Georgia Real Estate Markets
Atlanta anchors one of the South's deepest labor markets; mid-state metros deliver 5-6% cap rates. P/I 3.16, cap rate proxy 4.8%, median home $281,138. 0.84% property tax and 14-day eviction are strong operating wins; 5.49% flat income tax is actively declining.
Investor Profile
Price-to-Income
3.2
Census ACS
Rent-to-Income
24.5%
HUD + ACS
Cap Rate Proxy
4.8%
HUD + ACS
Net Migration
0.13%
IRS SOI
Permits / 1K
5.4
Census BPS
Unemployment
3.6%
BLS
Demographics & Income
Median HHI
$76,922
Census ACS
Vacancy Rate
10.1%
Census ACS
Rent-Burdened
46.6%
% of renters paying 30%+ of income toward rent
Census ACS
Investor Climate
Rent control
1031 exchange
Deposit cap
Explore 15 metros across Georgia
Georgia
15 metros · 159 counties
Hover any county to see its metroTap any county to see its metro
Census ACS · FHFA · BLS · HUD · IRS15 metros in Georgia. Click to view full market hub.
| # | Metro | Population | HPI 5yr Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Savannah, GA | 0.4M | 72.8% |
| 2 | Brunswick, GA | 0.1M | 72.5% |
| 3 | Gainesville, GA | 0.2M | 70.6% |
| 4 | Athens-Clarke County, GA | 0.2M | 68.9% |
| 5 | Hinesville, GA | 0.1M | 67.8% |
| 6 | Chattanooga, TN-GA | 0.6M | 65.9% |
| 7 | Dalton, GA | 0.1M | 64.7% |
| 8 | Macon-Bibb County, GA | 0.2M | 61.7% |
| 9 | Rome, GA | 0.1M | 60.9% |
| 10 | Warner Robins, GA | 0.2M | 60.2% |
Where Georgia sits on the distress curve
Composite index built from federal GSE loan data covering Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac single-family loans. Weighted 40% serious delinquency, 20% entrenched stress, 20% forbearance share, 20% REO inventory. Useful for spotting markets where distressed inventory is building before price effects show up. Read the full methodology →
Source: FHFA Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Report · 2025Q4
See all 51 states rankedGeorgia is the Southeast's scale story with a sub-1% property tax and a flat income tax that's been trending down. Price-to-income 3.16, cap rate proxy 4.8%, median home $281,138, across 10,822,590 residents and 15 metros. 0.84% effective property tax is low for the Sun Belt; 5.49% flat income tax (down from 5.75% in 2024, continuing to reduce) gives holders a tax-drag tailwind over multi-year holds.
The FHFA HPI is up 47.4% over five years and 0.4% last year — strong-but-cooling. Builders pulled 58,697 permits TTM at 5.4 per 1,000 residents — aggressive pace. Net migration at +0.13% is solidly positive. Unemployment sits at 3.6% with median household income at $76,922.
The 15 metros split cleanly. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta ($335K median, 4.24% cap, 6.1M pop) is the anchor — Fortune 500 density (Home Depot, Coca-Cola, Delta, UPS), transportation/logistics hub via Hartsfield-Jackson, the Southeast's deepest labor market. Savannah ($271K, 4.83% cap) and Augusta-Richmond County ($207K, 4.74% cap, GA-SC straddle) are the regional secondaries. Mid-tier cash-flow metros: Macon-Bibb County ($172K, 5.92% cap), Columbus ($185K, 4.59% cap, GA-AL straddle), Warner Robins ($203K, 5.24% cap), Albany ($149K, 5.92% cap), and Hinesville ($184K, 5.98% cap). Athens-Clarke County ($281K, 3.70% cap) is the University of Georgia appreciation play.
Against Florida, Georgia has lower entry prices and meaningfully cheaper insurance but a state income tax (vs FL's zero). Against North Carolina, Georgia has lower property tax and similar HPI; NC has a steeper income-tax phase-down trajectory. Against Tennessee, GA trails on income tax (TN has zero) but wins on metro scale and cap rate at the mid-tier.
Operating environment is landlord-friendly and fast. 14-day eviction timeline, no rent control, no deposit cap. 65.8% homeownership, 10.1% vacancy. Insurance averages $1,472/yr — reasonable for the Southeast.
So what does an investor do?
- Cash flow: Macon, Albany, Hinesville, and Warner Robins all clear 5%+ cap rate proxies at sub-$205K entries. The middle Georgia belt is the state's deep-value cluster — smaller job bases than Atlanta's metro suburbs, but the property tax + eviction + insurance combination lets net margins hold up.
- Appreciation: Atlanta is the clear play — Fortune 500 density, logistics anchor, 5M+ jobs in commute range, strong in-migration. Athens offers the college-town alternative. Savannah is the coastal-lifestyle appreciation bet with port economics.
- Out-of-state: Georgia is one of the best Sun Belt states for operators who want Atlanta's institutional depth paired with mid-state cash-flow. The income-tax phase-down is the quiet accretive feature — deals underwritten at 5.49% today clear as the rate continues to decline. Compare against North Carolina per-property; the two states look close on paper but differ on metro composition.
Cap rate measures a property's annual net operating income as a percentage of its purchase price or current market value, assuming an all-cash purchase.
Read definition →Price-to-income ratio is median-home-price divided by median-household-income—a measure of housing affordability.
Read definition →Fair Market Rent (FMR) is HUD's annual estimate of what a household must pay for gross rent — rent plus tenant-paid utilities — on a privately-owned, decent, safe unit in a specific market area. FMRs are published each fall at huduser.gov and set the ceiling for Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher payment calculations.
Read definition →A building permit is a government authorization to construct a new residential or commercial structure, and the monthly count of permits issued across the U.S. functions as a leading economic indicator that signals where housing supply is heading months before any new unit is completed.
Read definition →The percentage of time a rental property sits empty and produces no income, calculated as vacant units divided by total units — the silent profit killer in rental investing.
Read definition →Homeownership rate is the percentage of occupied housing units whose residents own — rather than rent — the property. It measures the split between owner-occupants and renters in a given geography.
Read definition →