What salary do you need to live in Rome, GA?

The cost side of living in Rome

A one-bedroom in Rome rents for a median of $794 a month, utilities the tenant pays included; a two-bedroom goes for $954 and a three-bedroom for $1,194. Over a full year, the two-bedroom median comes to $11,448.

Homeowners in Rome report a median home value of $217,900. Against a median household income of $65,565, the ratio is 3.3× — one of the gentler home-price-to-income ratios in the country.

BEA's Regional Price Parity for the metro is 90.2, where 100 is the US average. In plain terms, the full basket of goods, services and housing costs 9.8% less than average, so $100,000 here buys roughly what $110,913 would at average US prices.

The salary lines for a two-bedroom in Rome

With a two-bedroom at the median rent, the score enters Tight at $26,000, Okay at $51,000 and Comfortable at $102,000 a year before tax. At the Comfortable line, a year of rent takes 11% of income and the median home is 2.1× income.

The Royal grade is within reach at $272,000 a year, where both rent and the median home price look small next to income.

These lines come straight from the calculator's formula: the income is raised until the two-bedroom score crosses each cutoff, then rounded up to the next $1,000.

What different incomes look like in Rome

On $75,000, a one-bedroom scores 59 and a three-bedroom 53, both Okay; the extra bedrooms cost points but not a grade.

Read down the two-bedroom column and the first Comfortable row is $150,000, consistent with the $102,000 line above.

Where Rome falls nationally

Out of 387 metros, Rome has the 288th highest price parity and the 329th highest two-bedroom rent, which puts it in the middle half on overall prices and in the least expensive quarter on rent.

For a sense of scale, the metros just above and below it on two-bedroom rent are McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX ($956) and Saginaw, MI ($953).

Comparing Rome with Georgia

Compared with Georgia as a whole, two-bedroom rent in Rome is 28% lower ($954 vs. $1,326) and the median home is 28% lower ($217,900 vs. $303,300).

Run Georgia's statewide medians through the same score and Comfortable begins at $163,000; Rome's line is −37% from that.

Within Georgia, the metros closest to Rome on rent and overall prices are Valdosta, GA, Columbus, GA-AL, and Dalton, GA. Their Comfortable lines for two bedrooms sit at $94,000, $97,000, and $95,000.

Where the typical Rome household lands

What about a typical local household? Census puts median household income here at $65,565, which grades Okay (53) for a two-bedroom at the median rent. The Comfortable line is 56% above what the median household makes. Statewide, the Georgia median household ($77,353) grades Tight on the state's own medians. Since a household can have two or more earners, compare it with a combined income rather than one paycheck.

Treat every number here as a pre-tax, public-data estimate rather than financial advice.