Lexington vs. Louisville: Where is the Best Place to Live in Kentucky?

Lexington vs. Louisville Kentucky

If you’re relocating to Kentucky, deciding on where to live can be quite the challenge.

Although there are so many fantastic cities in the state, it’s common that homebuyers are tossed between Louisville and Lexington.

The cities are only 78 miles away from one another, but they both have differentiating qualities that make them completely unique.

So what’s the difference between Lexington and Louisville?

Kentucky Community Vibe

Community vibe is possibly one of the biggest differentiating factors between Lexington and Louisville. Each city offers a completely different lifestyle from the other.

First of all, Louisville is an urban center. With more than 600,000 people, the city is bustling with people.

It has a large downtown core where you can find high-rise buildings and large-scale businesses, making it the commercial hub of Kentucky.

The city is also home to some of the state’s top-rated restaurants and bars, as well as amazing nightlife and entertainment venues.

All of this certainly gives Louisville a big-city lifestyle.

Although Lexington is only a hop, skip, and a jump away, it has a completely different community vibe from Louisville.

It’s less than half the size of Louisville with a population of 300,000, and although this is not necessarily a small town, it definitely has a tight-knit community and small-town vibe.

The downtown core is much smaller than Louisville’s, though it’s filled with tons of urban amenities in the form of small businesses and mom-and-pop boutiques. You can find quaint cafes and gift-shops along the city’s historic streets, making downtown Lexington a lovely place to stroll around on warm summer days.

Also, Lexington is arguably home to much more natural beauty than Louisville.

Since Lexington is not so much of an urban center, there’s more farmland and regional parks in and around the city, not only offering a more rural view, but tons of outdoor activities.

Employment Opportunities

Career and employment opportunity is a large factor when deciding on a new place to live. And even though Louisville and Lexington both offer a plethora of opportunities, the career choices are quite different between the two cities.

Since Louisville is the largest city in Kentucky and is known as the commercial hub of the state, there are more career opportunities in large-scale businesses and in finance.

Aside from that, there are careers in technology, as well as the public sector.

Lexington also has a wide diversity of career opportunities, though the city is known for its entrepreneurship.

One of the reasons why small businesses thrive in Lexington is because the city has a small-town vibe where residents love shopping locally and supporting their neighborhood businesses.

In addition to entrepreneurship, Lexington offers careers in one of its biggest industries: the equestrian industry.

So, if you love horses, there are plenty of ways you can get involved in the thing you’re most passionate about.

Horse Farms and Pastureland

What attracts tons of homebuyers to Kentucky each year is its equestrian industry. Kentucky is home to some of the top race horses in the world, and is host to the most prominent equestrian events in the nation.

So, if you’re wanting to be involved in this infamous industry and start your own farm, then Lexington is the place for you. It’s not only known as the “Horse Capital of the World” for its equestrian events, but for its fantastic horse farms.

Lexington real estate is filled with phenomenal horse farms that have the best bluegrass in the entire state.

The land is known to produce the top competing race horses in the world because of its excellent conditions.

Although Louisville does have its fair share of horse farms, they aren’t as prevalent as in Lexington.

And even though the land in Louisville is great, it’s not nearly as fruitful as the land in Lexington.

The Real Estate Market

When it comes to real estate, Louisville and Lexington are extremely different. The prevailing house styles differ between the two cities, as well as the types of properties on the market.

Since Louisville is a growing metropolitan city, there are tons of new-builds and condominiums for sale.

You can find condos and apartments located near the downtown core, putting you in the center of the action.

Other than these types of properties, Louisville is home to America’s largest collection of Victorian homes.

While Louisville has a wide array of options, Lexington’s real estate is quite uniform. Many of the homes are red brick ranchers that have shuttered windows and front porches.

These homes offer charm unlike anywhere else in Kentucky, making Lexington such a desirable place to live.