What a living wage looks like across metro Atlanta's core counties
ATLANTA - A single adult living in metro Atlanta needs to make between $24 and more than $27 an hour just to cover basic living expenses, according to data from the Living Wage Calculator.
What a living wage costs in metro Atlanta
What we know:
The Living Wage Calculator, maintained by the Living Wage Institute, calculates the hourly rate full-time workers must earn to cover food, housing, healthcare, transportation and basic utilities without government or private assistance.
Across the five core metro Atlanta counties, the required hourly wage for a single adult with no children breaks down as:
- Gwinnett County: $27.32 per hour ($56,821 annually before taxes)
- Cobb County: $27.10 per hour ($56,371 annually before taxes)
- Fulton County: $26.73 per hour ($55,599 annually before taxes)
- DeKalb County: $26.07 per hour ($54,233 annually before taxes)
- Clayton County: $23.79 per hour ($49,487 annually before taxes)
For families with children, the required income climbs sharply. A single parent with one child in Fulton County needs to earn $41.80 an hour, while the same parent in Gwinnett County needs $42.33 an hour. Childcare alone averages more than $11,200 annually for one child and nearly $22,000 for two children across all five counties.
Housing and transportation make up the largest monthly burdens for single adults. In Cobb and Gwinnett, annual housing costs for an individual exceed $19,900 and $20,800, respectively, while annual transportation expenses average more than $9,000.
The wage gap
Why you should care:
The living wage thresholds sit well above Georgia's standard minimum wage of $7.25 per hour and outpace average wages for several major local job sectors.
According to state and metro-area wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
- Food preparation and serving workers average $30,550 annually.
- Healthcare support workers average $37,360 annually.
- Building and grounds maintenance workers average $35,580 annually.
- Office and administrative support workers average $46,490 annually.
Workers in each of these sectors fall thousands of dollars below the income required for a single person to meet basic needs in any of the five core counties.
Gubernatorial candidates stances on wages
What they're saying:
Addressing cost-of-living concerns, candidates for governor have offered contrasting solutions for helping working families afford basic expenses.
Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms has advocated for raising the state minimum wage to $15 an hour, establishing a statewide affordable housing trust fund, and creating tuition-free community and technical colleges. Bottoms has maintained that full-time workers should not have to struggle to meet basic necessities.
RELATED: Georgia governor debate: Bottoms, Jackson clash over health care, data centers
Republican nominee Rick Jackson has focused his platform on workforce development and trade programs rather than state-mandated pay floors. Jackson proposed expanding high school and adult training in fields such as agriculture, plumbing, and electrical work through technical schools, arguing those programs help residents secure jobs paying $25 an hour or more with benefits.
During debates, Jackson also argued that inflation in Atlanta outpaced national trends while Bottoms served as mayor, maintaining that business growth and technical training represent the most sustainable route to higher incomes.
What to keep in mind
Dig deeper:
The living wage model calculates a bare-bones survival budget. It does not budget for eating out at restaurants, entertainment, unpaid vacations, student loan or credit card debt, or long-term financial savings.
Crucially, the figures were compiled and published in February 2026 using costs adjusted to December 2025 dollars. The dataset serves as a baseline snapshot and does not capture recent 2026 price swings, interest rate shifts, tariffs, fluctuating gas prices or major economic policy changes that have impacted household budgets over the course of the year.
What we don't know:
It is unclear how ongoing inflation, rent spikes, and price shifts across 2026 have altered these baseline living costs since the figures were calculated.
The calculator does not factor in household debt burdens, such as student loans, credit card balances, or unexpected emergencies, as the model only tracks bare-bones survival necessities without budgeting for savings or debt repayment.
Researchers have not detailed exactly how many working individuals or families across the five core counties currently earn below these living wage baselines.
State lawmakers have not indicated whether any upcoming legislative proposals will address Georgia's $7.25 minimum wage to reflect the rising cost of basic necessities.
What's next:
Voters will decide Georgia's next governor in the November general election, with early voting underway across the state.
State lawmakers will return to the Georgia State Capitol in January for the next legislative session, where worker advocacy groups are expected to push for measures addressing cost of living and wage standards.
The Living Wage Institute updates its regional cost metrics annually, with its next full dataset expected in early 2027.
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from data published by the Living Wage Institute at MIT, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and previous economic reporting by FOX 5 Atlanta.