Overall
- Binghamton
- 92.9
- Lexington-Fayette
- 92.9
Diff +0.0 RPP
Binghamton vs Lexington-Fayette
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lexington-Fayette is 0% more expensive than Binghamton.
0% more expensive
Lexington-Fayette, KY is 0% more expensive than Binghamton, NY on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.9 vs 92.9). A $100,000 salary in Binghamton buys about the same as $100,028 in Lexington-Fayette; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 92.9 (Binghamton) vs 92.9 (Lexington-Fayette)
- $100k in Binghamton ≈ $100,028 purchasing power in Lexington-Fayette
- Services drives the gap (-57.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair NY:KY 92.9→92.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE NY × KY
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Binghamton
92.9
Cost Index
Lexington-Fayette
92.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Binghamton, NY and Lexington-Fayette, KY are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.0 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Lexington-Fayette is 57.0 points lower. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
For a service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Binghamton to $100,028 in Lexington-Fayette, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Binghamton
- 99.7
- Lexington-Fayette
- 96.2
Diff -3.4 RPP
Services
- Binghamton
- 131.6
- Lexington-Fayette
- 74.6
Diff -57.0 RPP
Rents
- Binghamton
- 69.7
- Lexington-Fayette
- 77.1
Diff +7.4 RPP
| Category | Binghamton | Lexington-Fayette | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.9 | 92.9 | +0.0 |
| Goods | 99.7 | 96.2 | -3.4 |
| Services | 131.6 | 74.6 | -57.0 |
| Rents | 69.7 | 77.1 | +7.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Binghamton 92.9
Lexington-Fayette 92.9
Goods
Binghamton 99.7
Lexington-Fayette 96.2
Services
Binghamton 131.6
Lexington-Fayette 74.6
Rents
Binghamton 69.7
Lexington-Fayette 77.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Binghamton and Lexington-Fayette share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 2.1 to 0.0 RPP points. Lexington-Fayette remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 6.7 points between the first and latest shared releases (63.7 to 57.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Binghamton RPP | Lexington-Fayette RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 97.0 | 95.0 | 2.1 points Binghamton higher |
| 2012 | 94.9 | 96.2 | 1.3 points Lexington-Fayette higher |
| 2016 | 96.1 | 95.2 | 0.9 points Binghamton higher |
| 2020 | 96.9 | 91.6 | 5.3 points Binghamton higher |
| 2024 | 92.9 | 92.9 | 0.0 points Lexington-Fayette higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Binghamton would need to be in Lexington-Fayette for the same purchasing power:
| In Binghamton | In Lexington-Fayette | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,014 | +$14 |
| $75,000 | $75,021 | +$21 |
| $100,000 | $100,028 | +$28 |
| $150,000 | $150,042 | +$42 |
$ in Binghamton = in Lexington-Fayette
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.9 → 92.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lexington-Fayette more expensive than Binghamton?
Lexington-Fayette is 0% more expensive than Binghamton. The overall cost index is 92.9 vs 92.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lexington-Fayette equals $100K in Binghamton?
A $100,000 salary in Binghamton has the same purchasing power as $100,028 in Lexington-Fayette. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Binghamton and Lexington-Fayette?
Rents in Binghamton are indexed at 69.7 while Lexington-Fayette is at 77.1 (national average = 100). Lexington-Fayette has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.