Loading
Assembling your view…
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Student life means every dollar counts. We scored 2 cities across Kentucky for rent, food, and cost of living. Louisville (rent $1,352/mo, cost index 79) ranks #1 for 2026.
| Rank | City | Cost Index | Median Rent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Louisville | 79 | $1,352 | Details |
| 2 | Lexington | 87 | $1,487 | Details |
#1 Ranked: Louisville — cost index 79, rent $1,352/mo, income $64,731
Student-budget scoring: rent $1,352/mo, food index 93, cost index 79 — survival-level affordability
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
Student life means every dollar counts. We scored 2 cities across Kentucky for rent, food, and cost of living. Louisville (rent $1,352/mo, cost index 79) ranks #1 for 2026.
Here's Louisville by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). Cost index: 79. Rent: $1,352/month. Income: $64,731/year. Home price: $259,139. Population: 622,981. The strongest category is Housing at 79; the most expensive is Healthcare at 96. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $6,516 per year vs. the national median. That's a difference you notice every single month.
What to do with this data: use the ranking as a shortlist, then dig into the city profiles for trend lines and category breakdowns. The difference between #1 and #5 is often smaller than the difference between "good on paper" and "actually fits my life." Compare your top picks with our calculator to see real take-home numbers.
622,981 residents · Kentucky
Here's Louisville by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). Cost index: 79. That's more or less in line with the region. Rent: $1,352/month — for better or worse — . Income: $64,731/year. Home price: $259,139. Population: 622,981. The strongest category is Housing at 79; the most expensive is Healthcare at 96. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $6,516 per year vs. the national median. In the context of rising national rents, this stability is worth noting.
320,154 residents · Kentucky
The #2 spot goes to Lexington, and the breakdown explains why. And for the typical household, renters here pay $1,487/month — saving renters $4,896 per year compared to the national average. Meanwhile, Housing is the standout at index 87, making it one of the cheapest in the country for that category. The weak spot? Healthcare at 97. A 26% rent-to-income ratio keeps most households inside the safe zone.
Our persona scoring model weights cost of living, income, rent, healthcare costs, tax burden, and population size differently based on what matters most to students. Each factor contributes 10-25 points to a 0-100 composite score. Cities with the highest composite rank first. All data is sourced from federal agencies and verified research institutions. Cost of living indices are normalized to 100 (national median) using Zillow rent as the primary signal, with sub-category adjustments derived from regional BLS price data. Rankings are updated monthly as new data is released.
Louisville ranks #1 in Kentucky for this analysis with a cost index of 79 and median income of $64,731.
Louisville scores highest for students due to its below-average cost of living, median rent of $1,352/mo, and competitive median income of $64,731.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
Louisville (ranked #1) has a cost index of 79 and rent of $1,352/mo, while Lexington (ranked #2) has a cost index of 87 and rent of $1,487/mo — a 8-point difference in cost of living.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Louisville is $1,352/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $543 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Louisville is $259,139, which is 4.0× the local median income. It's on the edge of affordability for median-income households. The national median home price is $467,370.
Kentucky has a 4% state income tax rate. Combined state and local sales tax averages 6%, and the effective property tax rate is 0.78%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.