Columbus vs Phenix City vs Cusseta vs Smiths Station: the facts

Last checked Oct. 6, 2026. Sources: the Columbus Consolidated Government’s 2026 tax digest and five-year levy history (PDF), the Muscogee County School District’s levy history, the Alabama Department of Revenue’s 2025 millage rates (PDF), the Georgia Department of Revenue, Georgia’s 2025 School Grades data, the Alabama State Department of Education’s 2024-2025 letter grades, Zillow Research and the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

Columbus’s three nearest neighboring cities, measured between the centers of each Census place, are Phenix City, Alabama, across the Chattahoochee, about 10 miles away; Cusseta-Chattahoochee County, a consolidated government like Columbus’s, about 12 miles away beyond Fort Benning; and Smiths Station, Alabama, about 13 miles away. The state line matters most: Georgia and Alabama tax homes, grade schools and fund services in different ways, so read each table with that in mind.

What this means for you

• Taxes: Alabama taxes owner-occupied homes on 10% of their value; Georgia on 40%. Compare bills, not rates.
• Schools: Georgia scores schools on the CCRPI scale, Alabama with A to F letter grades. The two are not the same test.
• Check an address: the city and school district a parcel is in decide its taxes and schools. See “How to check an address” below.

Part of our Columbus neighborhoods guide.

Property tax rates, tax year 2025

All figures in mills: one mill is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of assessed value.

Columbus figures are for its Urban Service Districts 1, 5, 6 and 7 from the city’s five-year levy history and the school district’s levy history; because the city and county are consolidated, one rate covers both. Other Columbus districts pay less; see our property tax guide. Alabama figures come from the Department of Revenue’s October 2025 millage table: Phenix City in Russell County’s Phenix City school district, where 7.0 of the city’s 19.0 mills go to education, and Smiths Station in Lee County’s county school district. The 10% assessment for owner-occupied homes is from the Department of Revenue’s property tax assessment page. Lee County and Russell County also charge fire protection fees on some parcels outside city limits.

Cusseta-Chattahoochee County: the Georgia Department of Revenue’s 2025 digest could not be read in a usable form, and we could not find the unified government’s 2025 rate on an official site. The latest readable state figures, for tax year 2023 (PDF), were 8.502 mills for the county and 17.010 for schools, so it is left out of the 2025 table.

City tax rates compared

Homestead exemptions

Columbus’s standard homestead exemption takes $13,500 off a home’s assessed value and freezes the assessment for the maintenance and operations part of the city and school rates, according to the Muscogee County Tax Commissioner’s types of homestead page. Apply by April 1.

Schools

Each city’s public high schools with their latest state scores, both for the 2024-25 school year. Georgia’s figure is the College and Career Ready Performance Index from the 2025 School Grades data, where the state average was 78.0. Alabama’s is the state’s 2024-2025 accountability score and letter grade.

Muscogee County School District scored 69.3 overall and Chattahoochee County 69.8. Which Columbus high school an address is zoned for depends on the street; our area guides show the split. More in our Columbus schools guide.

Home values, August 2026

From the city-level Zillow Home Value Index. The index is a modeled typical value for the middle third of homes, not a sale price.

Home values compared

People, income and commute

From the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates, the same vintage for all four:

The median home value is what owners say their homes are worth, averaged over five years, so it differs from Zillow’s index.

Who provides city services

More in our trash and recycling guide and who to call at City Hall.

How to check an address

• Columbus: look up the parcel, its assessed value and recorded sales in the Board of Assessors’ property records search, check the zoned schools with the district’s infoFinder lookup, and ask the Tax Commissioner, 706-225-4211, or the Board of Assessors, 706-225-4398, about the bill.
• Phenix City and Smiths Station: parcels are assessed and taxed by the Russell County or Lee County revenue commissioner, depending on the county the parcel is in. The Department of Revenue’s county millage rates show every levy that applies.
• Cusseta: ask the Cusseta-Chattahoochee County unified government’s tax offices which rates apply to a parcel.

Frequently asked questions

Are property taxes lower in Phenix City than in Columbus?

On paper, yes. Columbus homes are taxed at 40% of value and Phenix City homes at 10%. Before exemptions, the 2025 rates work out to about $1,529 on a $100,000 Columbus home in the main urban service districts and about $590 on a $100,000 owner-occupied home in Phenix City’s Russell County school district.

Are home prices higher in Phenix City or Columbus?

Higher in Phenix City. Zillow put the typical home at $214,927 in Phenix City and $175,951 in Columbus in August 2026. Smiths Station was highest of the four at $290,548 and Cusseta lowest at $145,396.

How long is the commute in Columbus compared with Phenix City?

The Census Bureau’s 2020-2024 estimates put the mean travel time to work at 20.9 minutes in Columbus, 22.1 in Phenix City, 21.6 in Smiths Station and 10.5 in Cusseta-Chattahoochee County.

What is the population of Columbus, Phenix City and Smiths Station?

Columbus 203,711, Phenix City 38,499, Cusseta-Chattahoochee County 8,887 and Smiths Station 5,496, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates.