Metro Life Score
Lexington-Fayette, KY
Top-5% composite Life Score — grade A+, 98th percentile of the national corpus.
- 64.9
- Life Score / 100
- A+
- Grade (curved)
- #8
- of 387 metros
- 98%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Lexington-Fayette is top-5% composite Life Score — #8 of 387 (64.9/100, grade A+, 98th percentile). Carried by childcare at 89/100; held back most by environment at 50/100.
- 98th
- composite percentile
- #8
- of 387 peers
- 55th
- cost dimension percentile
- 70th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · TOP · BALANCED · signature composite
Lexington-Fayette: top-third composite Life Score
Lexington-Fayette clears the top third of US metros on composite Life Score (#8 of 387, 64.9/100, grade A+, 98th percentile). Stamps TOP · BALANCED; cost MID (55th) · wages HIGH (70th). Childcare at 89/100 carries the lead; Environment (50/100) is the residual gap. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Lexington-Fayette, KY ranks #8 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #176 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 92.9 (rent-RPP 77.1). BLS median salary $68,636, 274,970 jobs (Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators, General and Operations Managers, Registered Nurses). HUD 2BR FMR $1,272/mo (studio $883).
FBI UCR (KY): 225 violent, 1397 property/100K. NCES: 15.1:1 ratio, 0.0% charter. DOL infant childcare $7,238/yr. EPA: 20 Superfund sites (KY).
Where Lexington-Fayette sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
65 Top 2% higher than 98% of 387 US metros
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source PlainCompare composite of BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA data · August 2026
How the 64.9 is built
Lexington-Fayette's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Lexington-Fayette scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are KY state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Lexington-Fayette With...
Ranking Context
Lexington-Fayette outranks 98% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #5 | Charleston, WV | 65.3 | A+ |
| #6 | Ames, IA | 65.6 | A+ |
| #7 | St. Cloud, MN | 65.9 | A+ |
| #8 | Lexington-Fayette, KY | 64.9 | A+ |
| #9 | Elizabethtown, KY | 64.7 | A+ |
| #10 | Sioux Falls, SD-MN | 64.7 | A+ |
| #11 | Monroe, LA | 64.6 | A+ |
Quality vs. Affordability
Lexington-Fayette, KY is top 2% highest-quality nationally but only top 45% most affordable among its composite-quality peers -- its Life Score is earned mostly outside the cost dimension, not through being a budget option.
KY Metro Scores
Read with Lexington-Fayette
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Lexington-Fayette (TOP · BALANCED · MID/HIGH), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
Elizabethtown, KY
ABS(composite) peer at 64.7 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A+ vs this page's TOP · BALANCED · MID/HIGH.
Sioux Falls, SD-MN
ABS(composite) peer at 64.7 (Δ 0.2 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A+ vs this page's TOP · BALANCED · MID/HIGH.
Monroe, LA
ABS(composite) peer at 64.6 (Δ 0.3 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A+ vs this page's TOP · BALANCED · MID/HIGH.
Owensboro, KY
ABS(composite) peer at 64.6 (Δ 0.3 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade A vs this page's TOP · BALANCED · MID/HIGH.
Greensboro-High Point, NC (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 55/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
Oshkosh-Neenah, WI (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 54/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
Lexington-Fayette, KY relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for TOP · BALANCED · MID/HIGH - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Lexington-Fayette's top-third Life Score
Lexington-Fayette scores 64.9/100 overall, but Childcare (89.1) and Environment (49.7) sit 39.4 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Childcare is the strongest of Lexington-Fayette's seven dimensions (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is your priority, this is where the metro earns its rank. See all seven dimensions
- Environment is the weakest (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Paducah is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Paducah
A high composite is a weighted blend; it does not mean every dimension is strong.