Apartment List today released results from its inaugural Apartment List Renter Confidence Survey showing that renters give Georgia a grade of C- for city satisfaction. 

More than 18,000 renters participated this year in the Renter Confidence Survey, making it the largest survey focused exclusively on renters nationwide.  The homeownership rate is at a 20 year low spurred in large part by the Great Recession of 2007-2009, and the rental rate is correspondingly at a 20 year high.  Despite this, there are very few studies that ask renters directly what is most important to them when making key location and housing decisions.  

The Renter Confidence Survey evaluates cities and states nationwide across multiple metrics to determine where renters are most satisfied as well as what key factors drive satisfaction.  According to responses from thousands of renters, metrics that correlate strongly with city satisfaction include confidence in the local economy, safety and low crime rates, and access to recreational opportunities such as parks, community activities, and nightlife. 

“After a three month survey of thousands of renters nationwide, the data show that renters give Georgia a below average grade for city satisfaction,” says Andrew Tam, Vice President of Data Science of Apartment List.  “Creating an environment that is attractive to renters is more important now than ever, and Georgiacould do better.”

Key findings for Georgia include:

• Georgia renters give their state a C for city satisfaction. This puts Georgia at 30th place in our ranking of US states
• Renters gave Georgia's economy a B-, with 25% of renters saying that they believe it's on the right track
• Georgia's highest grade is an A in plans for homeownership, with 66% of respondents saying they expect to buy a home in the future
• One of the highest grades Georgia earned is an A- for quality of schools, with 62% of renters reporting satisfaction with local schools
• Georgia's lowest grade is a C- for commute times, with 64% of respondents reporting satisfaciton with the daily commute
• The survey covered 2 Georgia cities, with Atlanta receiving a B+ and Marietta receiving a C
• The top rated states overall were Utah, Idaho, Minnesota, Colorado, and Oklahoma. The lowest rated states were Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Maine, and South Carolina

“In addition to representing 36% of Americans, renters are also a highly mobile demographic moving nearly five times as often as homeowners,” says Andrew Tam.  “City and state policymakers, business leaders, and community leaders must put themselves in a position to attract and retain this large and growing population.”

The full results of the Renter Confidence Survey can be found here and include full sets of rankings across states and cities nationwide.   

Survey Methodology

ApartmentList.com surveyed 18,675 renters across the United States.  The survey asked questions about renter plans for homeownership and satisfaction with cities such as:

• On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to recommend your current city or neighborhood to a friend or family member, with 1 being extremely unlikely and 10 being extremely likely?
• In the future, which of the following is closest to your plans?  [I expect to always rent. / I plan to eventually buy a house or apartment. / I’m unsure.]
• Do you feel that your local economy is on the right track? 

Apartment List then evaluated cities and states against one another along multiple metrics.  A detailed report explaining the survey’s methodology is available here.