Paducah composite
70.0 /100
Grade A+ · weighted across 7 dims
Metro comparison
Paducah vs South Bend
Paducah, KY-IL and South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI side by side, cost of living, rent, wages, crime, schools, childcare and environment, all from the same federal datasets so every number is directly comparable.
- 70.0
- Paducah Life Score
- A+
- Paducah grade
- 55.2
- South Bend Life Score
- B
- South Bend grade
Head-to-head verdict
Across the seven dimensions, Paducah scores higher on 4 (cost of living, rent, safety, childcare) and South Bend on 3 (wages, schools, environment). The radar shows the full shape; the tables below break out every figure.
Paducah vs South Bend across all seven dimensions (each scored 0–100 as a national percentile, bigger area = stronger overall)
Where each metro wins, and by how much
Every dimension is a national percentile (0–100). Each bar leans toward the stronger metro, a long lean is a decisive edge, a near-even split is a toss-up. The radar shows the overall shape; this shows the per-dimension margins.
◖ Paducah South Bend ◗
cost of living
94
55
wages
22
46
rent
96
51
safety
77
50
schools
53
57
childcare
88
0
environment
68
84
Paducah and South Bend differ across eleven dimensions of livability. Paducah has a cost-of-living index of 86.1 vs South Bend's 92.9 (national average = 100). Median salaries are $62,516 in Paducah and $62,165 in South Bend. A 2-bedroom averages $969/mo vs $1,292/mo.
How to read this matchup
Reading the Paducah vs South Bend Comparison
Paducah (KY) and South Bend (IN) are assembled here from the same federal data pipeline, BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, FBI Uniform Crime Reports, NCES public-school counts, and EPA environmental indicators, so every number on this page is directly comparable. The overall cost index reads 86.1 for Paducah against 92.9 for South Bend, a 6.8-point gap on a scale where 100 equals the U.S. average. HUD's 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent, the figure used to set housing-choice voucher payment standards, is $969/mo in Paducah and $1,292/mo in South Bend, a $323/mo difference that compounds to $3,876 over a year.
On wages, BLS OES reports a median salary of $62,516 across 43,110 jobs in Paducah against $62,165 across 125,610 jobs in South Bend. Adjusted through the BEA cost-of-living lens, $100,000 earned in Paducah carries the same local purchasing power as $107,869 in South Bend - the most honest way to read the salary headline, because nominal wages and rents move together in tight metros. State-level violent crime, the most reliable geographic tier FBI UCR publishes, is 225.5 per 100,000 residents in KY vs 308.5 in IN, with property-crime rates of 1397.1 and 1321.0 respectively.
Schools are reported at the state tier by NCES: KY lists 1,395 public schools at a 15.2:1 student-teacher ratio, while IN lists 1,865 schools at 15.9:1, a signal of class-size staffing, though individual district and school-level variation within each state is substantial. When these pieces are read together rather than in isolation, Paducah and South Bend are not simply "cheaper" or "more expensive" - they trade across dimensions, and which metro wins depends on whether your household optimizes for rent, wages, schools, childcare, safety, or environment. Treat the tables below as inputs to that trade-off, not as a single ranking.
South Bend composite
55.2 /100
Grade B · weighted across 7 dims
Cost-of-living gap
-6.8 pts
Paducah vs South Bend BEA RPP
2-bed rent delta
$323 /mo
South Bend priced higher
Composite life score on the national 0–100 scale
Paducah
Paducah composite (Grade A+)
South Bend
South Bend composite (Grade B)
Composite is a weighted roll-up of seven dimensions: cost (20%), wages (20%), rent (15%), safety (15%), schools (10%), childcare (10%), environment (10%). Each input normalized to a 0–100 percentile across all metros.
💰 Cost of Living BEA →
| Category | Paducah | South Bend |
|---|---|---|
| Overall RPP | 86.1 | 92.9 |
| Goods | 96.0 | 94.2 |
| Services | 76.9 | 87.7 |
| Rents | 48.8 | 74.6 |
Salary Equivalent Calculator
What salary in South Bend gives the same purchasing power as your salary in Paducah?
$
Equivalent in South Bend:
$107,869
Based on BEA Regional Price Parities (Paducah: 86.1, South Bend: 92.9, national avg = 100).
🏠 Rent (Fair Market Rent) HUD →
| Bedrooms | Paducah | South Bend |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $784/mo | $898/mo |
| 1 Bedroom | $789/mo | $1,105/mo |
| 2 Bedroom | $969/mo | $1,292/mo |
| 3 Bedroom | $1,348/mo | $1,567/mo |
| 4 Bedroom | $1,415/mo | $1,711/mo |
💼 Wages & Employment BLS →
| Metric | Paducah | South Bend |
|---|---|---|
| Avg Median Salary | $62,516 | $62,165 |
| Total Employment | 43,110 | 125,610 |
🛡️ Crime Rates (state-level) FBI →
| Crime Type (per 100K) | Paducah (KY) | South Bend (IN) |
|---|---|---|
| Violent Crime | 225.5 | 308.5 |
| Property Crime | 1397.1 | 1321.0 |
🎓 Schools (state-level) NCES →
| Metric | KY | IN |
|---|---|---|
| Total Schools | 1,395 | 1,865 |
| Student-Teacher Ratio | 15.2:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Charter Schools | 0.0% | 6.5% |
🌿 Environment (state-level) EPA →
| Metric | KY | IN |
|---|---|---|
| EPA Facilities | 489 | 1,028 |
| Water Systems | 376 | 718 |
| Superfund Sites | 20 | 53 |
| Water Violations | 1,788 | 1,467 |
Government-verified data - Air quality (EPA AQS), water safety (EPA SDWIS), healthcare access (HRSA), and disaster risk (FEMA NRI) are sourced directly from U.S. federal agencies. No crowdsourced estimates.
💨 Air Quality (EPA AQS) EPA AQS →
| Metric | Paducah | South Bend |
|---|---|---|
| Median AQI | 43.0 | 45.0 |
| Good Air Days | 74.0% | 64.8% |
| Unhealthy Air Days | 1 days | 2 days |
💧 Water Safety (EPA SDWIS, state-level) EPA SDWIS →
| Metric | KY | IN |
|---|---|---|
| Water Safety Score | 1/100 | 5/100 |
| Total Violations | 80,482 | 352,710 |
| Health-Based Violations | 12,554 | 35,932 |
| Systems with Violations | 99.1% | 95.8% |
🏥 Healthcare Access (HRSA, state-level) HRSA →
| Metric | KY | IN |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Access Score | 0/100 | 0/100 |
| Population in Shortage Area | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| HPSA Designations | 687 | 362 |
HPSA = Health Professional Shortage Area, designated by HRSA. Higher access score = better healthcare availability.
⚠️ Natural Disaster Risk (FEMA NRI, state-level) FEMA NRI →
| Metric | KY | IN |
|---|---|---|
| Disaster Safety Score | 71/100 | 69/100 |
| NRI Risk Score (avg county) | 44.2 | 45.5 |
| Expected Annual Loss Score | 41.4 | 49.3 |
FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) scores are county-level percentiles (0–100). Higher disaster safety score = lower relative risk. State-level values are county averages.
Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level. Metro-specific data for these dimensions is not available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Paducah more expensive than South Bend? ▼
Paducah has a cost of living index of 86.1 compared to South Bend's 92.9 (national average = 100). South Bend is 6.8 points above Paducah on the BEA Regional Price Parity scale.
What is the rent difference between Paducah and South Bend? ▼
A 2-bedroom apartment averages $969/mo in Paducah vs $1,292/mo in South Bend, based on HUD Fair Market Rent data. Studios range from $784/mo to $898/mo.
How do salaries compare between Paducah and South Bend? ▼
The average median salary across all occupations is $62,516 in Paducah and $62,165 in South Bend, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. After adjusting for cost of living, $100,000 in Paducah has the same purchasing power as $107,869 in South Bend.
Is Paducah or South Bend safer? ▼
At the state level, KY has a violent crime rate of 225.5 per 100,000 residents compared to IN's 308.5 per 100,000. Property crime rates are 1397.1 vs 1321.0 per 100,000 respectively, based on FBI Uniform Crime Report data.
How do schools compare between Paducah and South Bend? ▼
KY has 1,395 public schools with an average student-teacher ratio of 15.2:1, while IN has 1,865 schools at 15.9:1. Charter schools make up 0.0% of KY schools vs 6.5% in IN. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Where does the comparison data come from? ▼
All data comes from official U.S. government sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis (cost of living), HUD (fair market rents), BLS (wages), FBI UCR (crime), NCES (schools), Department of Labor (childcare), EPA (environment, air quality, water safety), HRSA (healthcare access), and FEMA NRI (disaster risk). No crowdsourced estimates or proprietary ratings are used.
Research Guides
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Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, EPA AQS, EPA SDWIS, HRSA, and FEMA NRI. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.
Disclaimer: This comparison is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or relocation advice. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.
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Data sourced from official public datasets, current as of 2026. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial