Cost of Living in Columbus, GA: Why the City Is a Smart Move for Your Family and Wallet

©Journal Communications/Nathan Lambrecht

In Columbus, GA, opportunity and affordability go hand in hand. 

The city is home to several major employers, including Fort Benning and the Muscogee County School District, and offers a significantly lower cost of living compared to other regions of the U.S. Housing costs fall 30% below the national average, utilities are 11% lower and transportation is 8% lower, giving residents the opportunity to enjoy a better quality of life because their dollar stretches further. 

A former Army mechanic, Amanda Zarate was stationed at Fort Benning when she moved to Columbus in 2010. After four years of service, she transitioned to a new path, earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in theater arts from Columbus State University. Now a Ph.D. candidate and the theater arts teacher at Wynnton Arts Academy, Zarate was recently awarded Muscogee County School District’s Teacher of the Year. 

How would you describe the Columbus, GA, community? 

Columbus is very military-friendly because we have Fort Benning right there, but it’s also a very artsy community – there is something here for everybody. Uptown Columbus has a lot of nice shops along Broadway and by the Chattahoochee River. There’s a very nice atmosphere there. Columbus is great, especially for families. 

©Journal Communications/Jeff Adkins

How affordable is rent in Columbus, GA? 

I’ve lived in a studio apartment that was about $600 a month and, a couple of years later, I moved into a two-bedroom apartment that was about $900 a month. Now, I live in a two-bedroom apartment with more amenities like a washer-dryer, a dishwasher and a little bit more space, and those run around $1,200 to $1,300 per month. (Apartments.com puts the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment at $1,162 a month.) 

What is grocery shopping like, and what’s your average grocery bill? 

With inflation, what I’ve done lately is I’ve started couponing. I don’t go to any grocery store unless I have coupons and there are deals. It’s hard to make that time to plan out a grocery trip, but I’m shopping at more than one store and looking at the weekly deals, which is a job in itself. My son is a middle schooler now, so he is hungry all day. We normally spend about $150 a week on groceries. 

©Journal Communications/Jeff Adkins

What is the cost of dinner and drinks for two people, and what are some of your favorite places to go? 

There are a lot of deals to be found, depending on the day, where if you buy an adult entree, you get a kid’s meal free or a discount. 

Your Pie Pizza, Moe’s Southwest Grill and Barberitos all do that. We love a taco place called Sapo’s, where they have delicious Mexican food. On average, if there wasn’t a deal on the menu, it would be about $40 for my son and me to have a meal. 

We’re trying something new this school year where we’re finding new local restaurants and putting them on a bulletin board, and we choose a place to go eat each week, like a mom and son type of date night. 

We like The Mix Market, which is new and really good, so is Banks Food Hall, because there are different places to go – both are in the downtown area. Banks Food Hall has different options like poke, Mexican food, sweets, and coffee and pastries, so you can try different things. 

What are some free or low-cost recreation options in Columbus? 

Columbus does a really good job of making the community family-friendly. We have a free aquatic center and public pools that have just been remodeled and fixed up with really nice splash pads. There are plenty of parks, hiking and biking trails, and we’re right down by the Chattahoochee RiverWalk, and you can get some decent prices on bike rentals, too.