Louisville vs Bowling Green leftover
Moving to Bowling Green costs you $561 a month
$1,927/mo leftover in Bowling Green vs $2,488 in Louisville after tax and rent ($561 less). −$6,732 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms. Not a cost-of-living index.
Louisville leftover
$2,488
a month after tax and rent
Bowling Green leftover
$1,927
−$561 vs Louisville
Compare Louisville to another metro
Same paycheck. Try a different city next to Louisville.
Monthly gap
Louisville → Bowling Green
$561
less / month in Louisville
$1,927 in Bowling Green · $2,488 in Louisville · One adult, renting a 1-bedroom
Home
Only when you tap. We match the nearest metro and don't keep the coordinates.
Destination
In 2022-2023, 146 households moved Louisville → Bowling Green (avg AGI $45,760). 155 went the other way. The whole move →
−$561 / mo
| Per month | Louisville | Bowling Green | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,333 | $6,350 | −$983 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,919 | $1,522 | −$397 |
| Take-home pay | $5,414 | $4,828 | −$586 |
| Rent | $1,047 | $948 | −$99 |
| Getting around | $545 | $584 | +$39 |
| Groceries | $368 | $378 | +$10 |
| Healthcare | $414 | $425 | +$11 |
| Utilities | $230 | $236 | +$6 |
| Everything else | $322 | $330 | +$8 |
| Left over | $2,488 | $1,927 | −$561 |
To break even in Bowling Green, you'd need to earn
$86,500
Household gross, versus $88,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Louisville does now.
The tax difference alone
+$1,265
A year, in state and local income tax. Effective rates: 26.2% in Louisville, 24.0% in Bowling Green.
More about Bowling Green
Louisville, KY in full
Cheap, central, and warmer than the rest of the Midwest.
Bowling Green, KY in full
A flat 4% state income tax, a median 2-bedroom asking rent of $1,129 and 205 sunny days; commutes average 22 minutes.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Bowling Green on Bowling Green wages.
Bowling Green → Louisville →Questions
Is the cost of living lower in Bowling Green than Louisville?
A one-bedroom is about $1,047 in Louisville versus $948 in Bowling Green. On a one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover is about $561 a month lower in Bowling Green. Change the job or household on the comparison to see your number.
Does Bowling Green have state income tax?
Bowling Green is in Kentucky, which taxes wage income, plus a local wage tax of 1.50%.
What changes if you move from Louisville to Bowling Green?
Take-home pay is recalculated under Kentucky tax, rent is priced at the same bedroom count, and leftover is the gap. The from-to page also lists IRS households that already made the move, when that data exists.
Leftover is take-home after federal, state and city wage tax, minus asking rent at the bedroom count you set, minus a modelled month of groceries, utilities, healthcare, transport and childcare. It is not a cost-of-living index and not a moving quote. The dollar gap between Louisville and Bowling Green moves when you change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.
Rent is Zillow's asking rent for each metro; taxes and living costs are modelled. An estimate, not a quote or tax advice. How this is calculated.