Roswell-Sandy Springs Area Named Most Expensive In GA

ROSWELL, GA — A newly released report by 24/7 Wall St. has named the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell area the most expensive in the state of Georgia.

Americans’ lifestyle is mostly determined by their income. Another factor, however, is where they live, the report said.

"The cost of everyday necessities, like food, transportation, and rent, varies considerably nationwide and can impact how far an income can stretch. The cost of living even among the cities considered the most expensive places in their state also varies widely. In the most expensive place in Alabama, a dollar goes about as far as it would in the least expensive place in California."

These differences in cost of living can be stark not just from state to state, but also city to city within the same state, the report said. 24/7 Wall St. compared regional price parity among metropolitan areas, with data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, to determine the most expensive city in every state.

The report focuses on four areas, and in the Roswell area, those are:

• Cost of living: 3.2 percent less expensive than average
• Cost of living in Georgia: 7.5 percent less expensive than average
• Poverty rate: 12 percent
• Median household income: $65,381

To determine the most expensive city in each state, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed 2017 regional price parities among U.S. metropolitan statistical areas as calculated by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. An RPP is a weighted average of the price level of goods and services for the average consumer in one geographic region compared to all other regions in the U.S. The cost of living for each state also comes from the BEA. Poverty rates and median household income for each MSA come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017 American Community Survey and are one-year estimates.

In some states, even the most expensive metro area has a cheaper cost of living than the state as a whole, indicating that goods and services are more expensive outside of major metro areas, the report said. Several states, like Delaware, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, have only one metropolitan statistical area, so these places are the most expensive by default.

A higher than average cost of living can indicate that a given city is an especially desirable place to live. However, the most expensive city in a state is not necessarily the best city to live in that state. Based on over two dozen measures that can impact overall quality of life, these are the best cities to live in every state in the report.

Click here to see the most expensive city in every state.