Sell Your Commercial Property In Augusta, GA

Who rents in Augusta

Augusta and Richmond County share a consolidated government, and the Census Bureau reports it, minus the separately incorporated towns of Blythe and Hephzibah, as a single place. The 2020–2024 ACS puts that population at 201,528, living in 75,222 occupied homes. Renters hold 37,020 of them, or 49.2%, nearly an even split with the 38,202 owner households. The median household income is $55,485.

Demand is anchored by the military and medicine. Fort Gordon describes itself on its garrison site as the Army's main hub for signal and cyber training and the home of the U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence. The Augusta Economic Development Authority counts 29,252 people working for the Cyber Center of Excellence and Fort Gordon, the largest non-manufacturing employer in its list, followed by Augusta University at 6,775. Augusta University's own Jagwire report says it employed over 6,200 people as of August 2025, including nearly 4,300 staff and more than 2,000 faculty, and the university houses the Medical College of Georgia.

The base is still adding facilities. The Augusta Metro Chamber projects about $1.4 billion in upgrades, renovations and construction at Fort Gordon over the next 10 years, including a new Cyber Campus. For apartment owners in Summerville and elsewhere in the city, that pipeline is the main local demand signal to watch.

Rents and affordability

Median gross rent in Augusta is $1,142 a month, or $13,704 a year, about 25% of the citywide median household income. Renter households carry more of the burden than that average suggests. Per the ACS, 19,293 renter households, or 52.1%, spend 30% or more of income on rent and utilities, and 10,235, or 27.6%, spend half or more. At the other end, 7,979 renter households, 21.6%, spend under 20%.

HUD's FY2026 Fair Market Rents for the Augusta-Richmond County HUD Metro FMR Area, which crosses into South Carolina, give a sense of what voucher-supported units can earn:

The city's median sits just above HUD's one-bedroom figure and $119 below the two-bedroom figure. For a building with mostly one- and two-bedroom units, that leaves limited spread between market rents and voucher payment standards. Three-bedroom units are the exception, with an FMR of $1,627. FY2027 FMRs take effect October 1, 2026.

Augusta prices close to Georgia's other mid-size military and medical markets. In the same 2020–2024 ACS tables, Columbus has a median gross rent of $1,106 and Macon-Bibb $1,066, against Augusta's $1,142, while Savannah is higher at $1,382. Renter shares are almost identical across Augusta (49.2%), Columbus (49.2%) and Macon-Bibb (48.6%). Buyers comparing Georgia secondary markets will see Augusta as a middle-of-the-range rent market with a large federal employer base behind it.

The apartment stock

Augusta is mostly a city of houses. Of 91,432 housing units in the ACS, 53,286, or 58.3%, are detached single-family homes and 5,265, or 5.8%, are mobile homes. Buildings with five or more units hold 18,880 units, or 20.6% of the total:

• 5 to 9 units: 7,787 homes
• 10 to 19 units: 5,850 homes
• 20 to 49 units: 2,107 homes
• 50 or more units: 3,136 homes

Buildings of 5 to 19 units make up 72% of the apartment stock, an unusually high share. That is the profile of a market of small, often individually owned properties, the kind that sell to local investors and regional buyers rather than to national institutions. Another 8,996 units are in two- to four-unit buildings, which compete directly with small apartment buildings for the same tenants.

The median Augusta housing unit was built in 1980. Half the housing is older than that, and age varies widely by neighborhood, so the condition of roofs, HVAC, plumbing and electrical systems shapes both rent levels and sale prices.

Property taxes on apartment buildings in Richmond County

Georgia assesses real property at 40% of fair market value, with values set by the county board of tax assessors as of January 1 each year, according to the Department of Revenue. Apartments have no separate class. Owners can appeal in writing within 45 days of the date an assessment notice is mailed.

The Department of Revenue's 2025 millage report lists these Richmond County levies:

• County levy for incorporated areas: 6.277 mills
• Augusta urban service district: 3.403 mills
• Countywide capital outlay: 0.501 mills
• Richmond County schools: 18.740 mills

In the urban services district, those add up to 28.921 mills, or about 1.16% of market value once the 40% ratio is applied. A building worth $1 million would be assessed at $400,000 and owe about $11,600 a year. That is below the roughly 30-mill statewide average for county and municipal rates cited by the Department of Revenue, and well below the near-40-mill totals inside Atlanta and Savannah.

The recent homestead reforms do not help rental owners. The HB 581 floating homestead exemption caps assessment increases only for owner-occupied homes, and SB 566, signed in 2026, expands homestead exemptions without touching rental property. An Augusta apartment building can be revalued to full market value every year. One HB 581 change does help with planning: assessment notices must now show an estimated roll-back rate, so owners can see whether the county expects to offset rising values with a lower millage.

Martinez, Evans and Grovetown lie in neighboring Columbia County, which sets its own millage and assessments, so buildings there should be underwritten on Columbia County figures, not Richmond County's.

Landlord rules and local compliance

Georgia preempts rent control. O.C.G.A. 44-7-19 bars any county or city from regulating the amount of rent on private single-family or multifamily rental property, and that applies to consolidated governments like Augusta-Richmond County.

The 2024 Safe at Home Act, described in the Georgia Landlord-Tenant Handbook, sets the main operating rules. Security deposits are capped at two months' rent and must be returned within 30 days after the lease ends. A landlord who owns more than ten units or uses a management agent can be liable for three times the amount wrongly withheld, plus attorney fees. Before filing a dispossessory for unpaid rent, the landlord must give at least three business days' written notice to pay. The act also makes fitness for habitation an express duty of every residential landlord.

Selling an Augusta building

Georgia's real estate transfer tax is $1 per $1,000 of value, filed on Form PT-61. The seller is liable by statute, though contracts often shift it. A buyer financing the purchase also pays the intangible recording tax on a long-term note, $1.50 per $500 of the loan up to $25,000 per note, which adds to the buyer's closing costs and can affect what they are willing to pay.

What this means if you own a building here

• Underwrite taxes the way a buyer will: 40% of the expected sale price times about 28.9 mills in the urban services district.
• Compare your rents with the $1,142 city median and HUD's $1,114 and $1,261 one- and two-bedroom FMRs. With tight spreads, occupancy and collections drive value more than rent growth.
• Document capital work. In a stock where the median unit dates to 1980, recent roofs and HVAC are a pricing advantage.

Skyline Capital Investments buys 5+ unit apartment buildings in Augusta and across Richmond County, stabilized or in need of work. You can estimate value with our apartment building value calculator, check after-tax proceeds with the capital gains tax calculator, or see how we make offers on our sell your apartment building page.