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 Kansas City might be more expensive than living in rural Missouri, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
What exactly are those Kansas City 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 Kansas City are the cheapest using Saturday Night Science.
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in Kansas City for 2025? According to the most recent census data, Oak Park Southwest looks to be the cheapest Kansas City 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 Kansas City. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates for more space and cheaper groceries.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Kansas City that deserve a little bragging rights, or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in Kansas City.
For more Missouri reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Missouri
- Cheapest Places To Live In Missouri
- Cheapest Cities To Live In America
- Cheapest States To Live In America
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Kansas City For 2025
1. Oak Park Southwest
/10
Population: 2,474
Cost Of Living Index: 74 (6th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 0.5 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (9th cheapest)
More on Oak Park Southwest:
2. Vineyard Northwest
/10
Population: 1,054
Cost Of Living Index: 77 (24th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.0 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (52nd cheapest)
More on Vineyard Northwest:
3. West Blue Township
/10
Population: 915
Cost Of Living Index: 78 (32nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.7 (24th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (33rd cheapest)
More on West Blue Township:
4. Ivanhoe Northeast
/10
Population: 866
Cost Of Living Index: 76 (16th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.2 (7th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.023 (70th cheapest)
More on Ivanhoe Northeast:
5. Brown Estates
/10
Population: 907
Cost Of Living Index: 78 (32nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.2 (48th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.014 (18th cheapest)
More on Brown Estates:
6. Eastwood Hills West
/10
Population: 1,462
Cost Of Living Index: 79 (42nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 0.7 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (55th cheapest)
More on Eastwood Hills West:
7. Ivanhoe Southeast
/10
Population: 1,613
Cost Of Living Index: 76 (16th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 0.9 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.025 (8cheapest)
More on Ivanhoe Southeast:
8. Northest Industrial District
/10
Population: 145
Cost Of Living Index: 73 (2nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.8 (33rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.022 (66th cheapest)
More on Northest Industrial District:
9. Norble And Gregory Ridge
/10
Population: 1,842
Cost Of Living Index: 73 (2nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.8 (3cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.023 (7cheapest)
More on Norble And Gregory Ridge:
10. East Community Team South
/10
Population: 3,804
Cost Of Living Index: 76 (16th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 0.7 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.025 (87th cheapest)
More on East Community Team South:
Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Kansas City Hoods In 2025
To rank the cheapest places to live in Kansas City, 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 124 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 Kansas City.” We’re lookin’ at you, Oak Park Southwest.
We updated this article for 2025. This is our fourth time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in Kansas City. 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 Kansas City
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in Kansas City where prices are low, and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
The most affordable neighborhoods in Kansas City are Oak Park Southwest, Vineyard Northwest, West Blue Township, Ivanhoe Northeast, Brown Estates, Eastwood Hills West, Ivanhoe Southeast, Northest Industrial District, Norble And Gregory Ridge, and East Community Team South.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Kansas City aren’t all cheap. Blue Hills Estates takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Kansas City.
The most expensive neighborhoods in Kansas City are Blue Hills Estates, Oak Meyer Gardens, North Hyde Park, Country Lane Estates, and Ward Parkway Plaza.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
For more Missouri reading, check out:
- Most Dangerous Cities in Missouri
- Richest Cities In Missouri
- Safest Places In Missouri
- Worst Places To Live In Missouri
Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Kansas City For 2025
| Rank | Neighborhood | Cost Of Living Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oak Park Southwest | 74 |
| 2 | Vineyard Northwest | 77 |
| 3 | West Blue Township | 78 |
| 4 | Ivanhoe Northeast | 76 |
| 5 | Brown Estates | 78 |
| 6 | Eastwood Hills West | 79 |
| 7 | Ivanhoe Southeast | 76 |
| 8 | Northest Industrial District | 73 |
| 9 | Norble And Gregory Ridge | 73 |
| 10 | East Community Team South | 76 |
| 11 | Blue Valley Industrial | 75 |
| 12 | Eastwood Hill East | 80 |
| 13 | South India Mound | 78 |
| 14 | Sheffield | 76 |
| 15 | Vineyard | 78 |
| 16 | Palestine West And Oak Park Northeast | 78 |
| 17 | Oldham Farms | 81 |
| 18 | Oak Park Southeast | 78 |
| 19 | North Blue Ridge | 76 |
| 20 | Western Hills | 83 |
| 21 | Sarritt Point | 78 |
| 22 | Sterling Acres | 84 |
| 23 | Robandee South | 84 |
| 24 | Blue Hills | 79 |
| 25 | Birdlespur | 92 |
| 26 | Santa Fe | 75 |
| 27 | Knoches Park | 74 |
| 28 | Faireway Hills | 88 |
| 29 | Marlborough Heights-Marlborough Pride | 76 |
| 30 | Saint Catherine’s Gardens | 87 |
| 31 | Stanford Estates | 82 |
| 32 | East Blue Valley | 77 |
| 33 | North India Mound | 78 |
| 34 | East Meyer | 80 |
| 35 | South Blue Valley | 73 |
| 36 | Santa Fe Hills | 81 |
| 37 | Mission Lake | 88 |
| 38 | Ruskin Hills | 81 |
| 39 | Tower Homes | 90 |
| 40 | Blue Vue Hills | 89 |
| 41 | White Oak | 86 |
| 42 | Linden Hills And Indian Heights | 85 |
| 43 | South Town Fork Creek | 77 |
| 44 | Self Help Neighborhood Council | 78 |
| 45 | Lea Manor | 86 |
| 46 | Ruskin Heights | 79 |
| 47 | Little Blue Valley | 92 |
| 48 | Hickman Mills South | 84 |
| 49 | East Community Team North | 76 |
| 50 | Stayton Meadows | 83 |
| 51 | Washington Weatley | 80 |
| 52 | Swope Parkway-Elmwood | 79 |
| 53 | Oakwood | 80 |
| 54 | Park Farms | 84 |
| 55 | Willow Creek | 80 |
| 56 | Hillcrest | 81 |
| 57 | Ingleside | 79 |
| 58 | Linwood Homeowner-Ivanhoe | 76 |
| 59 | Fairlane | 81 |
| 60 | Key Coalition | 79 |
| 61 | Armour Hills | 100 |
| 62 | Swope Park Campus | 78 |
| 63 | Royal Oaks | 88 |
| 64 | Oak Park Northwest | 76 |
| 65 | Marlborough East | 76 |
| 66 | Lykins | 74 |
| 67 | Morningside | 96 |
| 68 | West Blue Valley | 76 |
| 69 | Citadel | 82 |
| 70 | East Sqope Highlands | 81 |
| 71 | Ward Parkway | 96 |
| 72 | South Hyde Park | 87 |
| 73 | Plaza Westport | 93 |
| 74 | Bonne Hills | 85 |
| 75 | Indipendence Plaza | 78 |
| 76 | Hidden Valley | 80 |
| 77 | Highview Estates | 96 |
| 78 | North Town Fork Creek | 78 |
| 79 | Fairwood And Robandee | 81 |
| 80 | Westwood | 104 |
| 81 | Central Hyde Park | 105 |
| 82 | Bleheim Square-Research Hospital | 78 |
| 83 | Central Blue Valley-Park Tower Grade | 74 |
| 84 | Eastern 49-63 | 86 |
| 85 | West Waldo | 91 |
| 86 | Martin City | 88 |
| 87 | Wendell Phillips | 80 |
| 88 | Riss Lake | 82 |
| 89 | West Plaza | 96 |
| 90 | Country Valley-Hawthorn Square | 90 |
| 91 | Longfellow | 91 |
| 92 | Westside North | 89 |
| 93 | Crown Center | 97 |
| 94 | Southmoreland | 91 |
| 95 | Volker | 93 |
| 96 | Unity Ridge | 111 |
| 97 | Loma Vista | 80 |
| 98 | Pendleton Heights | 81 |
| 99 | Manheim Park | 77 |
| 100 | Union Hill | 100 |
| 101 | Beacon Hills | 84 |
| 102 | Legacy East | 76 |
| 103 | Central Business District-Downtown | 95 |
| 104 | Holmes Park | 92 |
| 105 | Kirkside | 83 |
| 106 | Hickman Mills | 82 |
| 107 | Richards Gebaur | 81 |
| 108 | Hanover Place | 81 |
| 109 | Westside South | 83 |
| 110 | Roanoke | 111 |
| 111 | Western 49-63 | 103 |
| 112 | Bannister Ares | 89 |
| 113 | Red Ridge South | 92 |
| 114 | Lewis Heights | 81 |
| 115 | Valentine | 89 |
| 116 | River Market | 99 |
| 117 | Ashland Ridge | 80 |
| 118 | South Plaza | 112 |
| 119 | Country Club Plaza | 101 |
| 120 | Ward Parkway Plaza | 93 |
| 121 | Country Lane Estates | 90 |
| 122 | North Hyde Park | 88 |
| 123 | Oak Meyer Gardens | 102 |
| 124 | Blue Hills Estates | 106 |

