Decatur, Georgia Cost Of Living

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F

Overall 25%

Goods & Services 8%

Housing 74%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2019 and was released from C2ER in January, 2020; this is the most current data available.

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Decatur	Georgia	National
Cost of living	125	94	100
Goods & Services	108	97	100
Groceries	104	99	100
Health care	109	97	100
Housing	174	86	100
Transportation	108	97	100
Utilities	86	93	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Decatur is 34% higher than the Georgia average
The cost of living in Decatur is 25% higher than the national average
Decatur housing is 74% higher than the national average
Georgia general sales tax is 21% lower than the national average
Georgia state income tax is 59% lower than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$130,955	$10,913	$3,055	$3,929
Renters	$27,369	$2,281	$639	$821

The percentage of monthly income spent on housing related expenses can help predict the affordability of housing in Decatur, GA, as well as what the overall cost of living might be. Generally, a good rule to follow is that the debt-to-income (DTI) level you want to maintain is 28 percent or less of your income on your rent or mortgage payments and not more than 36 percent of income on all expenses and debts. In Decatur, homeowners have a median income of $130,955. Using that number, a maximum of $3,055 per month should be allocated to housing expenses. For those who are renting instead of owning, the median income is $27,369, which means there is a maximum of $639 to be spent on the costs of renting a home or apartment.

Georgia Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Georgia	4%	8%

Georgia Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Georgia	1%	5.75%

Goods & Services

Item	Decatur	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$20.90	$17.49	19.5%
Beauty Salon	$48.30	$38.17	26.5%
Toothpaste	$2.89	$2.32	24.5%
Shampoo	$1.04	$1.01	2.8%
Movie	$14.66	$10.72	36.7%
Bowling	$16.40	$13.86	18.3%

Groceries

Item	Decatur	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$4.64	$3.90	19.0%
Fried Chicken	$1.32	$1.40	5.4%
Milk	$2.09	$1.96	6.5%
Potatoes	$3.00	$3.18	5.7%
Pizza	$11.39	$10.39	9.6%
Beer	$9.74	$9.23	5.5%

Health Care

Item	Decatur	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$109.20	$106.34	2.7%
Doctor	$119.75	$115.25	3.9%
Dentist	$123.40	$98.38	25.4%
Ibuprofen	$8.35	$9.26	9.8%
Lipitor	$463.28	$466.47	0.7%

Housing

Item	Decatur	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$384,300.00	$184,700.00	108.1%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,321.35	$1,273.32	3.8%
Apartment Rent	$894.00	$949.00	5.8%

Transportation

Item	Decatur	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.70	$2.59	4.3%
Tire Balancing	$56.89	$48.90	16.4%

Utilities

Item	Decatur	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$124.35	$167.60	25.8%
Phone	$182.25	$163.42	11.5%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Lakeview Estates, GA	2,751	81	-19%
Forest Park, GA	19,156	87	-13%
Conley, GA	5,397	88	-12%
Lake City, GA	2,712	89	-11%
Lithonia, GA	2,093	89	-11%
Decatur, GA	21,210	125	25%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Clinton, UT	21,210	101	1%
Patterson, CA	21,205	108	8%
Oxford, AL	21,202	87	-13%
South Milwaukee, WI	21,197	92	-8%
Arnold, MO	21,196	92	-8%
Decatur, GA	21,210	125	25%

Source: The Decatur, GA cost of living data displayed above is derived from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) for 2019.