Forest Park, Georgia Cost Of Living

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Overall 14%

Goods & Services 10%

Housing 53%

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	Forest Park	Georgia	National
Cost of living	86	93	100
Goods & Services	110	97	100
Groceries	98	96	100
Health care	106	96	100
Housing	47	86	100
Transportation	100	92	100
Utilities	84	91	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Forest Park is 7% lower than the Georgia average
The cost of living in Forest Park is 14% lower than the national average
Forest Park housing is 53% lower 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	$42,008	$3,501	$980	$1,260
Renters	$23,994	$2,000	$560	$720

The percentage of monthly income spent on housing related expenses can help predict the affordability of housing in Forest Park, 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 Forest Park, homeowners have a median income of $42,008. Using that number, a maximum of $980 per month should be allocated to housing expenses. For those who are renting instead of owning, the median income is $23,994, which means there is a maximum of $560 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	Forest Park	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$24.13	$20.27	19.0%
Beauty Salon	$50.23	$40.39	24.4%
Toothpaste	$2.01	$2.36	14.9%
Shampoo	$0.99	$1.08	7.7%
Movie	$14.44	$10.99	31.4%
Bowling	$18.13	$15.49	17.1%

Groceries

Item	Forest Park	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$4.09	$4.30	4.8%
Fried Chicken	$1.02	$1.40	27.3%
Milk	$1.66	$2.20	24.6%
Potatoes	$4.00	$3.22	24.4%
Pizza	$10.92	$10.74	1.7%
Beer	$11.77	$9.60	22.6%

Health Care

Item	Forest Park	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$121.68	$109.73	10.9%
Doctor	$121.28	$118.34	2.5%
Dentist	$114.41	$100.94	13.3%
Ibuprofen	$9.23	$9.93	7.0%
Lipitor	$480.14	$469.53	2.3%

Housing

Item	Forest Park	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$55,200.00	$184,700.00	70.1%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,377.99	$1,229.62	12.1%
Apartment Rent	$823.00	$949.00	13.3%

Transportation

Item	Forest Park	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.71	$2.71	0.2%
Tire Balancing	$51.76	$51.86	0.2%

Utilities

Item	Forest Park	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$122.51	$170.84	28.3%
Phone	$188.46	$187.18	0.7%

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	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Conley, GA	5,397	87	13.2%
Lake City, GA	2,712	88	11.9%
Lithonia, GA	2,093	88	11.7%
Riverdale, GA	15,812	89	11.4%
Jonesboro, GA	4,671	89	11.2%
Forest Park, GA	19,156	86	14.1%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Milledgeville, GA	19,146	86	14.0%
Bellwood, IL	19,146	99	0.9%
Matteson, IL	19,146	99	0.8%
Dixon, CA	19,144	123	23.4%
Stillwater, MN	19,142	111	11.4%
Forest Park, GA	19,156	86	14.1%

Source: This data reflects 2021 and was released from C2ER in January, 2022; this is the most current data available.