Athens, GA
Athens-Clarke County, GA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Athens-Clarke County, GA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Athens ranks 262nd for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 247th for income. A household earns $64,951 a year while median rent runs $1,238/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 7% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is hazard safety (62nd of 300), while affordability is the soft spot (262nd). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 144th and home prices 188th 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 Athens, your take-home is worth about $62,183 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further 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
- 247th of 300↑27.4%$64,951
- 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.
- 123rd of 30093 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $69,583
- Per-capita income
- $37,049
- Full-time pay
- $36,023
Housing
- Median rent
- 144th of 300↑46.2%$1,238/mo
- Home value
- 188th of 300↑74.4%$356,400
- Property tax
- $2,733/yr · 0.8%
- Sales tax
- 7.42%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 72nd of 3003.6%
- Bachelor's+
- 72nd of 30040.3%
- Avg commute
- 124th of 30023.5 min
People
- Population
- 221,801
- Population change
- +4.3%
- Median age
- 34.7 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 8.5%
- Broadband
- 92.7%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 153rd of 30046
- Natural-hazard loss
- 62nd of 300$9/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 198th of 30019.9%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 12.6%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, 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
- + Job market
- + Education
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — athens ben epps ap.
What jobs pay in Athens
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $217,050
- IT managers
- $137,570
- Financial managers
- $137,130
- Pharmacists
- $132,230
- Software developers
- $106,870
- Lawyers
- $105,360
- Registered nurses
- $82,200
- General & operations managers
- $81,830
- Civil engineers
- $76,650
- Elementary school teachers
- $76,600
- Accountants & auditors
- $75,900
- Secondary school teachers
- $75,350
- Police officers
- $60,710
- Plumbers
- $57,750
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $54,190
- Electricians
- $49,750
- Carpenters
- $44,740
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $39,150
- Construction laborers
- $37,120
- Customer service reps
- $36,320
- Janitors
- $32,170
- Retail salespersons
- $29,240
- Cashiers
- $28,130
- Waiters & waitresses
- $21,090
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 Athens metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Georgia are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Texas585
- Florida583
- California572
- New York565
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Athens
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Athens metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Athens metro?
- Median gross rent across the Athens-Clarke County, GA Metro Area is $1,238 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Athens.
- What is the median household income in the Athens metro?
- A typical household in the Athens-Clarke County, GA Metro Area earns $64,951 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Athens expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Athens-Clarke County, GA Metro Area runs about 7% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Athens metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $69,583 (versus its face value of $64,951). CityLedger rates the Athens-Clarke County, GA Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Athens metro?
- The median home value across the Athens-Clarke County, GA Metro Area is $356,400 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Athens metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Athens-Clarke County, GA Metro Area is 3.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).