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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Dollar for dollar, few states match Georgia's value. 5 out of 5 cities undercut the national cost index of 111 — we had to double-check this one — . Leading the pack: Macon at index 70, where median rent of $1,207/month saves renters $8,256/year versus the national median.
#1 Ranked: Macon — cost index 70, rent $1,207/mo, income $50,747
Macon is a clear outlier at index 70
5 of 5 cities come in below the national cost-of-living average of 111
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
Dollar for dollar, few states match Georgia's value. 5 out of 5 cities undercut the national cost index of 111 — we had to double-check this one — . Leading the pack: Macon at index 70, where median rent of $1,207/month saves renters $8,256/year versus the national median.
Rent data is sourced from Zillow's Observed Rent Index (ZORI), which tracks the median rent across all active listings — not just new leases. It's fine. Not great, not bad. This gives a more representative and stable signal than asking prices alone. Macon: $1,207/mo, Augusta: $1,321/mo, Athens: $1,720/mo. The cheapest city here is $688 under the national median — that's $8,256/year in savings on rent alone.
A closer look at Macon: the cost index of 70 — for better or worse — breaks down to a Housing index of 70 (strongest category) and a Healthcare index of 94 (weakest). Median rent is $1,207/month — 36% below the national median — while household income sits at $50,747, meaning locals spend about 29% of income on rent. That's within the recommended 30% threshold, though it doesn't leave much room.
If you only look at rent, it's perfect. Zoom out and it's complicated. In Macon, the healthcare index sits at 94 — not a dealbreaker, but worth knowing about.
Here's the thing: If you're comparing cities, this is the number to watch. Macon is a clear outlier at index 70. #1-ranked Macon has a cost index 22 points lower than the top-5 average of 92. That's not a marginal lead — it's a category of its own. That's a red flag worth investigating further (we double-checked this one).
What to do with this data: use the ranking as a shortlist, then dig into the city profiles for trend lines and category breakdowns. The difference between #1 and #5 is often smaller than the difference between "good on paper" and "actually fits my life." Compare your top picks with our calculator to see real take-home numbers.
156,512 residents · Georgia
A closer look at Macon: the cost index of 70 — which, honestly, is lower than you'd expect here — breaks down to a Housing index of 70 (strongest category) and a Healthcare index of 94 (weakest). Median rent is $1,207/month — 36% below the national median — while household income sits at $50,747, meaning locals spend about 29% of income on rent. That's within the recommended 30% threshold, though it doesn't leave much room.
200,884 residents · Georgia
Dive into Augusta's numbers: cost index 77 (34 points below national average), rent $1,321/month, income $53,134, and a home price of $173,222. That's about what we'd expect given the state context. The city's cost profile isn't flat — Housing is the cheapest category at 77, while Healthcare runs 95. With 200,884 residents, it balances mid-size city convenience with manageable costs.
128,628 residents · Georgia
A closer look at Athens: the cost index of 100 breaks down to a Healthcare index of 100 (strongest category) and a Healthcare index of 100 (weakest). And as far as the data shows, median rent is $1,720/month — 9% below the national median — while household income sits at $51,655, meaning locals spend about 40% of income on rent. You get the picture. That exceeds the recommended 30% threshold — affordability here depends on earning above the median (we double-checked this one).
147,748 residents · Georgia
So, Savannah. And as a general rule, cost index of 101, rent at $1,736/month. Pretty standard for this type of city. It's lower than the national average. Median income is $56,782, which is below the national median. It's fine. Not great, not bad (that's pre-tax, of course).
510,823 residents · Georgia
A closer look at Atlanta: the cost index of 110 breaks down to a Healthcare index of 102 (strongest category) and a Housing index of 110 (weakest). Median rent is $1,888/month — 0% above the national median — while household income sits at $81,938, meaning locals spend about 28% of income on rent. That's within the recommended 30% threshold, though it doesn't leave much room.
Rent is the single largest expense for most households. We rank all tracked cities in Georgia by median 1-bedroom rent (Zillow ZORI) from lowest to highest, filtering out any cities with incomplete data. All data is sourced from federal agencies and verified research institutions. Cost of living indices are normalized to 100 (national median) using Zillow rent as the primary signal, with sub-category adjustments derived from regional BLS price data. Rankings are updated monthly as new data is released.
Macon ranks #1 in Georgia for this analysis with a cost index of 70 and median income of $50,747.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
Macon (ranked #1) has a cost index of 70 and rent of $1,207/mo, while Atlanta (ranked #5) has a cost index of 110 and rent of $1,888/mo — a 40-point difference in cost of living.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Macon is $1,207/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $688 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Macon is $167,317, which is 3.3× the local median income. That's within the standard 3.5× affordability rule for most local earners. The national median home price is $467,370.
Georgia has a 5.49% state income tax rate. Combined state and local sales tax averages 7.38%, and the effective property tax rate is 0.83%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.