Southeast · Updated October 2026
Kentucky in numbers, from the same public data Locustep uses to rank all 50 states: rent, pay, taxes, safety, disaster risk and weather, plus the cities worth a look.
Two-bedroom rent
$1,155/mo
U.S. average $1,759
HUD Fair Market Rents FY2027 (40th percentile, population-weighted across the state)
Rent vs. income
21.5%
of median household income for a year of two-bedroom rent
HUD Fair Market Rents FY2027 ÷ 2024 ACS 1-year estimates (Census B19013)
State income tax
3.5%
top marginal rate, single filer
State revenue departments, 2026 income tax rates (sources listed per state)
Property tax
0.71%
effective rate on owner-occupied homes
Everyday costs
96.8
index, housing excluded (U.S. = 100)
BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024 (released February 2026), housing and utilities removed
Natural disaster risk
50th
percentile, FEMA expected annual loss (lower is safer)
Where Kentucky stands out: the 7th lowest violent crime, the 8th cheapest two-bedroom rent and the 7th lowest top income-tax rate among the 50 states.
What to weigh: the 5th lowest median household income.
Overall, a married couple on the U.S. median household income would pay about 7.5% of it in state and local income, property and sales tax here, the 21st highest of the 50 states.
Average afternoon highs and overnight lows in Louisville (Louisville Intl Airport station), NOAA 1991–2020 normals.
| Season | High | Low |
|---|---|---|
| Winter (Dec–Feb) | 46°F | 30°F |
| Spring (Mar–May) | 68°F | 49°F |
| Summer (Jun–Aug) | 88°F | 69°F |
| Fall (Sep–Nov) | 70°F | 50°F |
$1,276/mo two-bedroom · $1,058 one-bedroom (Louisville, KY-IN HUD Metro FMR Area)
Louisville is a river city with bourbon, the Derby, a strong logistics hub at the UPS Worldport and a distinctive food scene. Affordable, humid, and culturally somewhere between the Midwest and the South.
$1,416/mo two-bedroom · $1,205 one-bedroom (Lexington-Fayette, KY MSA)
Lexington sits in horse country, surrounded by rolling bluegrass farms, anchored by the University of Kentucky. Cheap, green, and more polished than Louisville, with a smaller and quieter downtown.
$1,199/mo two-bedroom · $1,020 one-bedroom (Bowling Green, KY HUD Metro FMR Area)
Bowling Green is a growing south-central Kentucky city with a Corvette plant, a university and caves nearby. Very low cost of living, tornado-exposed, and increasingly diverse thanks to refugee resettlement.
$1,442/mo two-bedroom · $1,128 one-bedroom (Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN HUD Metro FMR Area)
Covington sits directly across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, with historic architecture, a walkable riverfront and lower taxes than Ohio. Effectively a Cincinnati neighbourhood with a Kentucky address.
$1,138/mo two-bedroom · $870 one-bedroom (Owensboro, KY MSA)
Owensboro is a western Kentucky city on the Ohio River, known for bluegrass music and barbecue, with a well-rebuilt riverfront. Affordable and family-oriented, with Evansville across the river.
$1,145/mo two-bedroom · $909 one-bedroom (Franklin County, KY)
Frankfort is a very small state capital in a river valley between Louisville and Lexington — government employment, bourbon distilleries and a quiet, historic downtown.
$1,087/mo two-bedroom · $866 one-bedroom (Elizabethtown, KY HUD Metro FMR Area)
Elizabethtown is a central Kentucky city near Fort Knox, growing with new battery manufacturing investment. Affordable and on the interstate between Louisville and Nashville.
$1,131/mo two-bedroom · $924 one-bedroom (McCracken County, KY HUD Metro FMR Area)
Paducah is a western Kentucky river city where the Tennessee meets the Ohio, with a quilt museum and an arts district. Cheap and historic, with floodwalls guarding downtown and a limited job market.
Rents: HUD Fair Market Rents FY2027 (40th percentile, population-weighted across the state) (metro areas). City notes: Locustep.
Closest on Locustep’s match factors: cost, housing, taxes, safety, jobs, schools, healthcare, outdoors, disaster risk and climate.
Ranks compare the 50 states. Locustep updates these figures when the agencies publish new data.
Yes. Kentucky’s top marginal income-tax rate for a single filer is 3.5% (Kentucky tax law, 2026). Counting property and sales tax too, a married couple on the U.S. median household income would pay about 7.5% of income in state and local taxes (Locustep estimate, 2026).
A typical two-bedroom rents for about $1,155 a month and a one-bedroom for about $946, using HUD’s FY2027 Fair Market Rents averaged across the state by population. That is $604 less than the U.S. average of $1,759. Rent in the bigger metros can be well above the state figure.
Leaving housing aside, everyday prices (goods and services other than housing) index at 96.8 against a U.S. average of 100 (BEA, 2024), and the median home value indexes at 62.7 against the U.S. median (Census, 2024). Two-bedroom rent takes 21.5% of the state’s median household income of $64,526.
Kentucky recorded 213.1 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in 2024 (FBI), the 7th lowest rate of the 50 states. Crime varies a lot between and within cities, so check the specific area you’re considering.
The main hazards are tornadoes and flooding. On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Kentucky’s expected yearly loss from natural hazards sits at the 50th percentile nationally (lower is safer). Risk differs sharply by county, so look up the county too.
Places people most often weigh include Louisville, Lexington, Bowling Green, Covington and Owensboro. Each has a different cost, climate and character; Locustep compares their rent, disaster risk, weather and pay side by side.