By most accounts, the chief issue in our most recent elections was the economy, with unemployment as the lead contributing factor. As of September, Louisville, Kentucky has an unemployment rate of 9.8 percent which is slightly higher than the national average of 9.6 percent. Many are worried about where things are headed, as well they should be.
For those living in Louisville, let me share some positive information that should help balance out your concerns.
Let’s take a look and see how Louisville stacks up against other cities in our region of the country that are also close to our population size. The first table starts with the median family income, which is $49,161 according to Louisville, KY Wikipedia page. The other values are what the same family would need to make in three neighboring cities in order to have the same purchasing power.
As you can see, the cost of living in Louisville, KY is quite low and beats all three.
| City | Salary |
| Louisville | $49,161 |
| Cincinnati | $53,988 |
| Nashville | $56,973 |
| Indianapolis | $51,066 |
Let’s break this down further. Using data from Sperling’s Best Places, I’ve compiled the following table to see how Louisville stacks up in the categories of Food, Housing, Utilities, Transportation, Health, and Miscellaneous.
What is most notable to me, a Realtor® is that Louisville’s Housing Index is much lower than Nashville’s and significantly lower than both Indianapolis and Cincinnati.
The rest of the data is displayed in the chart below.
| Cost of Living Indexes | Louisville | Cincinnati | Nashville | Indianapolis |
| Overall | 77 | 85 | 90 | 80 |
| Food | 81 | 89 | 93 | 87 |
| Housing | 46 | 63 | 84 | 61 |
| Utilities | 116 | 111 | 92 | 95 |
| Transportation | 98 | 108 | 90 | 101 |
| Health | 87 | 93 | 93 | 93 |
| Miscellaneous | 94 | 91 | 95 | 86 |
Sperling’s is a handy tool if you’re considering a move to another city and want to compare the cost of living in both places. But honestly, with so much going on here in Louisville, why would you want to leave?
