Moving to Georgia from Florida
What to Expect
A comprehensive look at what changes when you move from Florida to Georgia — from daily expenses to quality of life.
If you moved from Florida to Georgia, you would find that Georgia is 9.4% cheaper than Florida. A $75,000 salary in Florida would need to be roughly $68,000 in Georgia to maintain the same lifestyle. Jacksonville and Atlanta are about 290 mi apart.
Thinking of moving to Georgia? Get a shortlist of towns in Georgia that match your priorities: size, cost, taxes, safety, disaster risk, hospitals and transport. Find my towns →Is Georgia cheaper than Florida?
The biggest cost differences at a glance
Restaurants
pay 11.9% less
Groceries
pay 9.2% less
Transportation
pay 2.4% less
Housing
pay 14.3% less
Childcare
pay 9.9% less
Entertainment and Sports
pay 1.4% more
Data: MyLifeElsewhere's crowdsourced cost of living database, with prices submitted and updated by users worldwide. Exchange rates are refreshed regularly from public sources.
What salary do you need in Georgia?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $68,000
To maintain the same standard of living in Georgia
Calculate with your salary →Cost of living by city
Cost of living varies a lot by city. Each figure is a city's overall cost of living as a percentage of New York City (the priciest, = 100%).
On average, cities in Georgia cost about 22% less than cities in Florida.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
How Florida and Georgia stack up on safety, healthcare, jobs, and infrastructure.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Florida performs better than Georgia across all safety metrics.
How's the healthcare?
share of people without health insurance
share of adults with obesity
share of adults with diabetes
share of adults who smoke
Florida performs better than Georgia across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Georgia generally does better on what about housing?, though Florida leads in homeownership rate.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Florida performs better than Georgia across all infrastructure metrics.
What are the job prospects?
percentage of the labour force without work
a broad measure of economic output per person
typical annual income of a household
share of people below the poverty line
Georgia generally does better on employment & economy, though Florida leads in poverty rate.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Florida performs better than Georgia across all family life metrics.
Sources: US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) (2023), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PLACES) (2022), FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (2023), Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024), OECD Regional Demography (2020). How we calculate this
Weather in Georgia vs Florida
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Jacksonville | Atlanta |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 68°/47°F (20°/8°C) | 58°/39°F (14°/4°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 83°/64°F (28°/18°C) | 79°/60°F (26°/16°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 88°/73°F (31°/22°C) | 86°/69°F (30°/20°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 73°/54°F (23°/12°C) | 64°/45°F (17°/7°C) |
View all months
| Month | Jacksonville | Atlanta |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 64°/44°F (18.0°/6.6°C) | 52°/34°F (11.3°/1.3°C) |
| Feb | 67°/46°F (19.5°/7.9°C) | 57°/38°F (13.7°/3.2°C) |
| Mar | 72°/52°F (22.4°/10.9°C) | 65°/44°F (18.1°/6.7°C) |
| Apr | 78°/56°F (25.4°/13.6°C) | 72°/51°F (22.5°/10.8°C) |
| May | 84°/64°F (28.9°/17.7°C) | 80°/60°F (26.6°/15.7°C) |
| Jun | 88°/71°F (31.2°/21.7°C) | 86°/68°F (30.2°/20.1°C) |
| Jul | 90°/73°F (32.4°/22.7°C) | 89°/71°F (31.7°/21.8°C) |
| Aug | 89°/74°F (31.9°/23.1°C) | 88°/71°F (31.2°/21.5°C) |
| Sep | 86°/71°F (30.1°/21.6°C) | 82°/65°F (27.9°/18.2°C) |
| Oct | 80°/63°F (26.4°/17.1°C) | 73°/54°F (22.6°/12.2°C) |
| Nov | 73°/53°F (22.9°/11.8°C) | 64°/44°F (17.6°/6.9°C) |
| Dec | 66°/46°F (19.0°/7.9°C) | 54°/36°F (12.2°/2.5°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Georgia than Florida?
Generally yes: Georgia runs about 9% cheaper than Florida on average, though it depends heavily on the city.
How much money do I need to move to Georgia?
A safe rule of thumb is 3 months of local expenses plus relocation costs. On a $75,000 comparable salary, that's around $17,000 in Georgia for everyday spending, before movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Georgia safe?
Florida performs better than Georgia across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Georgia compared to Florida?
Florida performs better than Georgia across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in Georgia compared to Florida?
The average high temperature in Atlanta is 72°F, compared to 78°F in Jacksonville. Atlanta receives around 49.7 in of rainfall per year, while Jacksonville gets 51.7 in.
