Explore how housing costs in the Tri-Cities have changed
Cost of Living
1 day ago2 min read
In 1999, home ownership could be attained with 2 or 3 years’ salary. Today, a median home can cost as much as 6 times an area’s median household income.
Illustration by Khoa Tran
Housing costs in East Point, College Park, and Hapeville—aka the Tri-Cities—have been slowly creeping up for decades.
According to data journalist Maggie Lee, in 1999, median rent in most of the Tri-Cities took up a quarter or less of renters’ incomes. Today, median rent can cost as much as 42 percent in some areas.
Buying a home is much more difficult than it was a few decades ago, too: In 1999, home ownership could be attained with two or three years’ worth of salary. Today, a median home in some parts of Tri-Cities can cost as much as six times that area’s median household income.
Click each map below to explore how housing costs in the Tri-Cities have changed.
A generation ago, median rent took up a quarter or less of income throughout most of the Tri-Cities, meaning the area was affordable for people who rented there in 1999.
The Tri-Cities are less affordable now. According to data collected from 2018 through 2022, median rent is at least 27 percent of the median income in half of the area’s census tracts. Median rent can be as high as 42 percent of median income in one part of the area.
In 1999, if someone renting in the Tri-Cities wanted to get on the housing ladder, a typical property would cost the equivalent of two to three years’ salary. Mortgage payments would not be a cost burden if home prices were on this scale compared to incomes.
Now, the value of a median home in the Tri-Cities can be as much as six times an area’s median household income. That means it would be very hard for a typical resident to get on the housing ladder. If they could get a loan, mortgage payments would take up a large part of the household budget.
These maps were produced by data journalist Maggie Lee in partnership with Canopy Atlanta for the Tri-Cities Community Issue. Read the accompanying story, written by journalist Logan Ritchie and Tri-Cities fellow LeJoi Lane, here.
