The 10 Cheapest Austin, TX Neighborhoods To Live In For 2022


We used science and data to determine which neighborhoods in Austin are the cheapest of the cheap.

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Everything else equal, I think we can all agree that living in a cheaper place is better than living in a more expensive place.

I'd much rather pay $500/mo in rent than $1,000. And I'd rather pay $2 for coffee than $5.

And while every neighbhorhood in Austin might be more expensive than living in rural Texas, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.

So what exactly are those Austin neighborhoods where your dollar goes a little further -- you can get that one bedroom instead of the studio?

Instead of relying on public opinion and speculation, we wanted to get the facts straight and find out which neighborhoods in Austin are the cheapest.

What's the cheapest neighborhood to live in Austin for 2022? According to the most recent census data, North Burnett looks to be the cheaptest Austin neighborhood to live in.

At this point we should make it clear that you do get what you pay for -- some of these neighborhoods might not be the best places to live in Austin. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates in return for more space and cheaper groceries.

Read on to see how we determined the places around Austin that deserve a little bragging rights or maybe you're interested in the worst neighborhoods in Austin.

Once you're done, you can look at the bottom of the story for a complete chart of every neighborhood we looked at from cheapest to most expensive.

For more Texas reading, check out:

The 10 Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Austin For 2022

1. North Burnett

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 7,559
Cost Of Living Index: 91 (8th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.5 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.019 (17th cheapest)
More on North Burnett: Homes For Sale | Data

2. Mckinney

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 3,150
Cost Of Living Index: 94 (14th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.3 (7th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (2cheapest)
More on Mckinney: Homes For Sale | Data

3. Riverside

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 12,906
Cost Of Living Index: 87 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.0 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.024 (4cheapest)
More on Riverside: Homes For Sale | Data

4. Southeast

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 3,208
Cost Of Living Index: 94 (14th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.8 (12th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (27th cheapest)
More on Southeast: Homes For Sale | Data

5. Johnston Terrace

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 1,485
Cost Of Living Index: 99 (20th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.5 (18th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.019 (15th cheapest)
More on Johnston Terrace: Homes For Sale | Data

6. University Hills

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 5,008
Cost Of Living Index: 102 (26th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.0 (2cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.016 (6th cheapest)
More on University Hills: Homes For Sale | Data

7. East Congress

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 3,722
Cost Of Living Index: 95 (16th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.0 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.024 (38th cheapest)
More on East Congress: Homes For Sale | Data

8. Allandale

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 8,861
Cost Of Living Index: 109 (34th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.1 (22nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.01 (cheapest)
More on Allandale: Homes For Sale | Data

9. Sweet Briar

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 5,468
Cost Of Living Index: 92 (10th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.3 (6th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.025 (43rd cheapest)
More on Sweet Briar: Homes For Sale | Data

10. Pleasant Valley

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 16,277
Cost Of Living Index: 82 (cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.4 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.033 (58th cheapest)
More on Pleasant Valley: Homes For Sale | Data

Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Austin Hoods In 2022

In order to rank the cheapest places to live in Austin, we had to determine what criteria defines "cheap".

Using census and extrapolated BLS data, we arrived at the following set of criteria:

  • Overall Cost Of Living
  • Rent To Income Ratio
  • Median Home Value To Income Ratio

We then ranked each neighborhood with scores from 1 to 60 in each category, where 1 was the cheapest.

Next, we averaged the rankings for each neighborhood to create a cheap neighborhood index.

And finally, we crowned the neighborhood with the lowest cheapest neighborhood index the "Cheapest City Neighborhood In Austin." We're lookin' at you, North Burnett.

Read on below to learn more about what it's like to live in the cheapest places Austin. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the neighborhoods in the city from cheapest to most expensive.

Summary: Lowest Cost Places To Live In Austin

If you're measuring the neighborhoods in Austin where prices are low and it's cheap to live, this is an accurate list.

As we mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Austin aren't all cheap. Dawson takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Austin.

We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.

For more Texas reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Austin For 2022

Rank Neighborhood Cost Of Living Index
1 North Burnett 91
2 Mckinney 94
3 Riverside 87
4 Southeast 94
5 Johnston Terrace 99
6 University Hills 102
7 East Congress 95
8 Allandale 109
9 Sweet Briar 92
10 Pleasant Valley 82
11 Franklin Park 89
12 North Austin 92
13 Georgian Acres 87
14 Windsor Hills 96
15 Garrison Park 100
16 Wooten 105
17 Windsor Park 103
18 South Manchaca 100
19 Montopolis 88
20 Saint Johns 90
21 North Shoal Creek 112
22 Saint Edwards 93
23 West University 85
24 Crestview 120
25 North Lamar 94
26 East Cesar Chavez 115
27 Heritage Hills 94
28 Brentwood 110
29 Highland 105
30 Downtown 134
31 West Congress 109
32 Upper Boggy Creek 112
33 Triangle State 100
34 Martin Luther King-Hwy 183 100
35 South River City 131
36 Coronado Hills 98
37 Rosedale 134
38 Windsor Road 133
39 Old West Austin 128
40 Parker Lane 98
41 South Lamar 113
42 Govalle 106
43 Zilker 137
44 Chestnut 116
45 Central East Austin 115
46 Galindo 115
47 Mlk 104
48 Pecan Springs Springdale 103
49 Rosewood 106
50 Holly 113
51 Hyde Park 127
52 Barton Hills 138
53 Rmma 129
54 University Of Texas 113
55 West Gate 115
56 Bouldin 135
57 Hancock 133
58 North Loop 118
59 North University 101
60 Dawson 116

Editor's Note: We updated this article for 2022. This is our third time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in Austin.

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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