Cost of living in Lexington-Fayette urban county, KY.
What does it cost to live in Lexington-Fayette urban county, KY? Sources have different reference periods (BLS CE 2024, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026, USDA May 2026, and TY2026 tax assumptions): the illustrative one-person annual spending scenario is $36,687 and the four-person scenario is $102,650. These are spending scenarios, not needs estimates.
A four-person spending scenario for Lexington-Fayette urban county.
This illustrative scenario corresponds to $102,650/yr in modeled gross income, about $8,554 a month. It combines a 3BR rental, a USDA food plan, BLS four-person spending averages and a two-adult/two-child tax scenario. These inputs do not establish a minimum adequate income.
Components carry different grains, from ZIP or county (housing) to national adjusted to state price level (CEX rows via BEA Regional Price Parities). Not a recommended salary; not a poverty threshold; components are not weighted into a composite score. See family-of-four methodology →
BEA Regional Price Parities
How expensive is Lexington-Fayette urban county versus the U.S.?
The overall price level in Lexington-Fayette, KY metro area is 92.9 against a U.S. average of 100 — −7.1% less expensive than the national average.
All items
92.9
Goods
96.2
Rents
77.1
Utilities
74.6
Other services
96.9
Category
Index (U.S. = 100)
vs U.S.
All items
92.9
−7.1%
Goods
96.2
−3.8%
Rents
77.1
−22.9%
Utilities
74.6
−25.4%
Other services
96.9
−3.1%
Source: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 · Lexington-Fayette, KY metro area · methodology →
ACS 5-Year 2020–2024
What do homeowners pay each month in Lexington-Fayette urban county?
Owners with a mortgage in Lexington-Fayette urban county pay a median of $1,636/mo in selected owner costs.
Owner cost & property tax — place-grain from the ACS 5-Year 2020–2024. Median monthly selected owner costs (SMOC) cover mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, utilities, and condo fees where applicable; real-estate taxes paid is the median property-tax bill for owner-occupied units.
Utility prices in Kentucky — applies to Kentucky statewide (electricity and natural gas) or its PADD region (gasoline). Residential rates are state averages, not what any specific household pays.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) · state-grain · methodology →
Census Gov Finances FY2024
State and local tax collections per resident.
Collections in Kentucky from the Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, FY2024, divided by its Census PEP 2024 population. These state-level figures include taxes paid by businesses and nonresidents. The U.S. comparison uses published national collections divided by the national population.
Measure
Value
U.S. collections per resident
Total taxes
$5,480 Combined sampling CV unavailable; component covariance not published
$7,244 Combined sampling CV unavailable; component covariance not published
Property taxes
$1,117 Published sampling CV 0.65%
$2,131 Published sampling CV 3.54%
Sales and gross receipts taxes
$2,081 Combined sampling CV unavailable; component covariance not published
$2,547 Combined sampling CV unavailable; component covariance not published
Individual income taxes
$1,534 Published sampling CV 4.54%
$1,547 Published sampling CV 0.41%
Corporate income taxes
$510 Published sampling CV 0.25%
$524 Published sampling CV 0.04%
CV is the sampling standard error as a percentage of the estimate. Total and sales-category CVs cannot be reconstructed from item CVs without their covariance. Comparisons are descriptive; no statistical-significance or household-tax claim is made. Population-denominator uncertainty and nonsampling error are excluded. Methodology →
State Income Tax TY2026
State income tax.
Measure
Value
Note
Top state income tax rate (single filer)
3.50%
flat rate · TY2026
Effective state income tax at $75k (single)
3.34%
after $3,360 standard deduction · TY2026
Flat-tax schedule
Income range (single)
Marginal rate
$0+
3.5%
TY2026 single-filer statutory schedule. Credits, exemptions, deduction phase-outs, recapture rules, and special income classes are not modeled unless represented by the bracket and standard-deduction fields.
Income tax: state-level only. Local income taxes (e.g., NYC resident tax, Yonkers surcharge, Portland-OR Metro tax, Maryland county tax, Philadelphia wage tax, OH/KY/MI city income taxes) appear in the Local income tax section below when modeled. Effective rate at $75k is illustrative only — single filer with state standard deduction, no itemized deductions, no credits.
Source: Kentucky Department of Revenue · TY2026 · state-grain · methodology →
Tax Foundation TY2026
State + local sales tax.
Measure
Rate
Note
State sales tax rate
6.00%
statutory state rate · TY2026
Avg local sales tax rate
0.00%
Kentucky: state-only sales tax, no local option · Tax Foundation TY2026
Combined sales tax rate
6.00%
state + avg local · TY2026
Sales tax: state-grain. The "average local rate" is Tax Foundation's population-weighted state-average; actual local rates vary by city, county, and special taxing district. Selective sales taxes (hotels, meals, car rentals) and excise taxes (gasoline, tobacco, alcohol) are excluded.
Source: Tax Foundation · state statutes · TY2026 · methodology →
Local Income Tax · F3 Pipeline
Local income tax.
Lexington-Fayette urban county falls within a modeled local income tax jurisdiction. The monthly amount shown is derived from the iterative solver (F3) for the single-adult household budget and applies to Lexington-Fayette Urban County (occupational license fee).
Source: PA DCED, MD DLS, IN DOR, OH RITA/CCA, municipal overrides · jurisdiction-grain · methodology →
USDA Food Plans + Food Atlas
Food and grocery access.
Food and grocery access. USDA national food-cost reference plus USDA Food Environment Atlas county-level food access. National plan values are not adjusted for local prices.
Measure
Value
Grain / source
Thrifty Food Plan, family of 4
$1,018/mo
national reference, USDA CNPP
Moderate-Cost Plan, family of 4
$1,387/mo
national reference, USDA CNPP
Liberal Plan, family of 4
$1,675/mo
national reference, USDA CNPP
Grocery stores per 1,000 pop
0.20
county-grain, USDA ERS Atlas 2020
Low food-access population share
20.7%
county-grain, USDA ERS Atlas 2019
SNAP participation rate
12.4%
county-grain, USDA ERS Atlas 2022
Food Atlas county: Fayette County, KY. USDA Food Plans observation: May 2026. Alaska and Hawaii shoppers should expect substantially higher prices than the national figure. See food methodology.
Monthly Household Budget Benchmark
Full budget itemization.
Illustrative monthly spending scenarios combine federal sources with explicit assumptions. One-person and four-person BLS spending averages differ. The four-person scenario uses a 3BR rental and two-adult/two-child food, childcare and tax assumptions. These figures do not establish minimum adequate income. Family totals are unavailable when required childcare or MFJ tax inputs are missing; the downloadable data retains the available components and reasons.
Illustrative spending scenarios use BLS CE one-person or four-person consumer-unit averages. They do not measure a minimum adequate income. Housing, food, tax filing and childcare assumptions are separate; broad regional price adjustments are model assumptions. Savings, home internet and insurance premiums are excluded. Negative net tax amounts mean modeled refundable credits exceed modeled taxes.
Single adult · 1BR rental
Component
Monthly
Grain / source
Housing (1BR rental)
$940/mo
HUD SAFMR FY2026, ZIP 40505
Food
$329/mo
national, USDA Low-Cost Plan 2026, regional price-adjustment assumption
Lexington-Fayette Urban County (occupational license fee)
Total monthly
$8,554/mo
mixed grain
Total annual
$102,650/yr
mixed grain
Modeled gross income (combined)
$102,650/yr
mixed grain, TY2026 federal/state and mixed-vintage local MFJ solver
Includes CTC $4,400/yr (TY2026 federal credits, MFJ).
Food uses USDA adult 19-50 and child 4-5 and 6-8 bands. The scenario matches childcare ages 4 and 8; BLS spending inputs represent all four-person consumer units.
Component grains range from ZIP or county (housing, per HUD SAFMR/FMR coverage) to national (household-size-specific CE means with illustrative BEA regional price adjustments). Childcare uses county-grain DOL NDCP 2022 prices adjusted by the captured BLS Child Care CPI observation; the download records the observation month and factor. Local income tax coverage varies by documented jurisdiction. This is not a recommended salary or a poverty threshold. See household budget methodology, family-of-four methodology, and local income tax methodology.
Source detail: Cost-of-living and household budget context
Cost-of-living and household budget context
Source agency
Every City In The USA (derived from federal primary sources)
Dataset
Every City — Monthly Household Budget Composite (derived)
Vintage / period
Derived · updated after each upstream refresh
Native geography
Mixed public-source grain: city, county, metro, ZIP/FMR area, state, regional, and national inputs.
Transformation
Every City attaches documented source layers to a city and computes budget components; it does not publish one universal cost score.
Known limit: Benchmark context, not a salary recommendation, policy threshold, or city-precise price index.
Cost of living in cities like Lexington-Fayette urban county.
Lexington-Fayette urban county's closest published peers by population — same-state first, then nearest nationwide (fallback cohort; a full size, region, and cost-of-living model is planned).
Headline figures: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 and the family-of-four Monthly Household Budget Benchmark. Build a full side-by-side on Compare cost of living.
Methodology
How these figures are computed.
Every figure on this page comes from a primary federal source. No composite index is produced; figures are presented per-component with grain labels so readers can trace each number to its source.
