Overall
- Lexington-Fayette
- 92.9
Diff +6.0 RPP
Lexington-Fayette vs Atlantic City-Hammonton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Atlantic City-Hammonton is 6.4% more expensive than Lexington-Fayette.
6.4% more expensive
Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ is 6.4% more expensive than Lexington-Fayette, KY on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.9 vs 92.9). A $100,000 salary in Lexington-Fayette buys about the same as $106,425 in Atlantic City-Hammonton; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 92.9 (Lexington-Fayette) vs 98.9 (Atlantic City-Hammonton)
- $100k in Lexington-Fayette ≈ $106,425 purchasing power in Atlantic City-Hammonton
- Services drives the gap (+34.6 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair KY:NJ 92.9→98.9
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE KY × NJ
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
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.
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
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.
Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ is 6.4% more expensive than Lexington-Fayette, KY, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 6.0-point overall gap.
Services leads the difference, with Atlantic City-Hammonton 34.6 points higher than Lexington-Fayette. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
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 Lexington-Fayette to $106,425 in Atlantic City-Hammonton, but it is not a personal spending weight.
How the Price Gap Changed
Lexington-Fayette and Atlantic City-Hammonton share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 15.7 to 6.0 RPP points. Atlantic City-Hammonton remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 28.6 points between the first and latest shared releases (50.2 to 21.6 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Lexington-Fayette RPP | Atlantic City-Hammonton RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 95.0 | 110.7 | 15.7 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2012 | 96.2 | 104.6 | 8.4 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2016 | 95.2 | 102.6 | 7.5 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2020 | 91.6 | 101.2 | 9.6 points Atlantic City-Hammonton higher |
| 2024 | 92.9 | 98.9 | 6.0 points Atlantic City-Hammonton 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.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Lexington-Fayette
- 96.2
Diff +3.5 RPP
Services
- Lexington-Fayette
- 74.6
- Atlantic City-Hammonton
- 109.2
Diff +34.6 RPP
Rents
- Lexington-Fayette
- 77.1
Diff +21.6 RPP
| Category | Lexington-Fayette | Atlantic City-Hammonton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.9 | 98.9 | +6.0 |
| Goods | 96.2 | 99.8 | +3.5 |
| Services | 74.6 | 109.2 | +34.6 |
| Rents | 77.1 | 98.7 | +21.6 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Lexington-Fayette 92.9
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.9
Goods
Lexington-Fayette 96.2
Atlantic City-Hammonton 99.8
Services
Lexington-Fayette 74.6
Atlantic City-Hammonton 109.2
Rents
Lexington-Fayette 77.1
Atlantic City-Hammonton 98.7
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Lexington-Fayette would need to be in Atlantic City-Hammonton for the same purchasing power:
| In Lexington-Fayette | In Atlantic City-Hammonton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $53,212 | +$3,212 |
| $75,000 | $79,819 | +$4,819 |
| $100,000 | $106,425 | +$6,425 |
| $150,000 | $159,637 | +$9,637 |
$ in Lexington-Fayette = in Atlantic City-Hammonton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.9 → 98.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Lexington-Fayette
92.9
Cost Index
Atlantic City-Hammonton
98.9
Cost Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Atlantic City-Hammonton more expensive than Lexington-Fayette?
Atlantic City-Hammonton is 6.4% more expensive than Lexington-Fayette. The overall cost index is 98.9 vs 92.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Atlantic City-Hammonton equals $100K in Lexington-Fayette?
A $100,000 salary in Lexington-Fayette has the same purchasing power as $106,425 in Atlantic City-Hammonton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Lexington-Fayette and Atlantic City-Hammonton?
Rents in Lexington-Fayette are indexed at 77.1 while Atlantic City-Hammonton is at 98.7 (national average = 100). Atlantic City-Hammonton 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.