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 New York might be more expensive than living in rural New York, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
So what exactly are those New York 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 New York are the cheapest.
Here are the cheapest neighborhoods in New York for 2020:
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in New York for 2020? According to the most recent census data, Howland Hook looks to be the cheaptest New York 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 New York. 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 New York that deserve a little bragging rights or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in New York.
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 New York reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In New York
- Best Counties To Live In New York
- Cheapest Cities To Live In America
- Cheapest States To Live In America
How We Determined The Cheapest New York Hoods In 2020
In order to rank the cheapest places to live in New York, 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 122 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 New York.” We’re lookin’ at you, Howland Hook.
Read on below to learn more about what it’s like to live in the cheapest places New York. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the neighborhoods in the city from cheapest to most expensive.
The 10 Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In New York For 2020
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Population: 3,871
Cost Of Living Index: 101 (1st cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.5 (7th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.009 (7th cheapest)
More on Howland Hook: Homes For Sale | Data
The median income in Howland Hook comes in at $64,184 and the median home value is $157,420 for 2020.
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Population: 23,582
Cost Of Living Index: 129 (18th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.7 (30th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.005 (1st cheapest)
More on Ardon Heights: Homes For Sale | Data
The median income in Ardon Heights comes in at $87,757 and the median home value is $408,846 for 2020.
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Population: 26,947
Cost Of Living Index: 130 (22nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.6 (29th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.01 (9th cheapest)
More on Oakwood: Homes For Sale | Data
The median income in Oakwood comes in at $83,626 and the median home value is $387,661 for 2020.
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Population: 17,149
Cost Of Living Index: 135 (27th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.4 (21st cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (19th cheapest)
More on Great Kills: Homes For Sale | Data
The median income in Great Kills comes in at $92,004 and the median home value is $404,414 for 2020.
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Population: 15,609
Cost Of Living Index: 130 (22nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.1 (38th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.011 (11th cheapest)
More on Tottensville: Homes For Sale | Data
Tottenville is the southernmost neighborhood of Staten Island, New York City and New York State, with an area of approximately 1.7 square miles. Originally named Bentley Manor by one of its first settlers, Captain Christopher Billop, after a small ship he owned named the Bentley, the district was renamed Tottenville in 1869, apparently in honor of the locally prominent Totten family, whose name can be seen on tombstones in one of the earliest churches, Bethel Methodist Church, on Amboy Road. The neighborhood is represented in the New York City Council by Joe Borelli and in the New York State Assembly by Ronald Castorina, Jr.
The median income in Tottensville comes in at $78,173 and the median home value is $399,725 for 2020.
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Population: 33,993
Cost Of Living Index: 124 (14th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.5 (23rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (35th cheapest)
More on Mariners Harbor: Homes For Sale | Data
The median income in Mariners Harbor comes in at $70,893 and the median home value is $316,042 for 2020.
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Population: 19,282
Cost Of Living Index: 138 (32nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.2 (20th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.013 (23rd cheapest)
More on Eastchester: Homes For Sale | Data
The median income in Eastchester comes in at $69,654 and the median home value is $295,090 for 2020.
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Population: 10,884
Cost Of Living Index: 130 (22nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.9 (35th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.013 (20th cheapest)
More on Bloomfield-Chelsea-Travis: Homes For Sale | Data
The median income in Bloomfield-Chelsea-Travis comes in at $75,810 and the median home value is $374,558 for 2020.
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Population: 52,418
Cost Of Living Index: 133 (24th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.0 (16th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (37th cheapest)
More on Country Club: Homes For Sale | Data
The median income in Country Club comes in at $61,099 and the median home value is $244,659 for 2020.
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Population: 119,512
Cost Of Living Index: 138 (32nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.7 (31st cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (18th cheapest)
More on The Rockaways: Homes For Sale | Data
The median income in The Rockaways comes in at $63,514 and the median home value is $297,562 for 2020.
Summing Up The Cheapest Places In New York
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in New York where prices are low and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
As we mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in New York aren’t all cheap. Borough Park takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in New York.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
For more New York reading, check out:
- Cheapest Places To Live In New York
- Best Places To Raise A Family In New York
- Best Places To Retire In New York
- Richest Cities In New York
- Safest Places In New York According To Science
- Worst Places To Live In New York State
