Forbes just published Georgia’s 20 most expensive ZIP codes, built on Zillow home-value data, and the most useful thing about the ranking is what is missing from it. Sea Island tops the list at roughly $4.47 million. Atlanta’s northern suburbs fill most of the middle. Savannah’s Historic Landmark District — the cobblestoned, oak-canopied core that anchors one of the most-visited heritage cities in the country — does not appear at all. If you buy assets on price relative to value, that absence is the real headline. It is also the start of the Savannah vs Charleston comparison every coastal investor should run.
By Julie Gates, Team Leader of Team 912 | Updated June 13, 2026
Key Takeaways
- Sea Island (31561) is Georgia’s priciest ZIP at about $4.47 million; metro Atlanta and the Golden Isles dominate the rest of the Zillow-sourced list.
- Savannah’s Historic District ZIP (31401) is absent from the top 20 entirely. The only Chatham County entries are Skidaway Island at No. 3 and Tybee Island at No. 20.
- Savannah’s Historic District trades around $855,900 overall, with its South Historic core near $1.0 million — versus a Charleston peninsula that runs from about $900,000 to more than $4 million.
- South of Broad, Charleston’s signature address, carries a median near $3.3 million — roughly three to four times Savannah’s most comparable neighborhoods.
- Charleston’s citywide single-family median (~$663,500) sits about 60% above Savannah’s (~$330,000) despite near-identical historic-coastal fundamentals.
- Savannah’s market is currently soft, with more inventory and longer days on market. That buyer leverage is the opportunity, not a warning.
- The price gap — not a guru’s promise — is what is pulling out-of-state capital into coastal Georgia.
What Georgia’s Most Expensive ZIP Codes Actually Show
The Forbes analysis by Andrew DePietro ranked Georgia ZIP codes by Zillow’s home-value index, using March 2025 values against a 12-month average. The top of the list is exactly what you would expect from a state with one billionaire’s playground and a sprawling, high-income capital metro. Sea Island leads at about $4.47 million, having roughly doubled in five years. Below it, the rankings are an Atlanta story: Buckhead, Sandy Springs, Alpharetta, Milton, Brookhaven, Dunwoody, Roswell, Johns Creek. Affluent, established, and priced accordingly.
What gets buried is the coastal Georgia subplot — and it is the part that matters for anyone underwriting deals on the Georgia coast.
The Coastal Georgia Story Forbes Buried
Strip out metro Atlanta and the list tells you where coastal money currently concentrates. Sea Island sits at No. 1. Skidaway Island — The Landings, inside Chatham County and part of greater Savannah — lands at No. 3 near $921,000. St. Simons Island holds the mid-pack at No. 16. Tybee Island, also Chatham County, closes the list at No. 20 near $675,000.
So Savannah is not absent from the rankings — a sharp reader will catch that, and I would rather say it plainly than have you find it later. Two Chatham County ZIPs made the cut. But notice which one did not.
Why the Historic District’s Absence Matters
The Savannah Historic District ZIP, 31401, is the one most investors and visitors picture when they think “Savannah”: Forsyth Park, the squares, Jones Street, the riverfront. It is the single most analogous American neighborhood to Charleston’s historic peninsula. And it is nowhere on this list.
The reason is mix, not weakness. The 31401 ZIP blends multimillion-dollar restored mansions with workforce condos, student housing near SCAD, and everything in between. That spread drags the median down below the ranking’s cutoff even though the trophy product at the top of the district rivals anything in Charleston. In other words: the list measures the median, and the median hides the ceiling. For an investor, the gap between the median and the ceiling is where you work.
Savannah vs Charleston: The Same Product at a Fraction of the Price
Charleston and Savannah are the two crown jewels of the Lowcountry and coastal Georgia historic markets. Founded within decades of each other, both built their modern economies on preserved historic cores and heritage tourism. A buyer running the Savannah vs Charleston comparison is comparing near-identical fundamentals. The pricing is not close.
Charleston’s Peninsula Pricing
Charleston’s historic peninsula is one of the most expensive square miles in the Southeast. South of Broad — the grand antebellum mansions, the Battery, the harbor views — carries a median around $3.3 million, with desirable properties stretching past $4 million. Harleston Village runs near $1.6 million. The French Quarter sits in the $1.5 to $2.5 million range. Even entry-level peninsula product routinely clears $900,000. Citywide, Charleston’s single-family median reached roughly $663,500 in early 2026, up about 10% year over year.
Savannah’s Historic District Pricing
Now look across the Savannah River. The Savannah Historic District’s median sale price sits around $855,900, with the South Historic District — the closest analog to South of Broad — near $1.0 million. The broader 31401 ZIP shows a median listing near $725,000. Citywide, Savannah’s median runs roughly $330,000, less than half of Charleston’s. Put bluntly, the Savannah vs Charleston math looks like this: Charleston’s most prestigious historic address costs three to four times Savannah’s, and Charleston’s citywide median sits about 60% higher — for the same category of product.
Figures drawn from Zillow (via Forbes), Redfin, Homes.com, and William Raveis local data, spring 2026. Neighborhood medians move month to month; treat them as directional, not precise to the dollar.
Why the Savannah vs Charleston Gap Exists — and Why It Is Closing
A price gap this wide between two comparable assets is either a permanent discount the market has correctly priced, or an arbitrage that closes over time. Here is the honest case for each, because pretending the gap is pure free money would be exactly the guru move I refuse to make.
The case that some discount is permanent: Charleston had a two-decade head start on national luxury branding, a larger and more diversified metro job base, a deeper roster of beach communities, and more restricted developable land on its peninsula. Scarcity plus brand sustains a premium. There is also a real carrying-cost difference — Chatham County’s effective property tax rate runs higher than Charleston County’s, which matters to your net yield. Confirm the specifics with your CPA; I guide on tax, I do not practice it.
The case that the gap is an arbitrage: none of those advantages justify a 3-to-4x spread on comparable historic homes. Savannah’s national profile has climbed sharply over the last decade through film production, SCAD’s growth, and tourism that rivals Charleston’s. Georgia’s overall tax structure is favorable to out-of-state owners. And capital from higher-cost coastal and high-tax markets is actively rotating south looking for exactly this profile — historic coastal character at an entry price that still pencils. When the median in one market is a third of its near-twin next door, the spread tends to compress, not widen.
My read after 20-plus years in this market through 2008, COVID, and the 2024–25 short-term-rental consolidation: the discount is real and partly structural, but it is wider than the fundamentals warrant. In the Savannah vs Charleston debate, that is the definition of relative value.
What Savannah vs Charleston Means for Chatham County Investors
Relative value only matters if it shows up in a deal you can actually underwrite. A few things to weigh if you invest on the Georgia coast right now. The current Savannah market favors buyers: inventory is up meaningfully and homes are sitting longer than they did a year ago. That is leverage — the moment to negotiate price, terms, and concessions, not to chase. Financing is the constraint to respect, with 30-year rates hovering in the low-to-mid 6% range this spring; the deal has to work at today’s cost of money, not a refinance you are hoping for.
On strategy, the Historic District’s split personality — trophy homes over a base of condos and small multifamily — is an advantage for a disciplined buyer. The entry-level product near the median is where the rental math is most workable, and the heritage-tourism base supports a real short-term and long-short rental demand profile in the legally permitted zones. Know the local regulations cold before you underwrite a nightly-rental pro forma; Savannah’s short-term rental rules are specific and enforced.
What Experienced Investors Should Do
- Underwrite to the median, not the ceiling. The headline trophy comps are not your buy box. The relative value lives in the entry-level historic and small multifamily product where rents actually cover the note.
- Pressure-test the carrying costs. Build Chatham County’s higher effective property tax and insurance into the pro forma before you fall in love with the entry price. Net yield is the number, not gross.
- Use the soft market as leverage. With longer days on market, lead with price and terms. In a buyer’s market you set the pace.
- Confirm the rental strategy is legal at the parcel. Short-term rental permissions vary by zone in Savannah. Verify before you assume nightly revenue.
- Run the Savannah vs Charleston comparison deliberately. If you are weighing both markets, run the same property type side by side. The Savannah entry price plus Georgia’s tax structure often wins on cash-on-cash even with the higher millage.
- Move while the gap is wide. Arbitrage windows close. The discount has been compressing as out-of-state capital discovers the coast.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Savannah real estate undervalued compared to Charleston?
On a like-for-like Savannah vs Charleston basis, yes. Savannah’s Historic District trades around $855,900 to roughly $1 million, while Charleston’s comparable peninsula runs from about $900,000 to more than $4 million depending on the block. Charleston’s citywide median sits roughly 60% above Savannah’s despite near-identical historic-coastal fundamentals.
Why is Savannah’s Historic District not on Georgia’s most expensive ZIP codes list?
The ranking measures the median, and 31401 blends ultra-premium townhomes with more affordable condos, student housing, and workforce stock. That mix pulls the median below the cutoff even though the district’s top-end product rivals Charleston’s.
How much more expensive is Charleston than Savannah?
Charleston’s citywide single-family median is roughly $663,500 versus Savannah’s roughly $330,000, a gap of about 60%. At the top of each market the gap is wider: Charleston’s South of Broad median is near $3.3 million, three to four times Savannah’s most analogous neighborhoods.
Are out-of-state investors buying in Savannah?
Yes. Buyers from higher-cost and higher-tax coastal markets are rotating capital into coastal Georgia for the historic-coastal profile at a lower entry price, supported by Georgia’s tax structure and a heritage-tourism rental base.
Is now a good time to buy in Savannah?
The current market favors buyers, with elevated inventory and longer days on market. That leverage is precisely when disciplined investors negotiate. Whether a specific deal works depends on the numbers, financing, and rental strategy — not on timing the headline.
What is the property tax difference between Savannah and Charleston?
Chatham County’s effective property tax rate runs higher than Charleston County’s. For owners and investors that carrying-cost difference is real, but it is modest next to the six-figure entry-price gap on comparable historic homes. Confirm specifics with a local CPA.
The Savannah vs Charleston Bottom Line for Your Capital
The most expensive ZIP codes list was never really about the homes that made it. For an investor, it is a map of where the market has already priced in the premium — and where it has not. Savannah’s Historic District sits in that second category: a near-twin of one of the most expensive historic markets in the Southeast, trading at a fraction of the price, in a buyer’s market that hands you leverage. If you want to see how that gap translates into specific deals on the Georgia coast — entry points, rental math, and what is actually trading right now — start at team912.com. Bring your numbers. We will tell you honestly whether they pencil.
Related Team 912 Investor Guides
- Savannah Population Growth 2015–2025: The Investor Lens
- Savannah Investor Resources Hub
- Flood Insurance in Savannah: What Investors Need to Know
- Why Savannah’s Population Growth Is a Golden Opportunity for Real Estate Investors
About the Author
Julie Gates is a licensed RE/MAX broker in Savannah, GA and team leader of Team 912, an investor-focused real estate team operating under RE/MAX Accent. She has been investing in the Savannah market since 2004 — through the 2008 financial crisis, COVID-era dislocation, and the 2024–2025 short-term rental consolidation. Julie is the published author of The 30-Day Stay (BiggerPockets, 2023) and a contributor to Forbes Business. She founded Sid Was Here, a Savannah-based property management company, and hosts the Cashflow Savannah monthly investor meetup and podcast.
Contact: julie@team912.com | (912) 600-2893 | team912.com
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, investment, or tax advice. Real estate values and market conditions change; figures cited reflect publicly reported data as of spring 2026 and should be independently verified. Consult a licensed CPA, attorney, and your own due diligence before making any investment decision.
