Kingston, NY
Kingston, NY Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Kingston, NY Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Kingston ranks 78th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 68th for income. A household earns $87,847 a year while median rent runs $1,586/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 1% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is health (31st of 300), while commute is the soft spot (255th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 231st and home prices 210th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Kingston, your take-home is worth about $57,387 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it less than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 68th of 300↑37.1%$87,847
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 234th of 300101 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $87,229
- Per-capita income
- $47,293
- Full-time pay
- $49,895
Housing
- Median rent
- 231st of 300↑39.7%$1,586/mo
- Home value
- 210th of 300↑62.9%$389,100
- Property tax
- $6,114/yr · 1.6%
- Sales tax
- 8.53%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 225th of 3005.2%
- Bachelor's+
- 84th of 30039%
- Avg commute
- 255th of 30027.9 min
People
- Population
- 182,977
- Population change
- +3%
- Median age
- 44.5 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 8.7%
- Broadband
- 94.1%
Environment & risk
- Natural-hazard loss
- 97th of 300$11/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 31st of 30015.6%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 6.9%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Household income
- + Education
- + Hazard safety
- + Health
Watch-outs
- – Cost of living
- – Rent
- – Home prices
- – Job market
- – Commute
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — millbrook 3 w.
What jobs pay in Kingston
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- IT managers
- $154,270
- Financial managers
- $146,070
- Pharmacists
- $142,360
- Software developers
- $124,300
- Lawyers
- $115,280
- Civil engineers
- $110,610
- Secondary school teachers
- $101,300
- Registered nurses
- $101,030
- General & operations managers
- $99,970
- Elementary school teachers
- $97,920
- Accountants & auditors
- $80,560
- Family medicine physicians
- $79,390
- Plumbers
- $70,190
- Electricians
- $69,440
- Police officers
- $68,730
- Carpenters
- $61,140
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $59,830
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $50,230
- Construction laborers
- $49,520
- Waiters & waitresses
- $46,440
- Customer service reps
- $43,680
- Janitors
- $38,570
- Retail salespersons
- $36,530
- Cashiers
- $34,770
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Kingston metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in New York are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- New Jersey693
- Florida484
- California205
- Nevada136
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Kingston
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Kingston metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Kingston metro?
- Median gross rent across the Kingston, NY Metro Area is $1,586 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Kingston.
- What is the median household income in the Kingston metro?
- A typical household in the Kingston, NY Metro Area earns $87,847 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Kingston expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Kingston, NY Metro Area runs about 1% above the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are higher than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Kingston metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $87,229 (versus its face value of $87,847). CityLedger rates the Kingston, NY Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Kingston metro?
- The median home value across the Kingston, NY Metro Area is $389,100 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Kingston metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Kingston, NY Metro Area is 5.2% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).