All homes and bedroom counts
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta merits investigation by income-focused buyers who can tolerate soft operating signals; buyers requiring strong rent or employment momentum should avoid it.
Median price$383k
Median rent$1,854
Gross yield5.8%
Job growth▲ 0.2%
Composite Market ScoreRank #327 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer
How much is rent in Atlanta, GA?
Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $1,854 per month for 2026-06-30. That is up 1.80% from a year earlier.
Studio, 1BR and 2BR listings
Occupied rental units paying rent
Two-bedroom standard
These figures are not averaged together. Zillow and Realtor describe asking-rent markets, ACS measures rent paid by surveyed households, and HUD publishes administrative bedroom standards.
Exact county schedules
HUD rent benchmarks inside Atlanta
Every row keeps its own county FIPS schedule. No county is selected as a metro proxy and no synthetic metro FMR is calculated.
| County | Studio | 1 BR | 2 BR | 3 BR | 4 BR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fulton County, GAFIPS 13121 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Gwinnett County, GAFIPS 13135 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Cobb County, GAFIPS 13067 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| DeKalb County, GAFIPS 13089 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Clayton County, GAFIPS 13063 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Cherokee County, GAFIPS 13057 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Forsyth County, GAFIPS 13117 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Henry County, GAFIPS 13151 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Paulding County, GAFIPS 13223 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Coweta County, GAFIPS 13077 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Douglas County, GAFIPS 13097 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Carroll County, GAFIPS 13045 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Fayette County, GAFIPS 13113 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Newton County, GAFIPS 13217 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Bartow County, GAFIPS 13015 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Walton County, GAFIPS 13297 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Rockdale County, GAFIPS 13247 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Barrow County, GAFIPS 13013 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Spalding County, GAFIPS 13255 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Pickens County, GAFIPS 13227 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Lumpkin County, GAFIPS 13187 | $1,085 | $1,136 | $1,245 | $1,577 | $2,089 |
| Haralson County, GAFIPS 13143 | $838 | $844 | $1,107 | $1,345 | $1,718 |
| Dawson County, GAFIPS 13085 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Butts County, GAFIPS 13035 | $936 | $977 | $1,075 | $1,427 | $1,803 |
| Morgan County, GAFIPS 13211 | $1,256 | $1,315 | $1,442 | $1,729 | $2,419 |
| Meriwether County, GAFIPS 13199 | $758 | $763 | $1,001 | $1,392 | $1,511 |
| Pike County, GAFIPS 13231 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Jasper County, GAFIPS 13159 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
| Heard County, GAFIPS 13149 | $1,585 | $1,660 | $1,820 | $2,182 | $2,605 |
The read
Why this market scores where it does
Atlanta merits investigation by income-focused buyers who can tolerate soft operating signals; buyers requiring strong rent or employment momentum should avoid it. The $383,050 median home value and $1,854 median asking rent imply a 5.81% gross yield, while asking rents rose 1.8% and CES employment rose just 0.19%.
The opportunity is a more buyer-friendly pricing picture without a matching rent decline: home values fell 1.98% while asking rents increased. Tenant affordability is not obviously stretched at a 24.8% rent-to-income ratio, but a 4.27 price-to-income ratio still makes acquisition pricing important.
The risk is that weak momentum meets meaningful competition and property-level hazard exposure. The permits-per-thousand-residents measure is 5.73, inventory stands at 3.7 months, and 32.58% of listings have price drops. Inland flood is the dominant hazard, with annual climate loss equal to 0.1013% of building value; underwriting should test insurance and flood exposure rather than treat the market-wide ratio as property-specific.
Frequently Asked Investor Questions
What do tax filings show about migration and mover income?
The metro recorded 108,454 households moving in and 104,003 moving out, for net migration of 4,451; inbound movers averaged $72,524 in income versus $78,092 for outbound movers, a negative $5,568 gap.
How much listing softness is visible?
Median market time is 43 days, inventory is 3.7 months, and 32.58% of listings have price drops.
What share of purchase mortgages went to non-occupants?
Non-occupants accounted for 8.95% of purchase mortgages.
Investor Quick Takeaways
Gross Yield: 5.8%
Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.
Rent Momentum: ▲ 1.80%
Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.
Investor Activity: 9.0%
Originated investment purchase share (CFPB HMDA).
Climate Exposure: FEMA NRI
Annualized loss ratio evaluated for flood & hurricane risk.
Put the evidence to work
Test the market, then test the deal
Keep Atlanta as the starting point or move into a more specific property and rent check.
Run cash flowStarts with this market's measured price and rentSave to shortlistCompare this metro with up to four other placesCheck rent by ZIPMove from metro context to a local rent benchmarkFind a comparison marketRead a curated two-market decision analysisShare this analysisEmail the canonical link without adding page scriptsReport a data issueSend the figure, source and release period to review
Market pulse
The current market in eight signals
Fast-moving Redfin conditions sit beside the slower fundamentals so a buyer can separate today's negotiating climate from the long-run investment case.
Months of supply3.7 mo.▼ from 4.1 mo. a year ago
Median days on market43 days▲ from 41 days a year ago
Listings with price drops32.6%▲ from 30.5% a year ago
Sale-to-list ratio98.4%2026-05-01
Home value growth▼ 2.0%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▲ 1.80%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield5.8%Rent × 12 ÷ price
Payroll job growth▲ 0.2%CES · 12m to 2026-06
Release-to-release evidence
What actually changed
This comparison exists because at least one underlying source period advanced. Rebuilding the same data never creates a new observation.
Published score held steady46→46
0 ptsThe published component scores did not move in this release.
Weights were unchanged at metro-2026-07-v2-omb2023, so the movement comes from refreshed evidence and percentile ranks.
The named source periods advanced, but the measured values on this page held steady.
The one chart
Rents versus prices, indexed to 2019
Both series start at 100. The gap between the lines is the investment case, and which line is closing it tells you what kind of market this is.
Reindexed Price vs. Rent Growth
2019 = 100 · annual · 2019–2026
Since 2019, prices are up 55% and rents 40%. Prices running ahead of rents is what compresses yield. ✓ recomputed from series
Composite breakdown
What each component measures
Weights are published, not hidden, and the arithmetic is shown. Five components, each measured as a national percentile across all tracked metros.
Published arithmeticComponent × weight = points
46| Signal | Score | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job growth | 52 | 30% | 15.60 |
| Rent trend | 27 | 25% | 6.75 |
| Affordability | 49 | 15% | 7.35 |
| Supply pressure | 25 | 15% | 3.75 |
| Climate risk | 84 | 15% | 12.60 |
| Published score | 46 | ||
Atlanta, GA scoreRank #327
46Job growth52/100
CES employment growth of 0.19% -> the market has little measured job momentum to support aggressive demand assumptions.
Rent trend27/100
Asking-rent growth of 1.8% and a 5.81% gross yield -> current income is more notable than rent momentum.
Affordability49/100
A 24.8% rent-to-income ratio and 4.27 price-to-income ratio -> tenant affordability appears less strained than acquisition affordability.
Supply pressure25/100
The 5.73 permits-per-thousand-residents measure, 3.7 months of supply, and 32.58% price-drop share -> supply competition and listing softness belong in the underwriting.
Climate risk84/100
Inland flood and a 0.1013% annual climate loss ratio -> property-level flood exposure and insurance costs require verification.
The numbers
What this market costs and what it earns
Every derived ratio below recomputes from the same source record used by the article and score.
ZHVI Median Price
$383k
YoY ▼ 2.0%
ZORI Median Rent
$1,854
YoY ▲ 1.80%
Gross Rental Yield
5.8%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$1,854 × 12 ÷ $383,050
Job Growth (YoY)
▲ 0.2%
CES payrolls
Job signal 52/100
Median Household Income
$90k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
24.8%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
4.3x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$1,820
Market rent 101.9% of FMR
Historical affordability context
Compare aligned 2019 and 2024 asking-rent and nominal household-income endpoints across the direct-overlap metro set.
Independent rent evidence
One market, several legitimate rent benchmarks
These releases observe different homes and different moments. RentMarker keeps them separate: ZORI remains the scoring baseline, while the other sources test how sensitive the market story is to bedroom mix and measurement method.
Monthly benchmark5 of 5 reported values
Zero-based scale$1,854Primary RentMarker baseline
2026-06-30
All homes and bedroom counts
A smoothed metro rent index for observed rentals; it is the primary rent used by RentMarker scores and career ratios.
View source release ↗$1,555−$299 vs ZORI
2026-05
Studio, 1BR and 2BR listings
The median advertised rent in Realtor.com's 50-largest-metro rental report; source NAs remain unavailable.
View source release ↗$1,660−$194 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR
One-bedroom standard
An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.
View source release ↗$1,820−$34 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR
Two-bedroom standard
An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.
View source release ↗$1,672−$182 vs ZORI
ACS 2024 5-year
Occupied rental units paying rent
A five-year survey estimate of contract rent plus applicable tenant-paid utilities; it is not a current asking-rent index.
View source release ↗Take the next step
Keep Atlanta as context, then replace market-wide evidence with the candidate property's facts.
Direct local rental evidence
Recent leases and rental-market liquidity in Atlanta, GA
These Apartment List observations match the exact metro CBSA code 12060. They are kept separate from Zillow asking rent, Census occupied-home rent and property-level comparables.
Direct recent-lease rent history
Monthly overall-rent index; missing observations are not filled from another geography.
Recent-lease rent$1,4532026-07 · -0.6% year over year
Rental vacancy7.5%2026-07 · -0.0 percentage points year over year
Time on market32 days2026-07 · +3.6 days year over year
Measured rent retention
How much of gross yield survives the first two measured deductions?
This bridge subtracts direct rental vacancy and effective property tax only. It is not net yield, NOI, cap rate or property cash flow.
measured retention property tax vacancy
- Gross yield
- 5.8%
- Vacancy
- 7.5%
- Effective tax
- 0.8%
- Retained yield
- 4.5%
Regional price level
What feels expensive inside Atlanta
BEA compares each category with the United States, which equals 100. This is a 2024 price-level comparison—not annual inflation.
BEA Regional Price Parities · 2024US = 100
Occupation wage lens
How asking rent sits against major local occupations
Annualized Zillow asking rent is divided by each BLS annual median wage. This is a screening ratio for one wage, not a household budget or affordability verdict.
Six largest published major groupsannual rent ÷ median wage
Office and Administrative Support Occupations$47,040 median wage
47.3%
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations$44,120 median wage
50.4%
Sales and Related Occupations$37,550 median wage
59.2%
Business and Financial Operations Occupations$81,310 median wage
27.4%
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations$29,720 median wage
74.9%
Management Occupations$130,550 median wage
17.0%
Supply pipeline
What is being built, and for whom
Permits are the 12-to-24 month early warning. The total matters less than the mix: apartments compete with a rental the day they open.
National supply context
Compare this authorization pipeline with asking-rent growth, jobs and for-sale liquidity across the evidence-complete metro set.
Building permits by structure type
units per year · latest year annualised
35,366 units authorised in 2026, 37% of them in 5+ unit buildings. A meaningful share is apartments, which discount first when they lease up. ✓ recomputed from series
Who is arriving, and who is buying
Demand, and the competition for it
Tax filings say how many households moved and what they earn; mortgage disclosures say how many local purchases went to someone who will not live there. Moves between counties inside this metro are netted out of both flow figures.
Net Household Move
+4,511
108,794 in vs 104,283 out (IRS SOI)
▲ 4.1% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
−$5,422
Arriving $72,552 vs leaving $77,974
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
9.0%
6,996 of 77,966 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
inland flooding
0.101% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: water
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →Households arrive mainly from: Hall County · Broward County · Los Angeles County · Miami-Dade County · Cook County
✓ 108,794 in − 104,283 out = 4,511 netDirect market links
Where tax-return households moved from and to
These are the largest flows where both counties map to a RentMarker market area. They are a documented subset of the all-US IRS totals above.
Leading inbound markets
- New York, NY5,913 arriving
- Miami, FL4,615 arriving
- Gainesville, GA2,402 arriving
Leading outbound markets
- Gainesville, GA3,662 leaving
- New York, NY3,407 leaving
- Miami, FL2,353 leaving
The other side
What would make this a bad buy
Generated from the same figures with the instruction to argue against the score, and published unedited. A page that only agrees with itself is an advertisement.
Three ways the case breaks
- CES employment grew only 0.19%, leaving little measured job momentum.
- Permitting measures 5.73 per thousand residents while 32.58% of listings have price drops, combining a meaningful pipeline with current listing softness.
- Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the annual climate loss ratio is 0.1013% of building value.
Inside this metro area
Move from the market-area average to local evidence
Use the available county and city pages to add local price, rent, housing, migration and hazard context to the market-area view.
County records
County · GAFulton County$421k home · 5.4% yieldCounty · GAGwinnett County$411k home · 5.4% yieldCounty · GACobb County$429k home · 4.9% yieldCounty · GADeKalb County$339k home · 6.3% yieldCounty · GAClayton County$231k home · 8.3% yieldCounty · GACherokee County$479k home · 5.3% yieldCounty · GAForsyth County$620k home · 4.5% yieldCounty · GAHenry County$323k home · 6.9% yield
Cities in this market
City · GAAtlanta$387k home · $1,911 rentCity · GAMarietta$481k home · $1,717 rentCity · GANewnan$369k home · $1,821 rentCity · GADouglasville$306k home · $1,905 rentCity · GAWoodstock$465k home · $2,149 rentCity · GACanton$522k home · $2,162 rentCity · GALawrenceville$384k home · $1,881 rentCity · GAMcDonough$337k home · $1,847 rent
Statistical peers
Market areas that behave like Atlanta
Nearest neighbours on price level, income, yield and job growth — not on geography. Every market page gets a different peer set, which is the point.
| Market area | Score | Price | Rent | Yield | Job Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta, GA (Target) | 46 | $383k | $1,854 | 5.8% | ▲ 0.2% |
| Philadelphia, PA | 59 | $395k | $1,928 | 5.9% | ▲ 0.3% |
| Phoenix, AZ | 36 | $447k | $1,733 | 4.7% | ▲ 0.2% |
| Dallas, TX | 44 | $367k | $1,673 | 5.5% | ▲ 0.8% |
| Minneapolis, MN | 62 | $396k | $1,727 | 5.2% | ▲ 0.2% |
Provenance
Where every figure came from
“Checked nightly” means every source is re-pulled and re-verified each night. It does not mean every source moves nightly — the release column tells you how fresh each number can possibly be.
| Dataset Source | Method | Release Period | Pulled Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Census ACS 5-year — household income and gross rent | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-08-05 |
| Census ACS 5-year — historical household income | direct | ACS 2019 and 2024 5-year | 2026-08-05 |
| Census ACS 5-year — population | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-26 |
| Apartment List Rent Estimates — recent-lease rent index | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| BEA County Personal Income — income and population | direct | 2024 County Personal Income (released 2026-02-05); history 1969-2024 | 2026-08-03 |
| BEA Regional Price Parities — metropolitan price levels | direct | 2024 Regional Price Parities (released 2026-02-19); history 2008-2024 | 2026-08-03 |
| BLS CES — payroll employment | direct | CES SM current | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS LAUS — resident employment | direct | LAUS current | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS OEWS — occupation employment and wages | direct | May 2025 OEWS estimates (released 2026-05-15) | 2026-08-03 |
| BLS QCEW — county employment and wages | direct | annual county employment and wages 2021-2025; latest 2025 vs 2024 | 2026-08-02 |
| OMB/BLS delineation — metro geography | direct | OMB July 2023 delineation | 2026-07-30 |
| Census Building Permits Survey — permitted units | direct | BPS through 2026 | 2026-07-26 |
| Census ACS 5-year — city population, households and housing | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-29 |
| Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-30 |
| Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-30 |
| Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and income | direct | ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA | 2026-08-08 |
| FEMA National Risk Index — hazard loss ratios | modelled | NRI counties (FEMA ArcGIS) | 2026-07-26 |
| FHFA House Price Index — annual county appreciation | direct | annual county HPI history 1975-2025; latest 2025 | 2026-08-02 |
| HMDA / CFPB — purchases by occupancy type | direct | HMDA 2024 purchase originations | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD CHAS — renter burden by HAMFI income band | direct | HUD CHAS 2018-2022 ACS 5-year (released 2025-12-23) | 2026-08-03 |
| HUD Fair Market Rents — Section 8 standard | direct | FY2026 FMR | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallback | direct | ZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR FY2026 | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD-USPS ZIP-to-county residential-address crosswalk | direct | HUD-USPS 2026Q1 | 2026-08-09 |
| IRS SOI — county migration and mover income | direct | SOI migration 2022-2023 | 2026-07-26 |
| Freddie Mac PMMS — mortgage rates | direct | week of 2026-07-30 | 2026-08-06 |
| Census ACS 5-year — effective property tax | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-08-06 |
| Realtor.com Economic Research — county listing inventory | direct | county inventory 2026-06 | 2026-07-28 |
| Realtor.com Rental Report — top-50 asking rents | direct | top-50 rental asking rents 2026-05 | 2026-08-05 |
| Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cuts | direct | metro tracker through 2026-05-01 | 2026-07-26 |
| Redfin Data Center — ZIP resale activity and supply | direct | ZIP rolling 3 months through 2026-06-30; updated 2026-07-03 | 2026-08-12 |
| USDA ERS — Rural-Urban Continuum Codes | direct | USDA ERS 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes | 2026-08-02 |
| Zillow ZHVI and ZORI — county values and rents | direct | county ZHVI/ZORI 2026-06 | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZHVI — metro home values | direct | Metro_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZHVI — city home values | direct | zillow_zhvi_city.csv | 2026-07-29 |
| Zillow ZORI — metro market rents | direct | Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csv | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZORI — city market rents | direct | zillow_zori_city.csv | 2026-07-29 |
| Zillow ZORI - metro market rents, not seasonally adjusted | direct | Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv | 2026-08-15 |
| Zillow ZORI — ZIP market rents | direct | ZORI ZIP 2026-06 | 2026-08-08 |