Valdosta, GA
Valdosta, GA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Valdosta, GA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Valdosta ranks 282nd for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 283rd for income. A household earns $59,180 a year while median rent runs $1,092/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 12% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is cost of living (31st of 300), while household income is the soft spot (283rd). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 77th and home prices 61st 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 Valdosta, your take-home is worth about $65,756 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
- 283rd of 300↑35.2%$59,180
- 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.
- 31st of 30088 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $67,044
- Per-capita income
- $31,688
- Full-time pay
- $37,082
Housing
- Median rent
- 77th of 300↑33.7%$1,092/mo
- Home value
- 61st of 300↑72.7%$226,600
- Property tax
- $1,799/yr · 0.8%
- Sales tax
- 7.42%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 84th of 3003.7%
- Bachelor's+
- 219th of 30028.3%
- Avg commute
- 42nd of 30021 min
People
- Population
- 153,179
- Population change
- +5.1%
- Median age
- 34.3 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 4.9%
- Broadband
- 88.3%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 116th of 30044
- Natural-hazard loss
- 81st of 300$10/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 269th of 30023.5%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 15%
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
- + Rent
- + Home prices
- + Job market
- + Commute
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
- – Education
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — valdosta rgnl ap.
What jobs pay in Valdosta
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $246,190
- Pharmacists
- $127,810
- Financial managers
- $126,590
- IT managers
- $117,400
- Software developers
- $105,640
- Lawyers
- $101,000
- General & operations managers
- $79,440
- Civil engineers
- $79,160
- Registered nurses
- $74,360
- Accountants & auditors
- $73,420
- Elementary school teachers
- $63,480
- Secondary school teachers
- $62,780
- Electricians
- $50,560
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $47,880
- Police officers
- $46,960
- Plumbers
- $46,070
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $43,760
- Carpenters
- $37,840
- Customer service reps
- $35,260
- Construction laborers
- $34,400
- Janitors
- $29,480
- Retail salespersons
- $28,600
- Cashiers
- $26,470
- Waiters & waitresses
- $18,510
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 Valdosta 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.
- Florida1,358
- Ohio440
- Washington251
- New Mexico231
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Valdosta
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Valdosta metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Valdosta metro?
- Median gross rent across the Valdosta, GA Metro Area is $1,092 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Valdosta.
- What is the median household income in the Valdosta metro?
- A typical household in the Valdosta, GA Metro Area earns $59,180 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Valdosta expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Valdosta, GA Metro Area runs about 12% 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 Valdosta metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $67,044 (versus its face value of $59,180). CityLedger rates the Valdosta, GA Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Valdosta metro?
- The median home value across the Valdosta, GA Metro Area is $226,600 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Valdosta metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Valdosta, GA Metro Area is 3.7% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).