Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Savannah's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Savannah?
Your $100,000 in Savannah has the same purchasing power as $108,143 in the average US city. You'd need $8,143 less here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Savannah's cost index of 92, sorted by closest match.
These are the reasons people actually move to Savannah, ordered roughly by what shows up loudest in the data. Living costs come in under the US baseline and on the calmer side of the national distribution lead, plus 1 more things worth knowing — the rest unpacked below.
The composite cost-of-living index lands at 92, a comfortable 8% under the US norm. It shows up most clearly in housing, which is where the gap to coastal metros usually opens up. Median rent in town runs about $1,216/mo against a typical household income of $54,748, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
Reported crime in Savannah comes in around 2,035 per 100,000 — under the national baseline of about 3,500. Worth digging into specific neighborhoods before settling on one, but the city-level picture is on the safer side.
Average commute time in Savannah runs around 20 minutes one-way — short enough that it doesn't restructure your day. Compared to the 45-plus-minute commutes that are normal in major metros, the difference adds up to a real lifestyle gap.
Reasons are pulled from Savannah's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Not really a snow town. With winters averaging 45°F, Savannah sits in the mild-cold band where snowflakes appear occasionally and everything melts within a day. Most years see one storm worth talking about.
Cool, not cold. Winters in Savannah sit around 45°F — sweater-and-jacket weather most days, with the occasional cold front that reminds you it's still winter.
Properly hot. Savannah's summer averages around 91°F with daily highs that routinely break 100°F. The trick to summer here is starting the day at sunrise and staying inside through the worst of it.
Zone 9, give or take a half-zone. Savannah's typical winter low puts it in that band on the USDA Hardiness map, which is what nurseries label plants against. Use Zone 9 as your starting filter; the USDA's interactive map is more precise for borderline cases.
Barely above the water. Savannah is at about 3 feet (1 m) elevation, and parts of the city are essentially at sea level. Flood-zone maps are worth checking before buying a house.
Atlantic basin storms can form from June 1 to November 30, but the serious ones cluster in August, September, and the first half of October. Residents of Savannah learn the season's rhythm fast: watch the cone, board up when it's the call, and don't shrug off the slow-mover storms — those are usually the ones that flood.
Middle of the pack. Savannah comes in around 2,035 per 100,000, basically the national average. The interesting question is usually which neighborhood, not which city — that's where the real variation lives.
It's a middle-of-the-road US city on cost. Savannah's index of 92 sits within a few points of the national average — your money buys roughly what it would in a typical American metro.
Savannah's Walk Score is 0/100, firmly in the car-required tier. The layout assumes you'll drive to the grocery store, drive to work, drive everywhere.
As a rule of thumb, plan on about $64,729 to live in Savannah the way a $70,000 earner lives in a typical US city. The math gets less forgiving the lower you go below that. Median rent in Savannah runs about $1,216/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.