Off-Campus Housing for Law Students

 W&L Law students have a number of off-campus housing options to select from, ranging from conveniently located apartments, condos and townhouses to homes in local neighborhoods.

Low cost of living

One of the best things about life in Lexington is its affordability.  A typical monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment can cost from $600-$850 with an average price of $730, and a two bedroom apartment can rent for $750 - $1,200 with an average price of $1,075.  If you and your family, or a few roommates, wish to rent a larger house, a three to four bedroom house ranges from $1,300 - $1,700 with an average price of $1,455.  While law school is a significant expense almost anywhere you go, at W&L, you can enjoy a high quality of life without spending a great deal of money.  If you are financing some portion of your legal education (as 90% of our students are), money saved in law school can have significant implications for your debt load after graduation.

Where do our students live?

A great many of our students live in and around downtown Lexington, no more than a 10 to 15 minute walk from the law school, while other students choose to live a few miles outside of town in Rockbridge County.  In addition to the housing options in the Lexington area, the town of Buena Vista is located just under 10 minutes from Lexington. Typically, rentals can be a little less expensive there.

Housing Resources

As our students will tell you, if you are moving to Lexington from a major metropolitan area, your housing search will likely look a little different than those you have conducted previously. For example, when searching for an apartment, you may find that internet searches do not yield a great deal of information. While Craigslist does contain listings for the Lexington area (search under Craigslist Roanoke and narrow your search by asking for all properties in Lexington), we typically recommend students broaden their searches and utilize a variety of local resources when looking for housing. Furthermore, if possible, come to Lexington for a few days to conduct your search in person.  Detailed street maps of Lexington are available in the Office of Admissions and at the Lexington Visitor's Center on Washington Street.

We encourage you to consult the classified ads, utilize the local realtors, speak with current students, and drive around town. Lexington is small enough that many landlords still advertise an availability by simply posting a sign in front of the property. We encourage you to visit Lexington and look around. Please note that we recommend that you do not rent any property site unseen. As in true in most housing markets, the earlier you start looking, the more options will be available.

If you are an admitted student and have questions about finding housing in the Lexington area, we encourage you to consider joining our Admitted Students Facebook group. This page is monitored by a number of current students, and they are more than happy to share their insights, recommendations and stories about finding housing in the Lexington area. 

There is also an open W&L Housing Exchange Facebook group, specifically focused on housing.

You may find the following useful in securing off-campus housing. These sites are not sponsored by W&L, and neither the Law School nor the University makes any representation or warranty whatsoever regarding the properties listed.

You may want to consider calling the realtors to discuss your housing needs and to get the best sense of their full inventory.  Sometimes, properties may be available for rent that are not yet listed on these company's websites.

If you are looking for some storage options for the summer months, you can find options available on:

Are you a first-time renter?  You may find this Real Estate 101 site to be helpful.