How far will my money go in Atlanta?!? (Cleveland, Buckhead: apartment, rent)

[Memphis10AC]

I currently live in Memphis, TN (ugh!) where the cost of living is a little lower than it is in Atlanta. My question is this: If I make $40,000 a year right now in Memphis, what would be the equvilant of that in Atlanta as far as the difference in cost of living goes? Thanks in advance...

[PedestriAnne]

Kinda depends on where you want to live. I'd say be prepared to pay 25 to 30 percent more in rent in the city. (I only have experience with renting in both cities.)

I lived in Memphis from 1992 to 2000, then lived here from 2000 to 2006, moved to Maryland/DC for three years, and now I'm back here. My last apartment in Memphis was in midtown, on the western edge of Central Gardens, one of those two identical four-plexes next to that doctor's office at the corner of Linden and Cleveland. It was 1000 square feet and $530 a month. Here, I got a one-bedroom apartment in Brookwood (the area between Midtown and Buckhead) for $725. I think it was about 700 square feet. Basically every place I've lived here has been about $1/square foot.

Just looking quickly on Craigslist in Memphis right now, I see a 2 bed/one bath house in High Point Terrace (http://memphis.craigslist.org/apa/1986450879.html - broken link) and an 1100 sq ft duplex on Carr (http://memphis.craigslist.org/apa/1971007206.html - broken link)renting for the same as (or $25 less than) what I'm paying for about 825 square feet here on the northeastern edge of downtown.

I can't remember much about how much utilities were there. All that stuff has gone up so much everywhere in the last 10 years anyway.