Moving to Atlanta Georgia from Inland Empire CA

[seafood12]

Recently divorced African American Mom of one teenager currently living in Inland Empire CA. Currently make $110,000k. I have an offer to move to Atlanta for $76,000 (same field) which I am seriously considering due to Atlanta's lower cost of living, four seasons and of course vibrant AA community. Is 76k enough considering Atlanta seems to have gone up in price as well? I have been applying for jobs for quite some time now and this is the only solid offer I've received after months of applying. I think once I am a local I could potentially command a higher salary. I am also wanting to purchase a home within the next year or two so that is also a factor as CA home prices are very inflated for what you get even in the Inland Empire which used to be closer in price to metro Atlanta. Any thoughts, advice would be greatly appreciated.

[M3Guy]

Originally Posted by seafood12

Recently divorced African American Mom of one teenager currently living in Inland Empire CA. Currently make $110,000k. I have an offer to move to Atlanta for $76,000 (same field) which I am seriously considering due to Atlanta's lower cost of living, four seasons and of course vibrant AA community. Is 76k enough considering Atlanta seems to have gone up in price as well? I have been applying for jobs for quite some time now and this is the only solid offer I've received after months of applying. I think once I am a local I could potentially command a higher salary. I am also wanting to purchase a home within the next year or two so that is also a factor as CA home prices are very inflated for what you get even in the Inland Empire which used to be closer in price to metro Atlanta. Any thoughts, advice would be greatly appreciated.

I think it really depends on if you want to live in the city of Atlanta proper, and if so, what neighborhood. People in GA consider Marietta to be Atlanta (for some reason). If you want to live in areas like Inman Park, Candler, Midtown, O4W, Virginia Highlands, Buckhead, etc...it is not cheap. I would say to live somewhat comfortably in areas like that, with a teen in the household, you would probably want to be around at least the $100k/year mark. Unless you go south of I-20 to areas like Hapeville. Now if you go to other cities in the north metro area like Doraville, Dunwoody, Norcross, etc....it gets a bit cheaper.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by M3Guy

I think it really depends on if you want to live in the city of Atlanta proper, and if so, what neighborhood. People in GA consider Marietta to be Atlanta (for some reason). If you want to live in areas like Inman Park, Candler, Midtown, O4W, Virginia Highlands, Buckhead, etc...it is not cheap. I would say to live somewhat comfortably in areas like that, with a teen in the household, you would probably want to be around at least the $100k/year mark. Unless you go south of I-20 to areas like Hapeville. Now if you go to other cities in the north metro area like Doraville, Dunwoody, Norcross, etc....it gets a bit cheaper.

By "Atlanta," she means Metro Atlanta not just Atlanta city proper - just like everyone else with sense does.



Marietta is "Atlanta" and Metro Atlanta.

[clevergirl67]

Honestly, that number wouldn't make you real comfortable with a teenager in Macon, which is an hour 1/2 south.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by seafood12

Recently divorced African American Mom of one teenager currently living in Inland Empire CA. Currently make $110,000k. I have an offer to move to Atlanta for $76,000 (same field) which I am seriously considering due to Atlanta's lower cost of living, four seasons and of course vibrant AA community. Is 76k enough considering Atlanta seems to have gone up in price as well? I have been applying for jobs for quite some time now and this is the only solid offer I've received after months of applying. I think once I am a local I could potentially command a higher salary. I am also wanting to purchase a home within the next year or two so that is also a factor as CA home prices are very inflated for what you get even in the Inland Empire which used to be closer in price to metro Atlanta. Any thoughts, advice would be greatly appreciated.

To go from making $110k/yr down to $76k/yr is a substantial cut in salary.

But even with the $34k drop in salary, $76k should still be relatively abundant for a family of two to live on relatively comfortably in Atlanta, even in the inflationary environment of the 2020’s. Lots of people live on far less than $76k/year in metro Atlanta. Though, it obviously can’t hurt to be able to obtain a higher salary, if possible.

I guess that you probably should know that home prices generally will be noticeably higher in the part of the Atlanta metropolitan area that is located north of Interstate 20 than home prices will be in the part of the Atlanta metropolitan area that is located south of I-20.

Northside OTP suburban areas like West Cobb, East Cobb, North Fulton County, South Forsyth County and parts of Gwinnett County will feature the highest rated schools along with the most competitive housing markets and highest home prices.

Though high-quality schools can also be found in many other areas outside of that Cobb County/North Fulton County/South Forsyth County/Gwinnett County Northside OTP suburban crescent where the school ratings may not always necessarily be the absolute highest.

(The term “OTP” is used to describe the part of the Atlanta metropolitan area/region that is located outside of the Interstate 285 Perimeter highway loop that encircles the urban core of the Atlanta metro area/region. While the term “ITP” is used to describe the part of the Atlanta metropolitan area/region that is located inside of the I-285 Perimeter highway loop.)

Fayette County and the Union Grove High School and Ola High School clusters in Henry County will feature the highest rated schools south of I-20.

Outside of the Cobb County/North Fulton County/South Forsyth County/Gwinnett County crescent in Atlanta’s Northside OTP suburbs and outside of Fayette County and the Union Grove HS and Ola HS clusters in Henry County in Atlanta’s Southside OTP suburbs, school ratings and/or school quality may be noticeably more hit-or-miss in many areas.

The largest concentration of metro Atlanta’s explosively growing African-American population is located in Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, Rockdale, Newton, Henry, Fayette, Douglas, Gwinnett, Cobb and southeastern Paulding counties.

Forsyth County features one of the highest rated school systems in the Southeastern U.S. along with the nation’s fastest-growing Asian population (mostly Asian Indians and some Koreans) but has a very low population of Black residents and generally often may not be the most appealing destination for Black newcomers because of the exceptionally militantly anti-Black past history of the county.

Cherokee County features higher rated schools in many areas without the exceptionally militantly anti-Black past history of neighboring Forsyth County. But Cherokee County has only a relatively noticeably modest population of Black residents when compared to the aforementioned 10-11 metro Atlanta counties with the highest concentration of Black residents.

[Yoski]

Originally Posted by seafood12

Recently divorced African American Mom of one teenager currently living in Inland Empire CA. Currently make $110,000k. I have an offer to move to Atlanta for $76,000 (same field) which I am seriously considering due to Atlanta's lower cost of living, four seasons and of course vibrant AA community. Is 76k enough considering Atlanta seems to have gone up in price as well? I have been applying for jobs for quite some time now and this is the only solid offer I've received after months of applying. I think once I am a local I could potentially command a higher salary. I am also wanting to purchase a home within the next year or two so that is also a factor as CA home prices are very inflated for what you get even in the Inland Empire which used to be closer in price to metro Atlanta. Any thoughts, advice would be greatly appreciated.

What part of the city of Atlanta or the metro would the job be located?

[testa50]

Seems like a pretty big salary hit to move to Atlanta. We aren't a LCOL metro anymore I'm afraid.

[seafood12]

Great question. Sorry I should have mentioned that in the post. It is in Alpharetta.

[seafood12]

I know Atlanta isn't LCOL anymore, but I want to purchase a home in the next year or two when interest rates hopefully come down. My ex and I saved about 80k combined and split it in half which means I have 40k for a down payment. I know that doesn't go far in ATL, but it is impossible out here in the Inland Empire which isn't even the best area in Southern California. Also I don't require much just some decent hiking trails,goodvegan food options, farmers market would be nice and of course a body of water. I love the outdoors.

[seafood12]

Thanks everyone for the great advice. You rock!!! If my budget seems too low for ATL has anyone moved to ATL from Houston which from my research is fairly cheaper than ATL currently for home prices. How did the areas compare? I will say I sort of prefer ATL because I love all the greenery, but Houston could be an option if I'm priced out of ATL.