Rent In Atlanta Increasing 3 Times As Fast As Wages
May 13, 2024
Zillow reported that this concerning trend has been going on in metro ATL since 2019.
Rent in Atlanta has been taking a concerning trend for the past several years.
According to a report from real-estate marketplace company Zillow, Atlanta renters are under financial pressure as rent continues to increase faster than wages in the metro Atlanta area.
The Zillow report revealed that rent has been growing almost three times faster than the wages have in the metro Atlanta area since the COVID-19 pandemic, WSBTV reports.
From 2019 to 2023, rent prices increased 35.6%, while wages only increased up to 12.2%.
Nationally, the rent and wage trend has been similar until 2022 where “rent went up 30.4% and wages increased by 20.2% across major metro areas during that time.”
According to Zillow, though, in 2023 alone the trend switched on the national average. Rent increased by 3.4, and wages increased by 4.3% across most major metro areas, but the split never changed in metro Atlanta. Reports showed that rent in the metro went up by 0.3% and wages increased by only 0.2% in the last year.
This concerning trend was reportedly exasperated by new millennial and Gen Z renters impacting rental prices nationwide following the pandemic.
The report read, “Demand for rentals from the large millennial generation — many of whose members have remained renters longer than previous cohorts — and Gen Z adults have run headlong into the country’s housing shortage, causing rents to quickly rise.”
Zillow said the country-wide trend likely grew more positive due to “strong multifamily construction [helping to] absorb demand for apartments, keeping rent growth in check in much of the country.”
Atlanta residents weighed in on the findings by taking to X.
One user recounted their experience moving to Atlanta in 2019. They wrote, “I moved to Atlanta in 2018, a week after graduation. I was here for 6 months and your average rent for a high-rise apartment was about $1.1K-$1.4K in the ponce city market area, midtown, Buckhead, etc. When I moved back in 2022, apartments were between $1.6K-2.2K for something nice.”
“I thought I was leaving the DMV for cheaper rent but no! Rent in Atlanta has become just as high as rent in DC. I lost it when I saw an apartment going for $1800 in Duluth. Georgia needs rent control badly.”
Another user wrote, “ATL has never been known for wages .. most folks I knew were working 2 jobs 20 years ago to get by.. now it seems 2 jobs don’t seem to cut it. You need to make a minimum of 85, 000 per year to live in the metro.”
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