Columbus, GA
Columbus, GA-AL Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Columbus, GA-AL Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Columbus ranks 278th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 278th for income. A household earns $60,100 a year while median rent runs $1,143/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 11% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is cost of living (46th of 300), while household income is the soft spot (278th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 113th and home prices 60th 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 Columbus, your take-home is worth about $65,002 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
- 278th of 300↑22.6%$60,100
- 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.
- 46th of 30089 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $67,304
- Per-capita income
- $34,124
- Full-time pay
- $39,896
Housing
- Median rent
- 113th of 300↑32.6%$1,143/mo
- Home value
- 60th of 300↑53.9%$224,600
- Property tax
- $1,555/yr · 0.7%
- Sales tax
- 7.42%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 225th of 3005.2%
- Bachelor's+
- 225th of 30027.6%
- Avg commute
- 143rd of 30024 min
People
- Population
- 328,206
- Population change
- +1.9%
- Median age
- 37.3 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 5.1%
- Broadband
- 91.8%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 185th of 30049
- Natural-hazard loss
- 59th of 300$9/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 267th of 30023.2%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 13.8%
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
- + Home prices
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
- – Job market
- – Education
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — columbus metro ap.
What jobs pay in Columbus
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $179,420
- IT managers
- $166,750
- Financial managers
- $141,460
- Pharmacists
- $132,790
- Software developers
- $116,150
- Lawyers
- $104,120
- Registered nurses
- $82,500
- General & operations managers
- $82,330
- Web developers
- $79,420
- Civil engineers
- $77,600
- Accountants & auditors
- $73,640
- Secondary school teachers
- $62,540
- Elementary school teachers
- $61,360
- Electricians
- $50,730
- Police officers
- $49,990
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $47,570
- Plumbers
- $47,410
- Carpenters
- $45,070
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $42,970
- Customer service reps
- $37,330
- Construction laborers
- $35,890
- Janitors
- $30,320
- Retail salespersons
- $28,180
- Cashiers
- $26,980
- Waiters & waitresses
- $20,800
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 Columbus 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.
- Texas2,733
- Washington1,274
- California1,135
- Florida1,093
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Columbus
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Columbus metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Columbus metro?
- Median gross rent across the Columbus, GA-AL Metro Area is $1,143 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Columbus.
- What is the median household income in the Columbus metro?
- A typical household in the Columbus, GA-AL Metro Area earns $60,100 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Columbus expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Columbus, GA-AL Metro Area runs about 11% 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 Columbus metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $67,304 (versus its face value of $60,100). CityLedger rates the Columbus, GA-AL Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Columbus metro?
- The median home value across the Columbus, GA-AL Metro Area is $224,600 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Columbus metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Columbus, GA-AL Metro Area is 5.2% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).