Augusta, GA
Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Augusta ranks 170th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 183rd for income. A household earns $72,176 a year while median rent runs $1,243/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 8% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is hazard safety (73rd of 300), while job market is the soft spot (258th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 146th and home prices 103rd 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 Augusta, your take-home is worth about $63,158 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
- 183rd of 300↑30.9%$72,176
- 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.
- 87th of 30092 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $78,535
- Per-capita income
- $38,539
- Full-time pay
- $42,162
Housing
- Median rent
- 146th of 300↑34.7%$1,243/mo
- Home value
- 103rd of 300↑62%$262,100
- Property tax
- $1,512/yr · 0.6%
- Sales tax
- 7.42%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 258th of 3006%
- Bachelor's+
- 205th of 30029.8%
- Avg commute
- 191st of 30025.2 min
People
- Population
- 636,658
- Population change
- +4.3%
- Median age
- 39.0 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 4.9%
- Broadband
- 91.4%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 248th of 30052
- Natural-hazard loss
- 73rd of 300$10/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 219th of 30020.9%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 13%
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
- + Cost of living
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Job market
- – Education
- – Air quality
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — augusta daniel fld ap.
What jobs pay in Augusta
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $265,280
- IT managers
- $160,860
- Pharmacists
- $131,630
- Financial managers
- $129,180
- Lawyers
- $123,960
- Software developers
- $119,780
- Civil engineers
- $103,010
- General & operations managers
- $102,360
- Web developers
- $95,700
- Registered nurses
- $87,760
- Accountants & auditors
- $76,710
- Secondary school teachers
- $63,420
- Elementary school teachers
- $63,000
- Electricians
- $59,660
- Carpenters
- $58,930
- Police officers
- $58,390
- Plumbers
- $54,690
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $47,920
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $46,130
- Customer service reps
- $39,570
- Construction laborers
- $38,730
- Janitors
- $30,630
- Retail salespersons
- $29,350
- Cashiers
- $28,310
- Waiters & waitresses
- $18,390
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 Augusta 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.
- Texas2,684
- Florida2,325
- North Carolina1,591
- California1,587
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Augusta
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Augusta metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Augusta metro?
- Median gross rent across the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metro Area is $1,243 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Augusta.
- What is the median household income in the Augusta metro?
- A typical household in the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metro Area earns $72,176 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Augusta expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metro Area runs about 8% 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 Augusta metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $78,535 (versus its face value of $72,176). CityLedger rates the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Augusta metro?
- The median home value across the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metro Area is $262,100 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Augusta metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metro Area is 6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).