Memphis/Atlanta cost of living (Druid Hills, Buckhead: sales, apartment, rentals)

[Memphis10AC]

I currently live in Memphis, TN but am thinking about moving to Atlanta. I know Atlanta's cost of living is higher, but just how much higher is it compared to Memphis? Also, I'm a teacher. How much do teachers get paid with Atlanta Public Schools? What would be the best part of town for me to live in in Atlanta on a teacher's salary as far as affordability and safety? Thanks in Advance...

[BobKovacs]

a. Most costs will be the same between Memphis and Atlanta, with the only exception likely to be housing.

b. Teachers salaries vary greatly from one district to another, and will also depend on your experience.

c. There are tons of places you can live on a teacher's salary, but the biggest thig will be making sure you live near where you work. The Atlanta metro area is HUGE, and there are dozens of different school systems. The last thing you want to do is end up living on the opposite side of the metro from where you work.

d. You do realize that most of the school districts in the area have had significant cutbacks in the past year due to budget issues, and that finding a position is nearly impossible, right?

[nanackle]

I just moved from Memphis 2 years ago. I lived in Memphis for 12+ years. Here is how it compares...

1. Housing is almost exactly the same. Except you know how in Memphis brick houses tend to be very common.... here you pay extra. Three and four sided brick homes are somehow a luxury here.... go figure. Homes here in ATL do have basements, though. Most basements are not completely underground... usually 1 or more sides of it open to the back/side of the house... meaning really you are entering a three story house on the second level.

2. The NUMBER ONE big difference is...... utilities! Everything is cheap in Memphis utility wise. My family of four got by on $12/month for water in Memphis... here we pay $40-$60 depending on water use. Where they get you is extra fees for even having water connected, and you pay probably double for the sewer service than you pay for the water. Who ever heard of that? Really! Electricity is higher here. Natural gas is higher here. Water also tastes much better in Memphis compared to the lake/river water in Cobb county. I do believe Memphis has the best water anywhere.

3. Gasoline is a little less expensive here than Memphis.... except for the one time ATL RAN OUT OF GAS! Ha ha... we were all driving on "lawnmower" gas or paying $4-$5/gal if you could even find it. That would have probably never happened in Memphis.... Of course cheaper gas is offset by the absurd traffic and looooong distances you have to travel to get anywhere. You can get almost anywhere in Memphis in about 30 minutes, more or less. I can barely get down the street in that amount of time here. It really all depends on time of day and where you are going.

4. As far as best part of town... that really depends. I really like Cobb.

Good luck with your move....

[DeaconJ]

Brick construction may be hard to find in the suburbs, but it's very common in the city - which is where the OP is interested in living.

Most of the Atlanta Metro school systems starting salary is above 40,000 with no experience...but like someone already said, it's a very difficult time to find a job in education. Most systems are dealing with huge budget shortfalls, and you know that teachers end up suffering in most cases. Of course there are always a few openings for teachers, but keep in mind that there will be MANY applicants for every position - it isn't like the old days of walking in and being offered a job on the spot.

You can rent a decent apartment in Midtown or other intown areas on a teacher's salary, but purchasing would be very difficult unless you have a substantial downpayment. I had to buy in an "up and coming" area a few years ago in order to afford a home.

[hspinnler]

Did anyone mention that TN has no state income tax?

[K-SawDude]

Originally Posted by hspinnler

Did anyone mention that TN has no state income tax?

But it also has pretty hefty sales taxes throughout different parts of the state. Not sure about how Memphis compares to Atlanta in that regard.

[nanackle]

Memphis sales tax is around 8.25% if my memory serves.... it is substantial. In Cobb I am paying 6% with the SPLOST + Income tax. That was one big thing I hated about moving to Ga... income tax. I could buy a lot of things online and get around the sales tax in TN. Not to mention Memphis is so close to MS and AR that you could easily find anything you want with much lower sales tax.

[Memphis10AC]

Originally Posted by nanackle

Memphis sales tax is around 8.25% if my memory serves.... it is substantial. In Cobb I am paying 6% with the SPLOST + Income tax. That was one big thing I hated about moving to Ga... income tax. I could buy a lot of things online and get around the sales tax in TN. Not to mention Memphis is so close to MS and AR that you could easily find anything you want with much lower sales tax.

I didn't even consider state sales tax, but I can't wait to get out of Memphis. The fact that its so close to Arkansas and Mississippi is part of the reason it sucks so much and is so behind the times...

[jsimms3]

If you are living in the city of Atlanta and not one of the suburbs, expect higher prices for everything and higher taxes. While extremely cheap for a large metropolitan area/city, I would venture to guess that Memphis is even cheaper being in TN and a lot smaller (plus we have state income tax here). Atl has 8% sales taxes, lots of hidden fees on utilities, higher utility costs, higher traffic as someone mentioned, which combined with excess distances makes for very high transportation costs, and in the city of Atlanta housing is MUCH more expensive (maybe not in the burbs). In midtown where I live many 1 bedroom rentals start at about $1400 (even for studios) and housing prices in desirable areas in the city like Ansley, Druid Hills, Buckhead, Brookwood Hills, Brookhaven, even VaHi, etc are often going to be half a mil plus, though of course you can find just about any price anywhere.

With that being said, you will have more transportation options here via MARTA, you will have 4 professional sports teams, every concert tour comes through town, every convention, cultural venues, upscale shopping and dining or cheap, whatever you want, and just many more options than you currently have in Memphis. If you were not a teacher, I would say pay would most certainly be higher here, too, but I don't know enough about teachers' salaries anywhere to comment (though I know in Chicago the average pay for a teacher is $75K with a quarter making over $100K and this is for K-12, 8-9 months a year, schooldays getting out at around 2:30 or earlier). You may want to look at Chicago for that reason as the teachers' unions have really got a vicegrip on pay and not being able to get fired up there. Chicago is also not very expensive as far as large cities go, but the sales tax in the city is something like 11%.