KY metros
Cost of living across major KY metropolitan areas.
What living in KY costs
Across the 2 KY metros we track, the typical cost-of-living index is 93.2 against a national metro median of 95.7 — about 3% cheaper than the typical US metro. That ranks KY 17 of the 48 states we cover, counting from the cheapest.
The state is not uniform: Lexington, KY is the cheapest metro at 92.5, while Louisville, KY runs 93.2 — a spread of 1% between them.
A typical KY home costs $350,000, or about 5× median household income, and typical rent is $1,528/mo.
Taxes in KY
KY levies a state income tax on top of the federal one. Effective property tax runs about 0.8% of home value in a typical KY metro, and combined state and local sales tax is around 6%.
Property tax is the one that scales with housing, so it bites hardest in the pricier metros above. Per-metro figures are on each metro page.
| Metro | COL index | Median home | Median rent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisville, KY | 93.2 | $350,000 | $1,500 |
| Lexington, KY | 92.5 | $327,671 | $1,528 |
Cities & towns in KY (29)
Local property tax, home values and school scores for each place.