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 Milwaukee might be more expensive than living in rural Wisconsin, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
What exactly are those Milwaukee 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 Milwaukee are the cheapest using Saturday Night Science.
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in Milwaukee for 2025? According to the most recent census data, Rufus King looks to be the cheapest Milwaukee 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 Milwaukee. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates for more space and cheaper groceries.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Milwaukee that deserve a little bragging rights, or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in Milwaukee.
For more Wisconsin reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Wisconsin
- Cheapest Places To Live In Wisconsin
- 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 Milwaukee For 2025
1. Rufus King
/10
Population: 5,079
Cost Of Living Index: 81 (20th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.3 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (9th cheapest)
More on Rufus King:
2. Bradley Estates
/10
Population: 1,898
Cost Of Living Index: 81 (20th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 0.8 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.016 (47th cheapest)
More on Bradley Estates:
3. Golden Valley
/10
Population: 3,008
Cost Of Living Index: 85 (64th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.1 (35th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (5th cheapest)
More on Golden Valley:
4. Brynwood
/10
Population: 1,424
Cost Of Living Index: 80 (11th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.0 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (94th cheapest)
More on Brynwood:
5. Menomonee River Hills East
/10
Population: 4,109
Cost Of Living Index: 84 (54th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.5 (7th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.017 (56th cheapest)
More on Menomonee River Hills East:
6. Triangle
/10
Population: 515
Cost Of Living Index: 84 (54th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.1 (29th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (36th cheapest)
More on Triangle:
7. Menomonee River Hills
/10
Population: 8,614
Cost Of Living Index: 84 (54th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.0 (25th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.016 (45th cheapest)
More on Menomonee River Hills:
8. Long View
/10
Population: 3,001
Cost Of Living Index: 86 (72nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.9 (19th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.014 (33rd cheapest)
More on Long View:
9. Franklin Heights
/10
Population: 7,492
Cost Of Living Index: 80 (11th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.3 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.023 (125th cheapest)
More on Franklin Heights:
10. Land Bank
/10
Population: 1,869
Cost Of Living Index: 85 (64th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.8 (14th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (73rd cheapest)
More on Land Bank:
Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Milwaukee Hoods In 2025
To rank the cheapest places to live in Milwaukee, 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 182 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 Milwaukee.” We’re lookin’ at you, Rufus King.
We updated this article for 2025. This is our fourth time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in Milwaukee. 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 Milwaukee
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in Milwaukee where prices are low, and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
The most affordable neighborhoods in Milwaukee are Rufus King, Bradley Estates, Golden Valley, Brynwood, Menomonee River Hills East, Triangle, Menomonee River Hills, Long View, Franklin Heights, and Land Bank.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Milwaukee aren’t all cheap. Ridgeview takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Milwaukee.
The most expensive neighborhoods in Milwaukee are Ridgeview, Northridge, Cambridge Heights, Riverside Park, and Yankee Hill.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
For more Wisconsin reading, check out:
- Most Dangerous Cities In Wisconsin
- Richest Cities In Wisconsin
- Safest Places In Wisconsin
- Worst Places To Live In Wisconsin
Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Milwaukee For 2025
| Rank | Neighborhood | Cost Of Living Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rufus King | 81 |
| 2 | Bradley Estates | 81 |
| 3 | Golden Valley | 85 |
| 4 | Brynwood | 80 |
| 5 | Menomonee River Hills East | 84 |
| 6 | Triangle | 84 |
| 7 | Menomonee River Hills | 84 |
| 8 | Long View | 86 |
| 9 | Franklin Heights | 80 |
| 10 | Land Bank | 85 |
| 11 | Fairview | 90 |
| 12 | Havenwoods | 84 |
| 13 | Hawley Farms | 89 |
| 14 | Mount Mary | 90 |
| 15 | Garden Homes | 78 |
| 16 | Maitland Park | 92 |
| 17 | Layton Park | 87 |
| 18 | Burnham Park | 85 |
| 19 | Muskego Way | 82 |
| 20 | Green Moor | 90 |
| 21 | Graceland | 85 |
| 22 | Historic Mitchell Street | 80 |
| 23 | Servite Woods | 83 |
| 24 | North Division | 80 |
| 25 | Timmerman Airport | 87 |
| 26 | Honey Creek Manor | 89 |
| 27 | Cooper Park | 91 |
| 28 | Lincoln Park | 84 |
| 29 | Nash Park | 87 |
| 30 | Silver City | 85 |
| 31 | Arlington Heights | 80 |
| 32 | Kops Park | 87 |
| 33 | Wahl Park | 84 |
| 34 | Granville Woods | 83 |
| 35 | Whispering Hills | 83 |
| 36 | New Coeln | 90 |
| 37 | Lyons Park | 90 |
| 38 | Fairfield | 82 |
| 39 | Dineen Park | 85 |
| 40 | Hawthorne Glen | 91 |
| 41 | Mcgovern Park | 83 |
| 42 | Wick Field | 91 |
| 43 | Honey Creek Parkway | 91 |
| 44 | Old North Milwaukee | 82 |
| 45 | Metcalfe Park | 81 |
| 46 | Fair Park | 89 |
| 47 | Southgate | 86 |
| 48 | Silver Spring | 83 |
| 49 | Freedom Village | 83 |
| 50 | Town Of Lake | 92 |
| 51 | Williamsburg | 83 |
| 52 | Northridge Lakes | 77 |
| 53 | White Manor | 90 |
| 54 | Mill Valley | 95 |
| 55 | Timmerman West | 88 |
| 56 | Grasslyn Manor | 86 |
| 57 | Tippecanoe | 91 |
| 58 | Saveland Park | 90 |
| 59 | Wedgewood | 94 |
| 60 | Bluemound Heights | 88 |
| 61 | Vogel Park | 86 |
| 62 | Morgandale | 89 |
| 63 | Silver Swan | 85 |
| 64 | Saint Amelian’s | 86 |
| 65 | Thurston Woods | 84 |
| 66 | Lindsay Park | 87 |
| 67 | Lincoln Village | 83 |
| 68 | Enderis Park | 90 |
| 69 | Columbus Park | 87 |
| 70 | River Bend | 91 |
| 71 | Capitol Heights | 86 |
| 72 | Park West | 80 |
| 73 | Red Oak Heights | 95 |
| 74 | National Park | 84 |
| 75 | Holler Park | 89 |
| 76 | Walker’s Point | 83 |
| 77 | Washington Park | 82 |
| 78 | Valhalla | 81 |
| 79 | Borchert Field | 80 |
| 80 | Clayton Crest | 94 |
| 81 | Harder’s Oaks | 94 |
| 82 | Polonia | 87 |
| 83 | Mitchell Field | 93 |
| 84 | The Valley-Pigsville | 92 |
| 85 | Cannon Park | 90 |
| 86 | Lincoln Creek | 85 |
| 87 | Melody View | 93 |
| 88 | Pollber Heights | 93 |
| 89 | Goldman Park | 88 |
| 90 | Arlington Gardens | 88 |
| 91 | Walnut Hill | 81 |
| 92 | Morgan Heights | 95 |
| 93 | Sherman Park | 83 |
| 94 | Alcott Park | 95 |
| 95 | Washington Heights | 93 |
| 96 | Hampton Heights | 84 |
| 97 | Forest Home Hills | 85 |
| 98 | Little Menomonee Parkway | 89 |
| 99 | Riverton Heights | 94 |
| 100 | Jackson Park | 91 |
| 101 | Johnson’s Woods | 88 |
| 102 | Story Hill | 89 |
| 103 | Wyrick Park | 89 |
| 104 | Sunset Heights | 87 |
| 105 | Triangle North | 82 |
| 106 | Baran Park | 83 |
| 107 | Bay View | 92 |
| 108 | Granville Station | 87 |
| 109 | Uptown | 87 |
| 110 | Midtown | 81 |
| 111 | Gra-Ram | 89 |
| 112 | Menomonee River Parkway | 87 |
| 113 | Miller Valley | 90 |
| 114 | Harambee | 80 |
| 115 | Pheasant Run | 90 |
| 116 | Clarke Square | 82 |
| 117 | Mitchell West | 87 |
| 118 | Merrill Park | 80 |
| 119 | North Meadows | 91 |
| 120 | Lenox Heights | 88 |
| 121 | Zoo | 90 |
| 122 | Florist Highlands | 93 |
| 123 | Parkway Hills | 87 |
| 124 | Downer Woods | 116 |
| 125 | Menomonee River Valley | 82 |
| 126 | Roosevelt Grove | 83 |
| 127 | King Park | 77 |
| 128 | Halyard Park | 81 |
| 129 | Brown Deer Park | 89 |
| 130 | Historic Third Ward | 89 |
| 131 | Tripoli Park | 89 |
| 132 | Root Creek | 90 |
| 133 | Highwood Estates | 90 |
| 134 | Calumet Farms | 103 |
| 135 | Park Place | 103 |
| 136 | Fernwood | 96 |
| 137 | Town And Country Manor | 87 |
| 138 | Saint Joseph | 87 |
| 139 | Mitchell Park | 82 |
| 140 | Clock Tower Acres | 80 |
| 141 | Southpoint | 89 |
| 142 | Jones’ Island | 91 |
| 143 | Valley Forge | 96 |
| 144 | Castle Manor | 88 |
| 145 | Hillside | 75 |
| 146 | Avenues West | 77 |
| 147 | Grover Heights | 82 |
| 148 | Veterans Affairs | 82 |
| 149 | Park View | 81 |
| 150 | Riverwest | 91 |
| 151 | Grantosa | 86 |
| 152 | Haymarket | 80 |
| 153 | Harbor View | 94 |
| 154 | Park Knoll | 94 |
| 155 | Martin Drive | 84 |
| 156 | West View | 90 |
| 157 | Cold Spring Park | 83 |
| 158 | Brewer’s Hill | 91 |
| 159 | Northpoint | 105 |
| 160 | Schlitz Park | 103 |
| 161 | Wilson Park | 87 |
| 162 | Heritage Heights | 94 |
| 163 | Upper East Side | 110 |
| 164 | Concordia | 83 |
| 165 | Kilbourn Town | 85 |
| 166 | North Granville | 90 |
| 167 | Rolling Green | 93 |
| 168 | Woodland Court | 93 |
| 169 | Maple Tree | 94 |
| 170 | Juneau Town | 103 |
| 171 | Estabrook Park | 88 |
| 172 | Lower East Side | 102 |
| 173 | Dretzka Park | 94 |
| 174 | Murray Hill | 102 |
| 175 | Mount Olivet | 91 |
| 176 | Alverno | 92 |
| 177 | Euclid Park | 94 |
| 178 | Yankee Hill | 107 |
| 179 | Riverside Park | 102 |
| 180 | Cambridge Heights | 96 |
| 181 | Northridge | 96 |
| 182 | Ridgeview | 96 |

