AnswerIn Atlanta, the median household income is $81,938. To rank in the top 20%, you need to earn more than $184,246. Top 5%: $586,000.
Median: $81,938 · Top 20%: $184,246 · Top 5%: $586,000
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5-Year Estimates
Atlanta income percentile [2026]
Where Atlanta, Georgiahouseholds rank by income — sourced from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey 2023 5-year estimates, covering roughly 499,287 residents.
In Atlanta, GA, the median household income is $81,938. The bottom 20% earns under $25,209; the top 20% threshold is $184,246; the top 5% starts at $586,000. Median rent is $1,617/month and the median home value is $420,600. A $100,000 household income ranks at roughly the 58th percentile locally.
Key stats for Atlanta
Income percentile breakpoints
- 20th percentile (bottom quintile)
- $25,209
- 40th percentile
- $61,024
- Median (≈ 50th–60th percentile)
- $103,277
- 80th percentile (top 20%)
- $184,246
- 95th percentile (top 5%) — estimated
- $586,000
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5-Year Estimates. City-level p60 is used as the “median-ish” row because ACS quintile upper limits bracket the household median near p60 for most big US cities. The Census Bureau top-codes its top-5% figure at $250,001 for high-income cities, so the 95th-percentile value here is estimated by fitting a Pareto tail to Atlanta's lower (un-top-coded) quintile breakpoints. Treat it as a modeled upper-tail benchmark, not a published ACS figure.
Local economic context
Atlanta is the corporate capital of the Southeast and one of the densest Fortune 500 clusters in the country, which gives its top quartile a distinctly executive-and-logistics flavor. Delta Air Lines headquarters here beside the world's busiest airport; Coca-Cola, Home Depot, UPS, and Southern Company all run their global operations from the metro. The newer growth layer is film and television — Georgia's aggressive production tax credits turned the region into 'Y'allywood,' with major studios in the suburbs — plus a fintech corridor (Atlanta processes a startling share of US card transactions) and the research gravity of Georgia Tech, Emory, and the CDC. The metro's defining economic feature is sprawl: the wealth is spread across an enormous footprint, from intown Buckhead and the Beltline neighborhoods to the affluent northern suburbs of Alpharetta and Sandy Springs. Georgia moved to a flat state income tax in 2024 (around 5.39% and scheduled to keep dropping toward 4.99%), a modest but improving advantage. Housing is the Southern-metro win, though less dramatic than Texas: a 3BR in a desirable intown neighborhood (Virginia-Highland, Decatur, Buckhead's edges) runs $600K–$1.2M, while the northern suburbs offer newer, larger houses for less. Commute reality is Atlanta's infamous traffic — the I-285 'Perimeter,' the I-75/I-85 'Connector' through downtown, and GA-400 north — against a MARTA rail system whose limited geographic coverage means most of the metro simply drives. The cost-of-living caveat: BEA RPP for the Atlanta metro runs near 99–101% of national, genuinely affordable for a city this large and corporate, with traffic and sprawl as the real quality-of-life tax rather than housing price.
What this income feels like
Top 20% in Atlanta is comfortable and spread out — a 3BR intown near the Beltline, or a bigger newer house in Alpharetta if you've optimized for schools and square footage. You drive everywhere and budget your life around avoiding the Connector at rush hour, you brunch hard, and your house is larger than a coastal peer's at the same income. Georgia's flat ~5.39% tax is unremarkable. Childcare runs $1,300–$1,800/month, a real discount to the coasts. The traffic is the universal complaint — a 12-mile trip across the Perimeter at 5:30 PM is a genuine 45-minute ordeal.
Top 20% reality check
- Atlanta's affluence is unusually corporate — Delta, Coca-Cola, Home Depot, and UPS headquarters give the top quartile an executive-and-logistics profile rather than a tech one.
- Georgia's 2024 shift to a flat ~5.39% income tax (still dropping) is a modest tailwind, and housing is genuinely affordable for a metro this size.
- Traffic is the real cost of living — MARTA covers a fraction of the metro, so the I-285 and I-75/85 Connector crawl is the daily tax almost everyone pays.
Cost-of-living reality
The median gross rent in Atlanta is $1,617/month, or roughly 23.7% of the median household income on an annualized basis. The national rent-burden average is about 30%, and anything north of that is treated as rent-burdened by HUD. Atlanta's median home value is $420,600, a price-to-income ratio of 5.1× — healthy markets run 3–4×, expensive coastal markets routinely exceed 6×. Mean one-way commute is 26.8 minutes, which compounds the real cost of living here for anyone not working remote.
Nearby cities
Atlanta community discussions
Local subreddits where cost-of-living and income questions get answered by residents. External links, open in a new tab.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good income in Atlanta?
In Atlanta, GA, the median household income is $81,938. Earning above $103,277 puts you in the top 40%, and clearing $184,246 places you in the top 20%. A "good" income depends on household size and housing choice, but $184,246 is a useful upper-middle-class threshold for this city.
How does Atlanta's median income compare to the US?
Atlanta's median household income of $81,938 is about 4.3% higher than the US median of $78,538 (ACS 2023 5-year, matched to the city vintage). Raw comparisons understate local cost-of-living; Atlanta's median rent of $1,617 and median home value of $420,600 are the relevant offsets.
What percentile is $100K in Atlanta?
A household income of $100,000 ranks at roughly the 58th percentile in Atlanta. That is interpolated from the local ACS quintile breakpoints: p20 $25,209, p40 $61,024, p60 $103,277, p80 $184,246, p95 $586,000.
Is Atlanta expensive to live in?
Median gross rent in Atlanta is $1,617/month, which is 23.7% of the median household income on an annualized basis — compared to the national rent-burden average of about 30%. The median home value is $420,600, a price-to-income ratio of 5.1× (healthy markets run 3-4×, expensive markets 6×+).
How is this calculated?
Figures come from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 2023 5-year estimates for Atlanta, Georgia. Income percentiles are city-level approximations derived from ACS B19080 household income quintile upper limits, interpolated from the local median and distribution. Rent burden uses B25071 (median gross rent as % of household income) and mean commute uses B08303.
Methodology & data sources
Calculations on this page use published benchmarks from US federal statistical agencies. Percentile breakpoints are interpolated linearly between published cells. Figures are in current-year USD unless noted. Numbers are educational estimates, not personalized financial advice.