What salary do you need to live in Lexington, KY?

Lexington housing costs at a glance

Renters in Lexington pay a median $1,121 a month for two bedrooms. Size matters: one bedroom is $939, three bedrooms $1,417, so going from the smallest to the largest of the three adds $5,736 a year.

Buying is the other half of the housing picture: owners put the median home in Lexington-Fayette, KY at $281,300. That works out to 3.9× the local median household income of $71,966, a mid-range ratio.

The Regional Price Parity, BEA's index of local prices with the US at 100, is 92.9 here. Below 100 means a paycheck stretches further: $100,000 in Lexington has the buying power of roughly $107,655 at national average prices.

Lexington: the pre-tax income for each grade

The salary lines for a two-bedroom household land at $33,000 for Tight, $66,000 for Okay and $133,000 for Comfortable. The gap between the Okay and Comfortable lines alone is $67,000, which says how much extra income it takes to make housing feel roomy here rather than merely workable.

Royal, the top band, starts at $360,000. At that income rent is 4% of pay and the median home 0.8× income.

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 Lexington.

Scores at $50K, $75K, $100K and $150K in Lexington

On $75,000, a one-bedroom scores 51 and a three-bedroom 45, both Okay; the extra bedrooms cost points but not a grade.

Of the four salaries, $150,000 is the first where a two-bedroom reads Comfortable or better; $100,000 still lands at Okay.

Lexington on the national list

On price level Lexington is 212th of 387 (1 = most expensive); on two-bedroom rent it is 197th, and on median home value 172nd. The two rankings agree, both falling in the middle half.

Huntsville, AL ($1,121) and Birmingham, AL ($1,120) bracket Lexington on two-bedroom rent.

Lexington vs. the rest of Kentucky

Statewide, Kentucky's median two-bedroom rent is $968 and its median home value $205,600. Lexington's rent is +16% against that, and its home value +37%; the price parity is 92.9 versus 90.2 for the state.

Run Kentucky's statewide medians through the same score and Comfortable begins at $100,000; Lexington's line is +33% from that.

Within Kentucky, the metros closest to Lexington on rent and overall prices are Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN, Clarksville, TN-KY, and Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN. Their Comfortable lines for two bedrooms sit at $127,000, $121,000, and $137,000.

Where the typical Lexington household lands

A household at the Lexington median income of $71,966 would see a two-bedroom score of 48 — Okay — with rent at 19% of income. Reaching Comfortable would take $61,034 more than the median household earns. For Kentucky as a whole, the median household income of $63,726 scores 52 against statewide rents. Since a household can have two or more earners, compare it with a combined income rather than one paycheck.

Estimates use pre-tax income and public data; they are not financial advice.