Is the Cost Of Living in Fayetteville GA Too Expensive?

Why is Living in Fayetteville, Georgia so expensive? Can you afford to move here? Let’s talk about the Cost of Living in Fayetteville, Peachtree City and Fayette County, GA as a whole.

Cost Of Living Index

When you go to bestplaces.net, you’ll see that Georgia has a lower cost of living than the average United States. However, Fayette County is actually higher than the average cost of living in the US.
Fayette County’s index is 111, 11 points higher than the US, as the US is indexed at 100.

In comparison, Fayetteville is indexed at 107 and Peachtree City is indexed at 117, a whopping 17 points higher than the average US cost of living.

Let’s look at the BestPlaces map. Peachtree City, Brooks and Tyrone, all part of Fayette County have a higher cost of living. Fayetteville, although not quite as dark here as the other towns in Fayette is still on the higher side.

Where does this difference come from?

Fayette County has all the usual grocery stores, like Kroger, WalMart, Publix and Aldi. The prices in these stores are consistent with the prices in other areas. For instance a gallon of milk at Kroger was $2.89, at Aldi $2.55 and at WalMart $2.80.

A basic loaf of bread ranged from $1.25 at Aldi to $2.50 at Kroger. Definitely not something that will raise your cost of living.

The price of gas is a moving target as you know, but since there are plenty of gas stations around, whether you get gas in Fayette or surrounding areas on your way to work, you can definitely save. Personally, I get my gas at Costco, where it is consistently 20 cents cheaper and Kroger helps out with their Kroger rewards as well.

Housing

So what drives the cost of living in Fayetteville GA and beyond? When you look at the budget calculator of the Economic Policy Institute you’ll see that the budget for 2 adults and 2 children to live comfortably in Fayette is definitely higher in Fayette than it is in Coweta County, which includes Newnan and Senoia, Henry County, which is the home of McDonough and Locust Grove and the Atlanta/Sandy Springs/Roswell area.

The main driver for this is housing. The median sales price over the last year in Fayette County was$395,000 compared to $335,000 in Coweta. More importantly, Fayette has 82% owner occupancy, Coweta has 73% and Henry County has 70%.

Fayette County has very few rentals. There are not many apartments to rent and condos and multifamily housing is few and far between. The county consist mainly of single family homes, which are more expensive than smaller condos or apartments. All that drives the cost of housing up.

Top Notch Fayette County Schools

Childcare is another item that is more costly than in other areas. Fayette County boasts an excellent school system and many people move to the County especially for the schools. That demand for excellent schools also manifests itself in the daycares.

I was shocked by the prices I paid for daycare when I moved to Fayette County compared to what I paid for my local daycare in South Florida. Yes it was more expensive, but the quality of care and instruction were of an entire different level.

Best Places To Live in Georgia

When you look at the map, what do these darker places have in common? They are desirable places to live. People want to live in these towns because of the quality of life.
Time and time again towns in Fayette County like Tyrone, Peachtree City and Fayetteville come up in the best places to live in Georgia.

So even through the cost of living may be a bit higher than in other areas in Georgia, so are the schools AND the quality of life. And if you come here from places like California or New York, it is still a bargain.