Georgiaflat 5.49% income tax, 24th lowest property tax, median home $340K

Worth knowing before you move to Georgia

Georgia moved to a flat income tax in 2024 with a rate scheduled to fall each year, and it exempts up to $65,000 of retirement income per person for residents 65 and over. Metro Atlanta holds more than half the state's population and its airport is the busiest in the world by passengers. Property taxes vary widely by county because school districts set most of the rate.

What Georgia taxes, and what it doesn't

Georgia levies a flat 5.49% income tax. A household earning $75,000 pays an effective 5.0%, about $3,743 a year; at $150,000 the effective rate is 5.0%. Among the 41 states that tax income, Georgia has the 14th highest effective rate at $100,000 of income.

Property tax runs 0.81% of home value a year, roughly $2,754 on the state's median home of $340K. The national effective rate is about 1.10%, and Georgia has the 24th lowest rate of the 50 states.

Combined state and local sales tax averages 7.35%, the 19th highest in the country (the state portion is 4%).

For retirees: Social Security benefits are not taxed, pension income is partly exempt, and there is no estate or inheritance tax.

Capital gains are taxed as ordinary income.

Housing and the cost of living in Georgia

Georgia's cost of living index is 91, where 100 is the national average; that is the 13th cheapest of the 50 states.

The median home costs $340K, 12% above the national figure and the 24th lowest among the states. A two-bedroom rents for about $1,600 a month.

Carrying costs matter as much as the price: home insurance averages $2,200 a year, flood coverage adds about $850 where it is needed, car insurance runs $2,180.

Budget $145 a month for electricity and gas, $450 a month in groceries for two, $1,050 a month for full-time infant care.

Safety, health and schools

Violent crime is 499 incidents per 100,000 residents in the FBI's 2023 Crime Data Explorer figures, above the median state (387); Georgia is the 11th most violent of the 50 by that measure. Property crime is 2,212 per 100,000.

Life expectancy is 75.2 years (County Health Rankings 2024). 14.1% of residents have no health insurance, and the state has not expanded Medicaid. The Commonwealth Fund's 2023 scorecard ranks Georgia's health system 37th of 50.

Education Week's 2023 Quality Counts report ranks K-12 schools 32nd in the country, and the state runs a school-choice voucher program.

Politics, guns and social policy

Politically, Georgia is a swing state decided by Trump by 2 points in 2024.

On guns, no permit is required to carry a concealed handgun, and Giffords grades the state's gun laws F.

Abortion is banned with narrow exceptions. Marijuana is medical only. Georgia is a right-to-work state, and the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.

Climate, risk and getting around

Natural disaster risk is high. The main hazards are hurricane, tornado, flood. Annual average air quality index is 36 (under 50 is good).

Georgia has a major hub airport, with about 200 nonstop destinations from its busiest airport.