Austell, GA — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

Cobb County · Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta · population 8,244

First-time buyersSmall-town feel
View watchlist →
58
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Austell stands

Home values down 3.6% in the last year.

Median home $295,256
1-year -3.6%
5-yr CAGR +5.5%
vs 5-yr peak -7.1%
Population +1.7%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2024-08$295k$122k$191k$261k$331k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
25/100
Very car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
10/100
Transit limited
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
65/100
Strong remote-work fit
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$1,840/mo$1,320$1,660$1,999202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent131131100120140202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 13.4
Buy

At a 13.4 price-to-rent ratio, buying generally beats renting in Austell on a long-enough horizon. The headline math is that one year of mortgage payments approximates 13.4 years of rent — well below the 15+ threshold where ownership starts to dominate.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
32 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
67 · w22%
Distance from peak
54 · w18%
Population growth
75 · w16%
Rent YoY
52 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
83 · w10%
Long thesis

Austell has held up across the cycle: home values at $295,256 with +5.5% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Austell's bear case is the boring one: the cycle is real and any market that's run hard can stall. Watch for slowing population growth, rising days-on-market, or builder discounts as the early warning signals.

About Austell

Austell is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, with an estimated population of 8,244. It anchors the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta metro area. The population grew 1.7% annually from 2020 to 2024, a moderate gain. The median home value in Austell is $295,256 as of 2026-04, down 3.6% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +5.5% annual growth (-7.1% from the 5-year peak). Rents in Austell average $1,840 per month, roughly flat year-over-year (+1.0%). The composite momentum score is 58 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

Bull case

Healthy 5-year run: +5.5% annualized over 5 years, outpacing US inflation.
Net positive migration: population up 1.7% per year — demand fundamentals are intact.

Bear case

Cooling: -3.6% over the trailing year — momentum has stalled.
Local nuance: city-level data smooths over neighborhood differences. School zones, HOA rules, and street-level character matter — visit before deciding.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Cobb County right now.

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Cobb County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Cities like Austell

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
55° / 36°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
91° / 71°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
217
~59% of year
Annual precip
50″ rain
1″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Moderate
Tornado
Moderate
Wildfire
Low
Earthquake
Very low
Flood
Moderate

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current Austell listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
70%
Humid climate
Median household income
$71,400
Georgia state median
Top industries (state-level)
Logistics/DistributionFilm/TVHealthcare

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

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