Cost of living in Georgia

Georgia at a glance

Median rent

$1,393

Census ACS, B25064, monthly

Median household income

$77,353

Census ACS, B19013, yearly

Median home value

$303,300

Census ACS, B25077

Median property tax bill

$2,341

Census ACS, B25103, yearly, current owners

Mean commute

28 min

Census ACS, DP03, one way

Unemployment

5.1%

Census ACS, DP03

Georgia's own published state rows, never an average of its counties. Prices overall run 4% below the national average (BEA regional price parity, 2024).

Figures from the 2024 release of the Census American Community Survey, checked September 2026. Health, hazard and price-level readings name their own release beside them.

The three most populous counties in Georgia

These are the most populous places in Georgia, not a match to you. Set what matters to you on Find your fit and this becomes your three closest matches here. Made-up answers work too. This is a tool, not a survey.

• Fulton County

  Population

  1.08M

  Rent

  $1,732

  Household income

  $95,292

  Prop. tax (yearly)

  $4,033

  Set as targetPlan

• Gwinnett County

  Population

  980K

  Rent

  $1,810

  Household income

  $87,890

  Prop. tax (yearly)

  $3,617

  Set as targetPlan

• Cobb County

  Population

  775K

  Rent

  $1,730

  Household income

  $102,738

  Prop. tax (yearly)

  $2,720

  Set as targetPlan

Georgia, worth the trip

Ratified the Constitution on January 2, 1788, as the fourth state. James Oglethorpe founded Georgia in 1732 as a buffer between the other English colonies and Spanish Florida. The state seceded in 1861 and suffered heavy damage during General William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea.

• Cumberland Island National Seashore

  Georgia's largest barrier island, with maritime forest, undeveloped beaches and wide marshes, reached from St. Marys.

• Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park

  The birth home of Martin Luther King, Jr., the streets where he played as a child and the church where he preached.

• Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park

  Earthen mounds built after 900 CE on land where American Indian cultures lived for thousands of years.

History: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Each place links to the page of the agency that looks after it.

Property tax in Georgia

Current owners in Georgia pay a median 0.77% of home value a year in property tax. Example: $2,341 a year, the median bill. By county, the median bill runs from $554 in Wheeler County to $4,033 in Fulton County. These are bills that current owners pay, as the Census measures them. Each county's own figure is in the table below.

Georgia works differently from most states. Since 2025 a statewide homestead exemption holds a home's assessed value to the rate of inflation, and that base resets when the home is sold. Each county, city and school district could opt out, and no statewide list of who did is published. Whether a buyer here pays more than current owners depends on the address. Source: Georgia House Budget and Research Office, HB 581 policy brief.

Health in Georgia

Life expectancy

75.6 yrs

County Health Rankings, from CDC NCHS vital statistics

No health insurance

13.6%

County Health Rankings, from Census SAHIE, people under 65

Poor or fair health

18.0%

County Health Rankings, from CDC BRFSS. Modeled, not counted

Injury deaths per 100K people

77

County Health Rankings, from CDC NCHS, counted deaths

Each is the figure County Health Rankings publishes for Georgia as a whole, never an average of its counties. Each county's own health readings are on its page.

Natural hazards in Georgia

Expected yearly loss, statewide

$3.3B

All natural hazards, an average year. Larger states lose more

Building loss rate

$1.25

Per $1,000 of building value, each year. Fair to compare between states

Costliest hazard

Inland flooding

$1.6B of the expected yearly loss, the largest share of any hazard FEMA assesses

Air quality

—

The EPA publishes air quality by county and metro area, never by state. It is on each county's page

FEMA publishes a risk score for counties and none for states, so none is shown here. Each county's score is on its own page.

Side by side

Fulton County, GA is the largest county here. Set it beside another place, reading by reading.

All 159 counties in Georgia

Each has its published readings on its own page. Press a column to sort by it. Pick one, or open the map to see them shaded side by side.

Household income, home value and population are on each county's own page, and in this table on a wider screen.

Where these numbers come from

Each reading is the published figure, not an estimate. A dash means the source did not publish one, or published one too uncertain to print.

• State figures: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 20245-year estimates, the state's own row (tables B25064, B19013, B25077, B25103, B01003, DP03).
• County figures: the same survey, each county's own row, as on every county page.
• Price level: Bureau of Economic Analysis, regional price parities, 2024, all items, state-level.
• Health: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025, University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, the state's own row. Poor or fair health is a modeled estimate from CDC survey data. The other three are counted or calculated.
• Natural hazards: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025, state table, expected annual loss. This product uses FEMA data but is not endorsed by FEMA.
• Air quality has no state figure: the EPA publishes it by county and metro area only.
• Photographs: Wikimedia Commons and the county photo feed, each credited to its photographer under its own licence, beneath the picture.