Real Estate

Milton Ranks as Ninth Most Affordable Place in Georgia

High income and low food costs put Milton just below Johns Creek and slightly ahead of Alpharetta in the rankings.

Milton is the ninth most affordable place to live in Georgia, according to Movoto Real Estate.

Neighboring Johns Creek ranks seventh, Alpharetta is 11th and Roswell ranks 13th in the report on the most affordable places in Georgia.

The study uses food costs, utility costs, miscellaneous costs, median home price, unemployment rank and adjusted median income to come up with the rankings.

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High incomes for Milton residents helped it with the high ranking. Only Johns Creek and Suwanee have higher median incomes than Milton's, which is $73,6116.

Lower food costs in Milton also help its ranking.

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What keeps its rank lower in part is having the highest home prices of any other place. Milton's median home price is $462,700. That's $396,100 more than the median price for a home in Waycross, which has the least expensive homes.

Alpharetta has the 10th best median income, helping it slip below Milton's ranking. The slightly cheaper home prices don't offset the lower median income.

Johns Creek has the highest median income in the study. While it ranks as one of the most expensive places to buy a house, the median home price is still cheaper than in Milton. Those helped it rank as a more affordable place for its residents.

Roswell's lower median income – it ranks 15th – kept it below the other North Fulton cities even though its median home price is even lower than Alpharetta's.

The most affordable place in Georgia, according to the Movoto Real Estate analysis, is Warner Robins. The top 10 are:

1. City of Warner Robins
2. City of Hinesville
3. City of Grovetown
4. City of Canton
4. City of Perry
6. City of Woodstock
7. City of Johns Creek
7. City of Thomasville
9. City of Milton
9. Cusseta-Chattahoochee County

Movoto Real Estate created its rankings by looking at the largest places in Georgia with a population of more than 10,000 people, according to the Census Bureau; this included cities and Census Designated Places. An average of all these ranks to created the Big Deal Score. The place with the lowest average rank across our criteria–Warner Robins–was crowned the most affordable.

Data was collected from Sperling’s Best Places as well as the most recent U.S. Census (2010).


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