Rents in Atlanta are rising 3 times faster than wages

by Mary Spiller

May 13, 2024

Zillow reported that this worrying trend has continued in the ATL metro area since 2019.

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According to a report from real estate company Zillow, rents in Atlanta have increased almost three times as fast as wages in metro Atlanta since the COVID-19 pandemic, WSBTV reports. From 2019 to 2023, rents increased by 35.6% while salaries increased by 12.2%.

Nationally, the trend in rents and wages has been similar through 2022, when “rents increased 30.4% and wages increased 20.2% in major metropolitan areas during this period “. According to Zillow, in 2023 the trend has changed. Rents rose 3.4% and wages rose 4.3% in most major metropolitan areas. Not in metro Atlanta: Reports showed rents rose 0.3 percent and wages rose just 0.2 percent last year.

According to the report, “demand for rentals from the larger millennial generation – many of whom have remained renters longer than previous cohorts – and Gen Z adults have rushed headlong into the nation’s housing shortage , causing a rapid increase in rents. »

Zillow said the nationwide trend has likely improved due to “strong multifamily construction (helping) absorb apartment demand, controlling rent growth in much of the country.”

Atlanta residents took to X to comment on the findings.

One user shared their experience moving to Atlanta in 2019. They wrote, “I moved to Atlanta in 2018, a week after I graduated. I was here for 6 months and the average rent for a high rise apartment was around $1.1k – $1.4k in the Ponce City Market area, Midtown, Buckhead, etc. When I returned in 2022, apartments were priced between $1,600 and $2.2 thousand. K for something nice.

“I was thinking about leaving the DMV for cheaper rent but no! Rents in Atlanta have become as high as those in Washington DC. I lost it when I saw an apartment going for $1,800 in Duluth. Georgia badly needs rent control.

Another user wrote: “ATL has never been known for its salaries…most people I knew worked 2 jobs 20 years ago to survive…now it seems 2 jobs don’t seem to be enough.” You have to earn at least 85,000 euros per year to live in the metro.”

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