What salary do you need to live in Kokomo, IN?

The cost side of living in Kokomo

Census figures put the median gross rent in the Kokomo, IN metro at $691 for a one-bedroom, $947 for a two-bedroom and $1,062 for a three-bedroom. Moving from one to two bedrooms adds $256 a month, and the third bedroom another $115.

The median value of owner-occupied homes in the metro is $165,000. That is only 2.6× the area's median household income of $64,027, a low ratio by national standards.

The Regional Price Parity, BEA's index of local prices with the US at 100, is 89.6 here. Below 100 means a paycheck stretches further: $100,000 in Kokomo has the buying power of roughly $111,547 at national average prices.

Income needed for each grade in Kokomo

With a two-bedroom at the median rent, the score enters Tight at $21,000, Okay at $44,000 and Comfortable at $88,000 a year before tax. At the Comfortable line, a year of rent takes 13% of income and the median home is 1.9× income.

Reaching Royal takes $265,000 — 3.0× the Comfortable line — because the last points come slowly once rent is already a small share.

Each figure is the lowest income, to the next $1,000, at which the calculator itself would show that grade for a two-bedroom in Kokomo.

Four salaries, three home sizes in Kokomo

Take a $75,000 salary. In a one-bedroom the rent share is 11% and the score 65, Comfortable; in a three-bedroom the share rises to 17% and the score falls to 59, Okay.

Read down the two-bedroom column and the first Comfortable row is $100,000, consistent with the $88,000 line above.

Where Kokomo falls nationally

On price level Kokomo is 296th of 387 (1 = most expensive); on two-bedroom rent it is 333rd, and on median home value 359th. The two rankings agree, both falling in the bottom quarter.

Next to Kokomo on the national rent ranking: Erie, PA ($949) and Valdosta, GA ($944).

Kokomo vs. the rest of Indiana

Compared with Indiana as a whole, two-bedroom rent in Kokomo is 12% lower ($947 vs. $1,076) and the median home is 24% lower ($165,000 vs. $218,200).

The Indiana figure for the Comfortable line, using state medians, is $117,000 against $88,000 for Kokomo.

Within Indiana, the metros closest to Kokomo on rent and overall prices are Terre Haute, IN, Muncie, IN, and Michigan City-La Porte, IN. Their Comfortable lines for two bedrooms sit at $79,000, $78,000, and $103,000.

Kokomo's median income on the scale

What about a typical local household? Census puts median household income here at $64,027, which grades Okay (56) for a two-bedroom at the median rent. Put differently, Kokomo's typical household is $23,973 below the $88,000 it takes to read Comfortable on two bedrooms. Statewide, the Indiana median household ($71,957) grades Okay on the state's own medians. Since a household can have two or more earners, compare it with a combined income rather than one paycheck.

These are pre-tax estimates from public statistics, not financial advice.