Georgia

How Georgia ranks among the states

Georgia ranks 11th among the 50 states and D.C. on financial distress, though its households don’t borrow unusually much. Georgians carried $62,070 of household debt per person with a credit report at the end of 2025, close to the U.S. figure of $63,200 (Federal Reserve Bank of New York). Repayment is where the state stands out. In early 2025, 18.1% of Georgia’s credit card borrowers were 90 or more days behind, the 3rd highest share of any state. The share with a debt in collections was 19.7%, also the 3rd highest (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia). Jobs aren’t the strain: unemployment is below the nation’s (see jobs).

Which way it’s heading

Is Georgia a poor state?

No. On the Census Bureau’s income and poverty figures, Georgia sits close to the nation as a whole. Its typical household earned $79,912 in 2024, the 25th highest of the 50 states and D.C. That was a little below the national figure of $81,604. The poverty rate was 12.8%, the 15th highest among states, against 12.1% nationwide (Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). Income per person, a different measure that divides all income by every resident, children included, ranks lower: $63,006, the 10th lowest (Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024).

Poorest counties in Georgia, and the most distressed

By the Census Bureau’s poverty rate, Georgia’s poorest county is Calhoun, in the southwest, where 36.8% of residents lived in poverty in 2024; it also has the lowest typical household income, $39,818 (Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). Our County Distress Index, a score of household financial distress for each U.S. county, puts Dougherty County, home to Albany, first in Georgia and 3rd of 3,144 nationwide. Hancock, Talbot, Bibb and Terrell complete the state’s top five. Oconee County, next to Athens, is the least distressed in the state, 36th lowest in the country.

Every county, by score

Of Georgia’s 159 counties, 88 score 80 or more, and 35.6% of Georgians live in them. The 11 counties of the Atlanta Regional Commission’s region hold 46.1% of the state’s people, but only four of them score 80 or more: Clayton, Rockdale, Douglas and DeKalb. Counting from the most distressed, Fulton County, home to Atlanta, is 123rd, Gwinnett 121st and Cobb 142nd. Muscogee County (Columbus) is 22nd and Chatham (Savannah) 89th.

All 159 Georgia counties, ranked →

Is Georgia expensive to live in?

On rent, Georgia is close to average. The median rent was $1,393 a month from 2020 to 2024, the 21st highest of the 50 states and D.C., against $1,413 nationwide. It took 20.9% of the typical household’s income, about the same as the U.S. share of 20.8% (Census Bureau; our calculation). Many renters still struggle: in 2024, 26.6% of renter households paid half or more of their income for rent and utilities. We don’t measure the prices of food, gas or other goods, and we don’t track Atlanta’s housing market on its own, so we can’t rank Georgia’s overall cost of living.

How many Georgians are behind on bills?

In early 2025, 23.0% of Georgians had at least one debt 90 or more days late, the 4th highest share of the 50 states and D.C., against 17.2% for the U.S. (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia). For the national figure, we average the states, weighting each by population. These are household debts, such as credit cards, car loans and mortgages, not the state government’s debt.

In Georgia, a larger share of card, car-loan and mortgage borrowers are 90 or more days late than nationwide, and more people have a debt in collections

Percent of borrowers 90 or more days past due on each kind of loan, and percent of people with a debt in collections, first quarter of 2025

Card borrowers 90+ days late

Ga. 18.1% U.S. 13.5%

People with a debt in collections

Ga. 19.7% U.S. 13.2%

Auto borrowers 90+ days late

Ga. 12.4% U.S. 8.5%

Mortgage borrowers 90+ days late

Ga. 1.5% U.S. 1.2%

Georgia’s place among the 50 states and D.C., 1 = highest share: cards 3rd, collections 3rd, car loans 4th, mortgages tied for 6th. Each U.S. number is our average of the states, weighted by population.

Late card payments have climbed: 12.9% of Georgia card borrowers were 90 or more days behind at the end of 2019, against 18.1% in early 2025. Collections moved the other way, from 27.5% to 19.7%, but that doesn’t mean fewer Georgians were unable to pay.

Starting in 2022, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion stopped putting many medical debts on credit reports. Nationwide, the share of people with a medical collection on their record fell from about 14% in March 2022 to about 5% in June 2023 (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, April 2024). Georgia’s collections share dropped from 24.2% to 17.9% over about the same stretch and has risen since.

Mortgage trouble and thin equity

In September 2025, 2.2% of Georgia mortgages were 30 to 89 days late, tied for 7th highest of the 50 states and D.C., against 1.6% nationwide (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau). That is an early stage of falling behind. In the second quarter of 2026, 6.7% of mortgages had less than 10% equity, against 4.7% nationwide (Federal Housing Finance Agency). Equity is the home’s value minus what’s still owed; with little of it, a sale may not cover the loan.

What is Georgia’s unemployment rate?

It was 3.2% in August 2026, against 4.1% for the U.S., tied for 8th lowest of the 50 states and D.C., and down from 3.4% a year earlier (Bureau of Labor Statistics). For 2025 as a whole Georgia averaged 3.4%, below the U.S. average of 4.3%. Its lowest yearly rate in the available series, which start in 1990, was 3.1% in 2022; its highest was 10.4% in 2010. Jobs are the one part of Georgia’s distress score that sits low (see what drives the score).

Georgia bankruptcy filings: more Chapter 13 cases than any other state

Georgians filed 31,593 bankruptcy cases in 2025, up 10.1% from 2024, the biggest yearly total since 2019 (U.S. Courts). That is 282.6 filings for every 100,000 residents, the 5th highest rate of the 50 states and D.C., against 167.1 nationwide; the rates use the Census Bureau’s 2024 population estimates. More than half the cases, 53.4%, were Chapter 13, in which people repay some or all of their debts through a court plan over three to five years instead of having them wiped out.

Georgia’s 16,859 Chapter 13 cases in 2025 were the most of any state, as they have been every year since 2013. Counted per resident, the lead narrows: Georgia is the eighth-largest state, and per resident its Chapter 13 rate, 150.8 per 100,000, ranked 5th. Chapter 13 makes up more than half of all filings in eight states, all in the South. We don’t know why it is so common in Georgia.

How does foreclosure work in Georgia?

In Georgia, a lender can usually foreclose without going to court. Georgia home loans are usually secured by a security deed (a deed to secure debt; Official Code of Georgia Annotated, or O.C.G.A., § 44-14-160 and following), which lets the lender sell the home at auction if the loan goes unpaid. For a home you live in, federal rules generally bar the lender from starting until the loan is more than 120 days behind. The lender must mail you written notice at least 30 days before the sale and advertise it in the county’s legal newspaper for four weeks. Sales are held at the county courthouse on the first Tuesday of the month (O.C.G.A. § 44-14-162 and § 44-14-162.2). Once the home is sold, there is no right to buy it back, and Georgia has no statewide foreclosure mediation program.

Georgia’s share of the federal Homeowner Assistance Fund, $354.2 million, had helped 11,984 households with mortgage and other housing costs through the first quarter of 2026 (U.S. Treasury). The state’s program, Georgia Mortgage Assistance, stopped taking new applications on March 1, 2026 (Georgia Department of Community Affairs).

What changed in Georgia in the past year

1. Oct. 14, 2026

   Hurricane Helene farm aid: awards go out

   The Georgia Department of Agriculture sent award notices from a $531.2 million federal block grant, agreed between the state and USDA, for farm, ranch and timber losses from Hurricane Helene. Notices went out for every kind of loss except timber, which is still under review. Applications opened March 16 and have closed. The money goes to producers, not to households. Eligible counties include Dougherty, Bibb, Hancock and Richmond. The first three are among the state’s five most distressed, and Richmond ranks 6th.

   Georgia Department of Agriculture, Hurricane Helene Block Grant and award decisions

2. Oct. 6, 2026

   The state gas tax is suspended again

   Gov. Brian Kemp suspended Georgia’s motor fuel excise tax from Sept. 29 and on Oct. 6 extended the suspension through Nov. 5. The tax was also off this spring: a law signed March 20 suspended it for 60 days (it was 33.3 cents a gallon on gasoline), and a second order from the governor kept it off through June 3.

   Georgia Department of Revenue, motor fuel tax suspension FAQ; Office of the Governor, March 20, 2026 and May 15, 2026

3. Oct. 1, 2026

   SNAP time limits now reach adults through age 64

   The federal budget law’s stricter SNAP work rule covers adults 18 through 64 who are able to work, aren’t pregnant and have no child under 14 in the household: they must work or train 80 hours a month, or lose benefits after three months in a three-year period. Georgia began applying it to applications and renewals after Nov. 1, 2025, and to people aged 60 to 64 on Oct. 1, 2026. The current three-year period ends Nov. 30, 2026 (see the SNAP numbers).

   Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, able-bodied adults without dependents

4. May 28, 2026

   Regulators approve a Georgia Power fuel and storm deal

   The Public Service Commission unanimously approved a deal between Georgia Power and commission staff on fuel costs and storm repairs, mostly from Hurricane Helene. Georgia Power estimates that a home using 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month will pay $4.03 a month less, against the $1.32 saving it estimated when it first filed; the commission says savings will vary with usage. A freeze on Georgia Power’s base rates runs through 2028.

   Georgia Public Service Commission, May 28, 2026

5. May 2026

   A lower income tax and a one-time refund

   House Bill 463, signed May 11, cut Georgia’s income tax rate to 4.99% for 2026, from 5.19%. Under House Bill 1000, signed March 20, the state is sending one-time refunds of up to $250 for single filers and $500 for married couples filing jointly; the Department of Revenue began issuing them May 4.

   Office of the Governor, May 11, 2026 and March 20, 2026; Georgia Department of Revenue, May 4, 2026

6. Jan. 1, 2026

   Bigger marketplace tax credits expire

   The enlarged federal tax credits for marketplace health plans expired at the end of 2025. Georgia runs its own marketplace, Georgia Access, which says about 900,000 Georgians were enrolled in individual coverage as of September 2026; that is the state’s count, not a federal one (see health insurance).

   Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2026 open enrollment report; Georgia Access

Georgia mortgage complaints: loan changes, collection and foreclosure come first

Since 2012, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has received 23,282 mortgage complaints from Georgia. The biggest group, 5,744, falls under the bureau’s older label for loan modifications, collection and foreclosure; close behind, with 5,641, are complaints about trouble during the payment process.

What to watch before the next edition

Five dates that bear on Georgia’s jobs, fuel prices, food help, power bills and health coverage, the nearest first.

1. Oct. 20, 2026

   September jobless rates for every state

   The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes state unemployment rates for September on Oct. 20, for October on Nov. 20 and for November on Dec. 18. Georgia’s August rate was 3.2%.

   Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2026 state release and release schedule

2. Nov. 5, 2026

   The gas tax suspension is set to end

   The suspension of the state motor fuel excise tax runs through 11:59 p.m. Nov. 5 unless the governor extends it again.

   Georgia Department of Revenue, motor fuel tax suspension FAQ

3. Nov. 30, 2026

   The SNAP time-limit period ends

   The three-year period for SNAP’s work time limit ends Nov. 30. People who lost benefits under the rule can apply again from that date, the state’s Division of Family and Children Services says.

   Georgia Division of Family and Children Services

4. December 2026

   A hearing on how real-time pricing credits fuel costs

   The Public Service Commission said it would finish a separate hearing by December on how Georgia Power credits revenue from its real-time pricing customers against fuel costs. A change could lower fuel costs for other customers, the commission said.

   Georgia Public Service Commission, May 28, 2026

5. Jan. 1, 2027

   Georgia Pathways rules change

   Georgia Pathways, the state’s Medicaid coverage for adults 19 to 64 with incomes up to the federal poverty level, changes its eligibility rules under the federal budget law. Members will still need to show at least 80 hours a month of work, community service or other approved activities. Current members aren’t affected until they renew in 2027.

   Georgia Pathways to Coverage, changes for 2027 and about Pathways

Where Georgia ranks highest and lowest