City comparison
Houston, TX is about 850 miles (1,400 km) from Lexington-Fayette, KY in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,100 miles, or about 18 hours behind the wheel at highway speeds.
Driving distance is a rough estimate (great-circle × 1.25); driving time assumes a 60 mph blended average. Real trips run 10–20% longer with stops.
A direct flight from Houston, TX to Lexington-Fayette, KY takes about 1 h 42 min, covering roughly 850 miles in a straight line. Connecting itineraries with a layover typically add 1–3 hours.
Block-to-block estimate at ~500 mph cruise, including taxi, climb, and descent — what an airline would publish, not pure airborne time.
Houston has a population of 2,296,253, vs 321,276 in Lexington-Fayette — about 7.1× larger by population. By land area, Houston covers about 640 sq mi vs 285 sq mi for Lexington-Fayette.
Population from US Census ACS. Land area from the Census Gazetteer (city proper, excluding inland water).
Cost indices by category, with the US city average (100) marked.
Index: 100 = US city average. Lower is more affordable.
Side-by-side costs, salaries, and sub-category indices.
| Metric | Houston | Lexington-Fayette | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,235/mo | $1,065/mo | 16.0% higher in Houston |
| Median home value | $235,000 | $247,900 | 5.5% higher in Lexington-Fayette |
| Median household income | $60,440 | $66,087 | 9.3% higher in Lexington-Fayette |
| Groceries index | 100.4 | 95.9 | 4.6% higher in Houston |
| Utilities index | 96.3 | 79.8 | 20.6% higher in Houston |
| Transportation index | 95.8 | 97.7 | 2.0% higher in Lexington-Fayette |
| Healthcare index | 95.2 | 97.2 | 2.1% higher in Lexington-Fayette |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in Houston, you'd need $88,264 in Lexington-Fayette to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
Lexington-Fayette, KY is about 11.7% cheaper overall than Houston, TX, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 30% higher in Houston than in Lexington-Fayette. If you earn $80,000 in Houston, you'd need about $70,611 in Lexington-Fayette to keep the same standard of living.