With the average rent in Atlanta now outstripping roommates' budgets by around $150/month, and rent up 25% on five years ago, commuter areas, the suburbs, and other cities are seeing much larger increases in roommate interest than Atlanta.
Today, renting as a roommate in Atlanta costs, on average, $948 per month - up 25% from $760 per month five years ago (Q2 2026 vs Q2 2021) - reports roommate site SpareRoom. But the average roommate's budget is just $802 per month, considerably lower than the average asking rent.
A SpareRoom analysis of the areas where roommates are searching for rentals suggests this affordability shortfall is pushing roommates to consider options further out from the city.
In the year to 2025, roommate searches for areas where priced-out Atlanta renters might relocate have increased dramatically while searches for Atlanta have risen by a modest 35%.
This includes West Atlanta commuter city Douglasville, GA (+159%) and McDonough, GA (+130%), around 30 miles south, where searches have more than doubled.
East metro commuter city Conyer, GA has seen searches rise 84% and, to the north west, outer suburb Dallas, GA has seen an 82% increase in interest. Searches for major Gwinnett County suburb Lawrenceville, GA are up by half (+49%).
Metro Atlanta's largest suburban counties - Gwinnett County (+169%) and Cobb County (+152%) - have seen searches more than double.
While some roommates will face longer commutes to live further out the city, others will be relocating both home and work. Searches for more affordable cities like Macon, GA have also seen interest spike, suggesting it's not just commuter areas that roommates are weighing up. Interest in this Georgia city about 85 miles south of Atlanta has seen the third highest increase in any area across the whole of the US; roommate searches have more than tripled (+259%).
Meanwhile, to the east, Augusta, GA saw a 226% increase in roommate interest; searches for Huntsville, AL - the fast-growing tech and aerospace hub - rose 251%; and searches for college town Athens, GA, 70 miles north-east of Atlanta, spiked by 127%.
The chart below shows roommate rents in Atlanta, GA since 2019:
Matt Hutchinson, director of roommate site SpareRoom, comments: “Rent in Atlanta is more stable than in previous years but that clouds the bigger picture, which is that roommates are paying prices inflated way above pre-pandemic levels. By sharing a rental, roommates are already saving money - the price to rent a one-bedroom apartment or studio is significantly higher than a room - but even that's becoming too expensive. Roommates aren't just being hit by rent, it's higher gas prices, higher bills, higher food costs etc. Changing where you live is often the only way to save because the prices of other outgoings are not negotiable.”