The 10 Cheapest Los Angeles, CA Neighborhoods To Live In For 2022


We used science and data to determine which neighborhoods in Los Angeles 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 Los Angeles might be more expensive than living in rural California, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.

So what exactly are those Los Angeles 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 Los Angeles are the cheapest.

What's the cheapest neighborhood to live in Los Angeles for 2022? According to the most recent census data, Lakeview Terrace looks to be the cheaptest Los Angeles 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 Los Angeles. 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 Los Angeles that deserve a little bragging rights or maybe you're interested in the worst neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

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 California reading, check out:

The 10 Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Los Angeles For 2022

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 14,460
Cost Of Living Index: 130 (18th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.9 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (22nd cheapest)
More on Lakeview Terrace: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 21,104
Cost Of Living Index: 136 (27th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.7 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.019 (23rd cheapest)
More on Mission Hills: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 26,759
Cost Of Living Index: 129 (16th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 6.1 (22nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.017 (16th cheapest)
More on Crenshaw: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 19,165
Cost Of Living Index: 137 (32nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.9 (20th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (8th cheapest)
More on Sunland: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 46,531
Cost Of Living Index: 132 (2cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.4 (7th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (35th cheapest)
More on Arleta: Homes For Sale | Data

Fashion District Los Angeles, CA

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 2,466
Cost Of Living Index: 102 (cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.2 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.025 (62nd cheapest)
More on Fashion District: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 39,335
Cost Of Living Index: 136 (27th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.4 (9th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (3cheapest)
More on Panorama City: Homes For Sale | Data

Wilmington Los Angeles, CA

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 61,534
Cost Of Living Index: 127 (12th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 6.6 (25th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (37th cheapest)
More on Wilmington: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 67,623
Cost Of Living Index: 142 (40th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 6.1 (2cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (20th cheapest)
More on Winnetka: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

9.5
/10

Population: 31,007
Cost Of Living Index: 167 (58th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.7 (14th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (9th cheapest)
More on West Hills: Homes For Sale | Data

Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Los Angeles Hoods In 2022

In order to rank the cheapest places to live in Los Angeles, 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 83 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 Los Angeles." We're lookin' at you, Lakeview Terrace.

Read on below to learn more about what it's like to live in the cheapest places Los Angeles. 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 Los Angeles

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

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

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

For more California reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Los Angeles For 2022

Rank Neighborhood Cost Of Living Index
1 Lakeview Terrace 130
2 Mission Hills 136
3 Crenshaw 129
4 Sunland 137
5 Arleta 132
6 Fashion District 102
7 Panorama City 136
8 Wilmington 127
9 Winnetka 142
10 West Hills 167
11 Granada Hills 156
12 South Park 121
13 Canoga Park 136
14 North Hills 132
15 Civic Center-Little Tokyo 128
16 Downtown 115
17 Harbor City 133
18 Chatsworth 151
19 Northridge 150
20 Westchester 167
21 Sylmar 136
22 Pacoima 126
23 Westlake 111
24 Shadow Hills 145
25 New Downtown 127
26 Tujunga 140
27 Mount Washington 149
28 Eagle Rock 151
29 Sun Valley 137
30 San Pedro 147
31 Wholesale District-Skid Row 113
32 El Sereno 132
33 Encino 182
34 Leiment Park 143
35 Central City 121
36 Watts 115
37 Tarzana 182
38 Hyde Park 130
39 Woodland Hills 177
40 Portar Ranch 187
41 Reseda 141
42 Studio City 198
43 Beverly Glen 208
44 Boyle Heights 125
45 Southeast Los Angeles 123
46 West Adams 130
47 Jefferson Park 134
48 Palms 149
49 Hollywood 129
50 Glendale 202
51 Harbor Gateway 138
52 Valley Village 160
53 Cypress Park 153
54 North Hollywood 138
55 Van Nuys 142
56 Brentwood 283
57 Playa Del Ray 202
58 Silver Lake 162
59 Glassell Park 151
60 Los Feliz 177
61 South Los Angeles 127
62 Pacific Palisades 296
63 Playa Vista 172
64 Bel Air 314
65 Century City 218
66 Atwater Village 170
67 Toluca Lake 206
68 Mid Wilshire 153
69 Hollywood Hills 223
70 West Los Angeles 226
71 Central City East 141
72 Mar Vista 188
73 Highland Park 145
74 Mid City West 187
75 Montecito Heights 137
76 Echo Park 157
77 Pico-Robertson 176
78 Chinatown 136
79 Venice 225
80 Mid City 143
81 Lincoln Heights 137
82 Westwood 195
83 Sawtelle 188

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

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.