Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Lexington-Fayette's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Lexington-Fayette?
Your $100,000 in Lexington-Fayette has the same purchasing power as $113,353 in the average US city. You'd need $13,353 less here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Lexington-Fayette's cost index of 88, sorted by closest match.
People moving to Lexington-Fayette usually have at least one specific reason. Most of them line up with what the data shows: living costs come in under the us baseline, among the safer us cities of its size, plus 4 more things worth knowing. Here's what's actually on the table.
Lexington-Fayette sits at 88 on the composite cost-of-living index — about 12% under the national average. Not the cheapest place in the country, but enough of a discount to notice on rent and groceries every month. Median rent in town runs about $1,065/mo against a typical household income of $66,087, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
Lexington-Fayette reports roughly -24 crime incidents per 100,000 residents, well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. As always, citywide numbers paper over real differences between neighborhoods — but the broader trend here is on the calmer end of the US distribution.
Lexington-Fayette earns a Walk Score of 56/100 — above the US median, with denser neighborhoods scoring higher than the citywide aggregate suggests. A car is still useful for longer trips, but everyday life works on foot for a lot of residents.
Lexington-Fayette's air quality index averages about 41 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
The average one-way commute in Lexington-Fayette is about 21 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
47% of adults 25 and over in Lexington-Fayette hold a bachelor's degree or higher — meaningfully above the US average of around 36%. That correlates with the things you'd expect: stronger schools, more white-collar employers, more bookstores than the population alone would predict.
Reasons are pulled from Lexington-Fayette's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Snow is a regular feature, not a surprise. With winter temperatures hovering near 26°F, Lexington-Fayette sees enough snowfall that locals don't think twice about it but also enough mild stretches that nobody owns three pairs of boots.
Cold but workable. Winter in Lexington-Fayette averages about 26°F — colder than the national norm, mild compared to the upper Midwest. A solid coat handles most days; the genuine cold snaps are short.
Hot, but not desert-hot. Summer in Lexington-Fayette runs about 85°F on average, with afternoons in the 90s and humidity that varies by region. AC is standard rather than optional.
Zone 8, give or take a half-zone. Lexington-Fayette's typical winter low puts it in that band on the USDA Hardiness map, which is what nurseries label plants against. Use Zone 8 as your starting filter; the USDA's interactive map is more precise for borderline cases.
Lexington-Fayette is at about 1,004 feet (306 m) above sea level. High enough to be solidly above any coastal concern, low enough that altitude isn't a factor.
By the numbers, yes. Lexington-Fayette reports roughly -24 crime incidents per 100,000 residents — well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. The big caveat applies as always: every city has neighborhoods that look nothing like the citywide average. But the citywide average here is genuinely good.
No — your dollar actually goes further here. Lexington-Fayette's composite cost-of-living index is 88, roughly 12% under the US average. Housing is usually the biggest driver of the discount.
Somewhat. Lexington-Fayette earns a Walk Score of 56/100 — many daily errands are doable on foot, especially in the denser neighborhoods, but a car still helps for longer trips. Transit Score is 31 out of 100.
Roughly $61,754 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Lexington-Fayette runs about $1,065/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.