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Best Mechanical Engineering Schools Near Lexington, KY (2026)
Updated September 7, 2026BLS dataCollege ScorecardOn this page
Lexington, Kentucky has 3 accredited schools offering mechanical engineering programs, with tuition ranging from $13,136 to $34,391 per year for indexed programs. Lexington has a population of about 312,495. In the Lexington-Fayette, KY metro area, the top-earning mechanical engineering-related role is Architectural and Engineering Managers at a median $161,170 annually (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
Closest Mechanical Engineering Schools to Lexington
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer mechanical engineering programs near Lexington, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Lexington city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
How We Rank Schools
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most
recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS).
To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the
U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked
against schools at the same credential level:
BOCSCORE
Graduation rate 30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry 25%
Average net price (lower is better) 20%
Retention rate 15%
Fully online availability 10%
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score.
On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Lexington.
Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
BOC
Ranked by BOC Score — U.S. Dept. of Education outcome data. Advertising never affects rankings.
Lexington is part of the Lexington-Fayette, KY metro area (BLS area code 30460). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Kentucky statewide.
Occupation
Median Wage
Source
COL-Adjusted (US=100)
Mechanical Engineers
$103,820
Lexington-Fayette, KY
$111,755
Architectural and Engineering Managers
$161,170
Lexington-Fayette, KY
$173,488
Industrial Engineers
$101,000
Lexington-Fayette, KY
$108,719
Mechanical Engineering Technologists and Technicians
$76,230
Lexington-Fayette, KY
$82,056
Mechanical Drafters
$71,520
Lexington-Fayette, KY
$76,986
Engineers, All Other
$93,400
Lexington-Fayette, KY
$100,538
Aerospace Engineers
$126,130
KY statewide
$135,770
Cost Estimators
$71,630
Lexington-Fayette, KY
$77,104
Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.
Lexington at a Glance
Metric
Value
Source
Regional Price Parity (US=100)
92.9 (below U.S. average)
BEA RPP 2024
Other Lexington-Area Cities With Mechanical Engineering Programs
How many accredited mechanical engineering schools are near Lexington, KY?
Our directory has 3 accredited schools offering mechanical engineering programs near Lexington. The closest is University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY (2.5 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is University of Cincinnati-Main Campus (75.3 miles). 3 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.
What are the highest-paying mechanical engineering roles near Lexington?
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying mechanical engineering-related roles near Lexington are: Architectural and Engineering Managers ($161,170), Aerospace Engineers ($126,130), Mechanical Engineers ($103,820). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Kentucky statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
Should I look at programs in Nicholasville instead of Lexington?
Nicholasville, KY is 12.0 miles from Lexington and has its own set of local mechanical engineering programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.
How do I verify a program is accredited?
Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.
Data verified: September 7, 2026.
Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
