–2023, aggregated to the 149 metro areas we cover.
Natural hazard risk
RelocateMath's population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores for the Lexington area is 74.1 of 100 (high county-score mean), with modeled expected losses of about $366 per resident per year. A mean of county percentiles is not an official FEMA metro rating or a national metro percentile. It describes the counties in the metro; your property's risk can differ. Disaster risk by county in Kentucky.
The vertical line marks county-score scale midpoint (50).
Frequently asked questions
What salary do you need to live in Lexington?
In a fixed single-filer W-2 example living inside the principal city, about $75,300 in Lexington matches the buying power of $75,000 in an average-priced area with no state income tax. The example uses 2026 federal taxes, Kentucky state taxes and modeled resident local taxes where applicable. It stays fixed when calculator inputs change. Renting the median home at 30% of income takes $49,800, and buying the median home with 20% down takes about $85,145.
Is Lexington expensive?
The Lexington metro area's price level is 92.9 (U.S. = 100), #117 of the 149 metro areas we cover, from most to least expensive. Its housing rents price index is 77.1, 23% below the U.S. average.
Are people moving to Lexington?
Counting moves to and from the other 148 metro areas we cover, Lexington had a net loss of about 425 households in 2022–2023 (IRS county migration data).
What is the weather like in Lexington?
In NOAA's 1991–2020 climate normals for the Lexington area (Lexington Bluegrass Airport weather station), the average January low is 25°F and the average July high 87°F. The area has about 25 days a year at 90°F or hotter and gets 50 inches of precipitation a year and about 15 inches of snow.
What are jobs and pay like in Lexington?
The Lexington metro area's unemployment rate averaged 3.8% in 2025, below the U.S. rate (4.3%). The median wage across all jobs was $48,620 a year in May 2025, 5% below the U.S. median of $50,980 (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
What natural disasters affect Lexington?
RelocateMath's population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores is 74.1 out of 100 (high county-score mean). This is not an official FEMA metro rating or a national metro percentile. The highest county-score means by hazard are strong wind, tornado, winter weather.
Cities with similar prices
- Greensboro, NC 92.9
- Louisville, KY 93.1
- Huntsville, AL 93.1
- Dayton, OH 92.7
- New Orleans, LA 92.6
- Knoxville, TN 92.6
- Moving from Kentucky
State-agency links identify the responsible tax office; they do not verify every modeled rule. Use forms and guidance for the year you are filing. Local-tax references retain their own publication or filing years. Some documents cover an earlier filing year; a source link is not a claim that every rule has just been rechecked.