2. In summary…
According to the C2ER Cost of Living Index (COLI), Metro Atlanta’s overall cost of living is
almost exactly that of the national average. Manhattan (NYC), not surprisingly, has the
highest cost of living of any urban area on the list.
A metro Atlanta resident with a $50,000 salary moving to Manhattan would need to make
$110,558 to have equivalent spending power there. A move to San Francisco requires $84,612,
while a move to Dallas requires (a slightly higher) $51,295.
Atlanta’s cost of health care is slightly higher than some of its peer metros, but this is offset by
Atlanta’s comparatively cheaper utility costs.
Compared to the national index average of 100, metro Atlanta health care is 11.4 percent
more expensive than in the average metro area, but utilities are 18.9 percent less
expensive.
While the C2ER Cost of Living Index uses a similar methodology as the Consumer Price Index
(CPI), the COLI is not in itself a measure of inflation. We include data from the CPI in this
snapshot as a reference.
3. 88.6
91.6
93.7
93.9
97.6
98.6
98.8
100.4
100.9
101.7
102.3
103
103.2
103.8
111.9
114.4
118.9
120.7
142.5
144.5
148.4
148.7
149.1
169.9
222
0 50 100 150 200 250
St. Louis MO-IL
San Antonio TX
Minneapolis MN
Houston TX
Pittsburgh PA
Tampa FL
Charlotte NC
Atlanta GA
Philadelphia PA
Orlando FL
Detroit MI
Dallas TX
Baltimore MD
Phoenix AZ
Denver CO
Chicago IL
Miami-Dade County FL
Portland OR
San Diego CA
Seattle WA
Boston MA
Washington DC
Los Angeles-Long Beach CA
San Francisco CA
New York (Manhattan) NY
Cost of Living for 25 Most Populous Metros
Average cost of living
Every year, the Council for Community and
Economic Research (C2ER) creates a Cost
of Living Index (COLI) for more than 270
U.S. metro areas and their central cities. A
COLI score of 100 represents the average
cost of living across all the areas studied.
The chart to the left shows the COLI score
for country’s 25 most populous metros. With
a composite score of 100.4, the Atlanta
metro is almost exactly equal to the
nationwide average cost of living. For
many years, the Atlanta metro area and its
central city have hovered around a score of
100.
Subsequent slides take a closer look at
differences in the cost of living between
these metros.
Source: C2ER Cost of Living (COLI) Q1 2023, ARC Research & Analytics
4. 100
120
140
160
180
200
220
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Atlanta MSA Consumer Price Index (CPI)
2000-2022
Overall Food Housing Medical Transportation
Atlanta Consumer Price Index
Transportation: 201
Housing: 176
Food: 177
Overall: 170
COLI offers a point-in-time measure and
comparison for cost of living across the nation.
While Atlanta may rank near the national
average year after year, that does not mean that
our cost of living hasn’t increased. This chart
shows that Atlanta’s Consumer Price Index
has increased by roughly 70 percent since
2000, and the costs of medical services and
transportation have seen the greatest
increase. Note that the BLS did not have a
2022 index value for medical services.
Medical (2021): 186
Source: U.S, Bureau of Labor Statistics, ARC Research & Analytics
5. Atlanta Consumer Price Index
Similar to the previous chart, this shows only the overall levels of inflation over the past 20 years, or so. As can be seen, inflation soared immediately following the
pandemic. This happened in all metros, but it was a particularly steep rise in metro Atlanta. But, as of the latest reading, inflation has dropped to 4.4%, which
puts it on par with levels last see prior to the Great Recession. From this point forward, we will only look at C2ER’s Cost of Living Index.
Source: U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, ARC Research & Analytics
-6.00%
-4.00%
-2.00%
0.00%
2.00%
4.00%
6.00%
8.00%
10.00%
12.00%
14.00%
Dec-02
Apr-03
Aug-03
Dec-03
Apr-04
Aug-04
Dec-04
Apr-05
Aug-05
Dec-05
Apr-06
Aug-06
Dec-06
Apr-07
Aug-07
Dec-07
Apr-08
Aug-08
Dec-08
Apr-09
Aug-09
Dec-09
Apr-10
Aug-10
Dec-10
Apr-11
Aug-11
Dec-11
Apr-12
Aug-12
Dec-12
Apr-13
Aug-13
Dec-13
Apr-14
Aug-14
Dec-14
Apr-15
Aug-15
Dec-15
Apr-16
Aug-16
Dec-16
Apr-17
Aug-17
Dec-17
Apr-18
Aug-18
Dec-18
Apr-19
Aug-19
Dec-19
Apr-20
Aug-20
Dec-20
Apr-21
Aug-21
Dec-21
Apr-22
Aug-22
Dec-22
Apr-23
Aug-23
Inflation in Metro Atlanta
6. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index
0.0%
1.0%
2.0%
3.0%
4.0%
5.0%
6.0%
7.0%
8.0%
9.0%
Atlanta Baltimore Chicago Detroit Houston Los Angeles New York Miami Philadelphia Phoenix San
Francisco
Seattle St Louis
Annual % Change in Inflation (August - August)
While COLI offers a point-in-time measure and comparison for cost of living across the nation, it is not the official
measure of inflation, as indicated on the previous slide. The chart above is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is
widely cited as the official measure of inflation. As can be seen, inflation in metro Atlanta is among the highest,
but it trails inflation levels in New York, Detroit and Seattle.
Source: U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, ARC Research & Analytics
7. Mapping Cost of Living
Over time, trends in
COLI scores have
shown distinct
patterns, with metros
in the Northeast,
California and
Northwest typically
having higher costs
of living than other
parts of the country.
Lowest
Highest
8. $44,124
$45,618
$46,663
$46,763
$48,606
$49,104
$49,203
$50,000
$50,249
$50,647
$50,946
$51,295
$51,394
$51,693
$55,727
$56,972
$59,213
$60,110
$70,966
$71,962
$73,904
$74,054
$74,253
$84,612
$110,558
$0 $20,000 $40,000 $60,000 $80,000 $100,000 $120,000
St. Louis MO-IL
San Antonio TX
Minneapolis MN
Houston TX
Pittsburgh PA
Tampa FL
Charlotte NC
Atlanta GA
Philadelphia PA
Orlando FL
Detroit MI
Dallas TX
Baltimore MD
Phoenix AZ
Denver CO
Chicago IL
Miami-Dade County FL
Portland OR
San Diego CA
Seattle WA
Boston MA
Washington DC
Los Angeles-Long Beach CA
San Francisco CA
New York (Manhattan) NY
Income Equivalent to $50,000 in Atlanta
This chart shows the income needed in
each of the 25 most populous metros to
match the spending power of $50,000 in
Atlanta. We can see that a New Yorker
living in the Manhattan borough would
need to make 121% more income there
($110,558) to have buying power
equivalent to a $50,000 salary in
Atlanta. An income of $50,000 in Atlanta
would provide roughly equivalent
spending power in the Tampa, Charlotte,
Philadelphia, and Orlando metro areas. In
St. Louis, someone would have to earn
“only” $44,124 to match the buying power
of a $50,000 salary in Atlanta.
Source: C2ER Cost of Living (COLI) Q1 2023, ARC Research & Analytics
9. 222
169.9
149.1
100.4 93.7 91.6 88.6
480.2
286.6
235.2
104.2
87.3
79.1 76.3
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
New York
(Manhattan) NY
San Francisco CA Los Angeles-Long
Beach CA
Atlanta GA Minneapolis MN San Antonio TX St. Louis MO-IL
Composite Grocery Housing Utilities Transportation Health Care Misc.
Comparing highest vs. lowest COLIs
among the 25 most populous metros
In comparing the cost of living between the
most expensive and least expensive of the
25 most populous metros, we can see that
housing plays an outsized role in both the
overall index score and the rankings. While
the index score for most index categories
in the high-COLI cities is only modestly
higher than similar scores in low-COLI
cities, the largest variations between
areas occur in housing expenditures.
Source: C2ER Cost of Living (COLI) Q1 2023, ARC Research & Analytics
10. COLI Comparisons: Peer Metros
100.4 98.8 103
93.9 98.9
148.7
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Atlanta GA Charlotte NC Dallas TX Houston TX Nashville-Murfreesboro
TN
Washington DC
Composite Grocery Housing Utilities Transportation Health Care Misc.
Here, we’ve compared Atlanta’s COLI scores to those
of its peer metros as defined in the ARC’s CATLYST
regional economic strategy. Again, we see the role
that housing plays in defining higher and lower costs
of living among metros. We can also see how low
Atlanta’s cost of utilities are compared to peer
metros, and this offsets Atlanta’s higher COLI scores
in other categories (such as in health care).
Source: C2ER Cost of Living (COLI) Q1 2023, ARC Research & Analytics
11. Relationship Between Income and Cost of Living
Atlanta GA
Baltimore MD
Boston MA
Charlotte NC
Chicago IL
Dallas TX
Denver CO
Detroit MI
Houston TX Los Angeles-Long Beach CA
Miami-Dade County FL
Minneapolis MN
New York (Manhattan) NY
Orlando FL
Philadelphia PA
Phoenix AZ
Pittsburgh PA
Portland OR
San Antonio TX
San Diego CA
San Francisco CA
Seattle WA
St. Louis MO-IL Tampa FL
Washington DC
$50
$70
$90
$110
$130
$150
$170
$190
80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240
Thousands
Another way of thinking about cost of
living is assessing “how far you can
stretch every dollar” of your salary. At
left, we’re comparing median income
in the 25 most populous metros to
their COLI score. If a metro area’s
“point” appears above the trend
line, median income in that area is
more able to “absorb” its cost of
living. As we can see, Atlanta (red
dot) is barely above the line.
Source: C2ER Cost of Living (COLI) Q1 2023, ESRI Business Analyst Online (2023), ARC Research & Analytics
12. $368,084
$341,693
$405,601
$399,014
$442,321
$453,276
$399,213
$488,560
$435,182
$475,000
$491,199
$454,857
$425,250
$523,996
$653,122
$531,717
$634,375
$701,098
$1,062,881
$1,009,333
$933,427
$1,171,487
$1,164,849
$1,498,712
$2,639,444
$0 $500,000 $1,000,000 $1,500,000 $2,000,000 $2,500,000 $3,000,000
St. Louis MO-IL
San Antonio TX
Minneapolis MN
Houston TX
Pittsburgh PA
Tampa FL
Charlotte NC
Atlanta GA
Philadelphia PA
Orlando FL
Detroit MI
Dallas TX
Baltimore MD
Phoenix AZ
Denver CO
Chicago IL
Miami-Dade County FL
Portland OR
San Diego CA
Seattle WA
Boston MA
Washington DC
Los Angeles-Long Beach CA
San Francisco CA
New York (Manhattan) NY
Average Home Price: 25 Largest Metros
This chart shows C2ER’s measure of average
home prices for 2023 Q1, sorted from highest
composite index at the top of the chart to lowest
composite index at the bottom. We see that
average home prices in general follow the pattern
of the overall COLI scores. This relationship
underscores the large role that home prices
play in defining a metro area’s overall cost of
living. However, there are exceptions--areas
where we can discern more pronounced influence
of other COLI measures. For example, the San
Diego metro features a higher average home
price than the Boston metro, but San Diego has a
lower COLI overall. The same can be seen for the
Denver metro area (lower composite score,
higher average home sale price) compared to the
Chicago metro area.
Source: C2ER Cost of Living (COLI) Q1 2023, ARC Research & Analytics
13. $1,083
$1,423
$1,376
$1,340
$1,308
$1,591
$1,505
$1,596
$1,599
$1,989
$1,595
$1,570
$1,916
$2,221
$1,868
$2,994
$3,003
$2,545
$3,099
$3,256
$3,883
$3,256
$3,248
$3,814
$4,814
$0 $1,000 $2,000 $3,000 $4,000 $5,000 $6,000
St. Louis MO-IL
San Antonio TX
Minneapolis MN
Houston TX
Pittsburgh PA
Tampa FL
Charlotte NC
Atlanta GA
Philadelphia PA
Orlando FL
Detroit MI
Dallas TX
Baltimore MD
Phoenix AZ
Denver CO
Chicago IL
Miami-Dade County FL
Portland OR
San Diego CA
Seattle WA
Boston MA
Washington DC
Los Angeles-Long Beach CA
San Francisco CA
New York (Manhattan) NY
Average Monthly Apartment Rent: 25 Largest Metros
The COLI looks at additional measures
of housing costs, including average
monthly rent. Here we can see that
there is more variability in rent than
in home prices across the country’s
25 most populous metros. As before,
the chart is sorted by largest overall
composite index at the top to least at
the bottom. This pattern is another
testament to the relatively high
importance of the cost of housing in
determining a metro area’s overall (and
relative) cost of living.
Source: C2ER Cost of Living (COLI) Q1 2023, ARC Research & Analytics
14. Selected Metro
Composite
Index
Ground
Beef
Half-
Gallon
Milk
Dozen
Eggs Bananas Coffee Wine Beer Sugar
New York (Manhattan) NY 222 5.51
$ 4.68
$ 4.73
$ 1.01
$ 6.51
$ 10.67
$ 11.81
$ 4.31
$
San Francisco CA 169.9 5.89
$ 5.35
$ 5.49
$ 1.14
$ 7.87
$ 12.50
$ 11.29
$ 4.94
$
Los Angeles-Long Beach CA 149.1 5.39
$ 4.83
$ 5.47
$ 0.84
$ 6.72
$ 10.66
$ 11.18
$ 4.16
$
Atlanta GA 100.4 5.39
$ 4.64
$ 5.13
$ 0.65
$ 6.37
$ 13.52
$ 10.57
$ 4.05
$
Minneapolis MN 93.7 5.30
$ 4.54
$ 4.55
$ 0.63
$ 5.86
$ 11.44
$ 9.65
$ 3.49
$
San Antonio TX 91.6 5.34
$ 4.55
$ 4.81
$ 0.68
$ 5.57
$ 9.32
$ 10.53
$ 3.28
$
St. Louis MO-IL 88.6 5.47
$ 4.65
$ 4.88
$ 0.66
$ 6.20
$ 11.41
$ 9.69
$ 3.65
$
All Metro Average 5.34
$ 4.65
$ 4.79
$ 0.72
$ 6.31
$ 12.11
$ 10.61
$ 3.89
$
Comparing Costs of Select Grocery Items for
High COLI/ Low COLI Metros*
*Of the 25 most populous MSAs in the US
Three
highest
COLI
metros
Three
lowest
COLI
metros*
To develop COLI scores, C2ER researches the cost of basic groceries and
household goods. We see above that Atlantans are getting a comparative
bargain on milk and bananas (the green shading represents relatively
lower costs), but less of a price advantage when it comes to eggs & wine
(with the red and orange shading representing relatively higher costs).
Source: C2ER Cost of Living (COLI) Q1 2023, ARC Research & Analytics
15. Comparing Select Medical Expenses for
High COLI / Low COLI Metros*
*Of the 25 most populous MSAs in the US
Three
highest
COLI
metros
Three
lowest
COLI
metros*
Selected Metro
Composite
Index
Optometrist
Visit
Doctor
Visit
Prescription
Drug Ibuprofen
New York (Manhattan) NY 222 130.00
$ 143.75
$ 412.33
$ 10.84
$
San Francisco CA 169.9 154.71
$ 170.00
$ 494.25
$ 10.90
$
Los Angeles-Long Beach CA 149.1 140.60
$ 134.00
$ 515.50
$ 11.49
$
Atlanta GA 100.4 136.50
$ 124.57
$ 500.40
$ 10.58
$
Minneapolis MN 93.7 113.66
$ 165.04
$ 499.72
$ 10.46
$
San Antonio TX 91.6 140.20
$ 149.45
$ 475.03
$ 10.19
$
St. Louis MO-IL 88.6 82.86
$ 91.25
$ 487.42
$ 10.29
$
All Metro Average 123.57
$ 131.54
$ 469.56
$ 10.53
$
When it comes to medical costs, Atlanta residents are spending above average for optometrist
visits but below average on doctor visits. In a similar fashion, prescription drug costs in Atlanta are
above the national average, while typical over-the-counter drug costs here are just slightly above
the national average.
Source: C2ER Cost of Living (COLI) Q1 2023, ARC Research & Analytics
16. Selected Metro
Composite
Index Haircut Boy Jeans
Women
Slacks Newspaper Energy Cost
New York (Manhattan) NY 222 31.00
$ 29.99
$ 36.64
$ 6.50
$ 189.79
$
San Francisco CA 169.9 27.13
$ 29.70
$ 52.71
$ 16.80
$ 291.07
$
Los Angeles-Long Beach CA 149.1 26.25
$ 35.33
$ 44.10
$ 10.42
$ 233.08
$
Atlanta GA 100.4 26.63
$ 30.66
$ 36.48
$ 12.29
$ 132.78
$
Minneapolis MN 93.7 25.41
$ 31.67
$ 40.46
$ 14.08
$ 173.99
$
San Antonio TX 91.6 27.20
$ 26.24
$ 41.80
$ 10.89
$ 137.32
$
St. Louis MO-IL 88.6 20.33
$ 25.69
$ 20.47
$ 7.66
$ 194.23
$
All Metro Average 23.46
$ 28.03
$ 35.22
$ 11.41
$ 192.98
$
Cost of Select Other Items for
High COLI/ Low COLI Metros*
*Of the 25 most populous MSAs in the US
Three
highest
COLI
metros
Three
lowest
COLI
metros*
Finally, as anyone who’s talked to friends who don’t live in the Atlanta area
probably knows, Atlantans are spending a lot less on our power bills than
are residents of most other large metros around the country. In fact, the
national metro average for energy costs is 45% higher than the average
energy cost in the metro Atlanta area.
Source: C2ER Cost of Living (COLI) Q1 2023, ARC Research & Analytics
17. Southern Region Consumer Expenditure by Income
12.1%
17.2%
13.1% 14.3% 12.7% 12.4% 12.0% 11.4% 11.8% 9.2%
33.8%
42.0%
40.1% 36.3% 35.9% 35.1% 33.1% 31.4% 31.2%
29.6%
8.8%
8.3%
11.5%
10.5%
9.3% 9.4%
9.0%
8.2% 8.7%
6.5%
18.0%
15.6% 18.3%
19.2%
21.1% 19.6%
20.4%
18.5% 14.4%
15.5%
27.4%
16.9% 17.0% 19.7% 21.0% 23.5% 25.3%
30.5% 33.9%
39.2%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Total South Less than
$15,000
$15,000 to
$29,999
$30,000 to
$39,999
$40,000 to
$49,999
$50,000 to
$69,999
$70,000 to
$99,999
$100,000 to
$149,999
$150,000 to
$199,999
$200,000 and
more
Percent Share of Average Expenditures by Income Before Taxes,
Southern Region Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2020-2021
Food Housing Healthcare Transportation Other
It’s important to remember that
even though living in Atlanta isn’t
expensive compared to other
metros, “affordability” is a relative
term. This chart shows the
percentage of income that
people of different income
brackets devote to different
expense categories.
It’s easy to see that the spending in
“other” categories increases as
disposable income increases. This
may seem intuitive since all
remaining categories could be
classified as “needs” rather than
“wants”. However, the largest
expenditure category for the
$200,000+ set is life/personal
insurance and pensions/social
security, which many would argue
shouldn’t be classified as a “want.”
Source: U.S, Bureau of Labor Statistics, ARC Research & Analytics
