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State relocation profile · Federal data

Kentucky

Cost of living, fair-market rent, wages, safety, schools and childcare for Kentucky - every figure straight from federal data.

90.2
Cost index (US=100)
$983
2BR rent / mo
$66,084
Median salary
60.9
Life Score

The verdict

As of June 2026, Kentucky scores 60.9/100 (C) on the composite Life Score, with its strongest marks in childcare and rent.

60.9
Life Score · C
90.2
Cost of living (US=100)
$66,084
Median annual salary (BLS)
$983
2BR fair-market rent / mo (HUD)

Weakest dimension: wages (12/100). State-level figures are a benchmark, individual metros can diverge sharply, so weigh each dimension against your own priorities.

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and five other federal agencies, Kentucky has a cost-of-living index of 90.2 (100 = national average), a median 2-bedroom rent of $983/mo, and a median salary of $66,084. Its composite Life Score is 60.9/100 (C), with its strongest marks in childcare and rent.

How Kentucky ranks nationally

Where Kentucky's composite Life Score falls among all 51 US states scored.

Life Score distribution - Kentucky marked 0 US states at 0–10 0 0 US states at 10–20 10 0 US states at 20–30 20 5 US states at 30–40 5 30 16 US states at 40–50 16 40 24 US states at 50–60 24 50 6 US states at 60–70 6 60 0 US states at 70–80 70 0 US states at 80–90 80 0 US states at 90–100 90 Life Score →
Top 10% by Life Score Higher Life Score than 90% of all 51 US states.

Kentucky has life score of 60.9. Distribution: 0 US states at 0-10; 0 US states at 10-20; 0 US states at 20-30; 5 US states at 30-40; 16 US states at 40-50; 24 US states at 50-60; 6 US states at 60-70; 0 US states at 70-80; 0 US states at 80-90; 0 US states at 90-100.

Evaluating Kentucky as a relocation target starts with the statewide BEA Regional Price Parity of 90.2 - where 100 is the national average, so every point above or below translates to percent-level cost of living difference. Housing costs in Kentucky index at 64.3, goods at 96.0, and services at 75.3. HUD Fair Market Rents averaged across Kentucky counties put a 2-bedroom at $983/month, the figure HUD uses to cap Section 8 voucher payments, so it reflects real submarket rents rather than listings bias.

On the income side, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics report a statewide median salary of $66,084 with a mean of $69,676 across 1,984,080 tracked jobs. For safety context, FBI UCR data shows a violent crime rate of 225 per 100,000 residents and a property crime rate of 1397 per 100K. These state-level reads let you benchmark Kentucky against both your origin state and national medians before zooming into specific metros.

Family and education costs often decide a move. Department of Labor data for Kentucky shows center-based infant care running $7,238/year, preschool at $6,605/year, and toddler care at $6,605/year. Kentucky contains 6 metropolitan statistical areas in our dataset - Bowling Green, Elizabethtown, Lexington-Fayette and more - each with its own rent, wage and crime profile that can diverge sharply from the statewide average. The composite Life Score of 60.9/100 (C) folds all seven federal sources into one number for quick comparison.

Key Metrics

Cost of Living (RPP)
90.2
100 = national avg
Avg 2BR Rent (FMR)
$983
per month
Median Salary
$66,084
annual
Violent Crime Rate
225
per 100K

Childcare Costs

State-average childcare costs for Kentucky (DOL data).

Infant (Center)
$7,238
per year
Toddler (Center)
$6,605
per year
Preschool (Center)
$6,605
per year

Life Score Breakdown

Kentucky's composite Life Score is 60.9/100 (C), computed across 7 dimensions.

Strongest dimension: Childcare (89/100)

Kentucky - Life Score dimensions

Percentile vs all US states (100 = best in the nation for that dimension)

/100

What this shows Kentucky's strongest dimensions are childcare and rent; its weakest is wages at 12/100. Each dimension is a federal-data percentile; the composite folds all seven into one comparable figure.

Source BEA · HUD · BLS · FBI · NCES · DOL · EPA As of Federal data, latest available vintage
Cost
78/100
Strong
Wages
12/100
Bottom decile
Rent
86/100
Elite
Crime
70/100
Strong
Schools
62/100
Above average
Childcare
89/100
Elite
Environment
44/100
Below average

Metros in Kentucky

Explore detailed relocation data for 6 metropolitan areas in Kentucky.

Bowling Green, KY Elizabethtown, KY Lexington-Fayette, KY Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Owensboro, KY Paducah, KY-IL

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Relocating within or to Kentucky?

State figures are the benchmark, drill into a metro before you commit.

  • Kentucky has 6 metro areas with rent, wage and crime profiles that diverge from the statewide average, start with Bowling Green. View Bowling Green
  • Put two places on the same scorecard across cost, rent, wages, safety and schools before you decide. Compare metros
  • See how every US metro ranks on the composite LiveAbility Score, then re-weight it to your priorities. Rankings

Cost, rent and wages are state-level reads; safety, schools and childcare use state data where metro-level isn't published. Always verify the latest figures at the official source before you move.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the cost of living in Kentucky?
Kentucky has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) of 90.2, where 100 represents the national average. Housing costs index at 64.3, which is below the national average. The average 2-bedroom fair market rent is $983/month.
What is the median salary in Kentucky?
The median salary in Kentucky is $66,084 annually (mean: $69,676). Total employment across the state is 1,984,080.
How safe is Kentucky?
The violent crime rate in Kentucky is 225 per 100,000 population. The property crime rate is 1397 per 100K.
How much does childcare cost in Kentucky?
Infant center-based childcare in Kentucky averages $7,238 per year. Preschool averages $6,605/year. Toddler care averages $6,605/year. These are state-level averages from the Department of Labor.
How many metro areas are in Kentucky?
Kentucky has 6 metropolitan statistical areas tracked by PlainRelocate, including Bowling Green, Elizabethtown, Lexington-Fayette and 3 more.
Is Kentucky a good state to relocate to?
Kentucky has a Life Score of 60.9/100 (C), based on 7 dimensions: cost of living, wages, rent, crime, schools, childcare, and environment. This is an above-average score, Kentucky outperforms most scored states on the combined measure.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA June 2026

Data Sources

  • Cost of Living: Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Regional Price Parities
  • Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR)
  • Wages: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES)
  • Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR)
  • Schools: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
  • Childcare: Department of Labor (DOL)
  • Environment: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

This information is for research purposes only.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Related

Browse all → | Rankings →

Verify with U.S. Census Bureau →

Every figure on PlainRelocate is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.