Everything else equal, 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 Columbus might be more expensive than living in rural Ohio, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
What exactly are those Columbus 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 determine which neighborhoods in Columbus are the cheapest using Saturday Night Science.
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in Columbus for 2025? According to the most recent census data, Fort Columbus Airport looks to be the cheapest Columbus 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 Columbus. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates for more space and cheaper groceries.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Columbus that deserve a little bragging rights, or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in Columbus.
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Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Columbus For 2025
1. Fort Columbus Airport
/10
Population: 3,184
Cost Of Living Index: 74 (cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.1 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.019 (19th cheapest)
More on Fort Columbus Airport:
2. Southwest
/10
Population: 8,116
Cost Of Living Index: 80 (6th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.6 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (17th cheapest)
More on Southwest:
3. South Alum Creek
/10
Population: 4,981
Cost Of Living Index: 85 (20th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.9 (6th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (18th cheapest)
More on South Alum Creek:
4. West Columbus Interim
/10
Population: 53,633
Cost Of Living Index: 91 (25th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.2 (15th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.011 (4th cheapest)
More on West Columbus Interim:
5. Near Southside
/10
Population: 16,697
Cost Of Living Index: 79 (5th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.9 (8th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.024 (3cheapest)
More on Near Southside:
6. Olentangy River Road
/10
Population: 3,967
Cost Of Living Index: 77 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.2 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.036 (39th cheapest)
More on Olentangy River Road:
7. Westland
/10
Population: 36,756
Cost Of Living Index: 85 (20th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.3 (18th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.014 (9th cheapest)
More on Westland:
8. Far South
/10
Population: 13,301
Cost Of Living Index: 82 (14th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.0 (10th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.019 (22nd cheapest)
More on Far South:
9. Whitehall
/10
Population: 18,878
Cost Of Living Index: 82 (14th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.0 (9th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (24th cheapest)
More on Whitehall:
10. Tri-South
/10
Population: 4,051
Cost Of Living Index: 81 (9th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.9 (7th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.025 (32nd cheapest)
More on Tri-South:
Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Columbus Hoods In 2025
To rank the cheapest places to live in Columbus, we had to determine what criteria define “cheap” and then apply Saturday Night Science.
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 39 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 Columbus.” We’re lookin’ at you, Fort Columbus Airport.
We updated this article for 2025. This is our fourth time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in Columbus. 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 Columbus
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in Columbus where prices are low, and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
The most affordable neighborhoods in Columbus are Fort Columbus Airport, Southwest, South Alum Creek, West Columbus Interim, Near Southside, Olentangy River Road, Westland, Far South, Whitehall, and Tri-South.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Columbus aren’t all cheap. Downtown takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Columbus.
The most expensive neighborhoods in Columbus are Downtown, Weinland Park, Brewery, Italian Village, and Harrison West.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
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Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Columbus For 2025
| Rank | Neighborhood | Cost Of Living Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fort Columbus Airport | 74 |
| 2 | Southwest | 80 |
| 3 | South Alum Creek | 85 |
| 4 | West Columbus Interim | 91 |
| 5 | Near Southside | 79 |
| 6 | Olentangy River Road | 77 |
| 7 | Westland | 85 |
| 8 | Far South | 82 |
| 9 | Whitehall | 82 |
| 10 | Tri-South | 81 |
| 11 | Southeast | 87 |
| 12 | North Linden | 81 |
| 13 | Brice-Tussing | 86 |
| 14 | South Side | 81 |
| 15 | Northland | 88 |
| 16 | Greater Hilltop | 82 |
| 17 | North Central | 81 |
| 18 | Northwest | 93 |
| 19 | Far North | 96 |
| 20 | Southside | 107 |
| 21 | Worthington | 98 |
| 22 | Rocky-Fork Blacklick Accord | 98 |
| 23 | Near East | 82 |
| 24 | South Linden | 77 |
| 25 | Northeast | 82 |
| 26 | Clintonville | 96 |
| 27 | Bexley | 107 |
| 28 | Franklinton | 75 |
| 29 | Mckinley Avenue Corridor | 90 |
| 30 | Upper Arlington | 111 |
| 31 | University | 82 |
| 32 | South Central Accord | 93 |
| 33 | Victorican Village | 104 |
| 34 | Milo Grogan | 81 |
| 35 | Harrison West | 104 |
| 36 | Italian Village | 103 |
| 37 | Brewery | 115 |
| 38 | Weinland Park | 83 |
| 39 | Downtown | 101 |