The 10 Cheapest New York, NY Neighborhoods To Live In For 2022


We used science and data to determine which neighborhoods in New York 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 New York City 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 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 find out which neighborhoods in New York City are the cheapest.

The Cheapest Neighborhoods In New York City For 2022

  1. Howland Hook (Homes)
  2. Ardon Heights (Homes)
  3. Oakwood (Homes)
  4. Great Kills (Homes)
  5. Country Club (Homes)
  6. Eastchester (Homes)
  7. Tottensville (Homes)
  8. Mariners Harbor (Homes)
  9. The Rockaways (Homes)
  10. Bloomfield-Chelsea-Travis (Homes)

What's the cheapest neighborhood to live in New York City for 2022? According to the most recent census data, Howland Hook looks to be the cheaptest New York 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 New York City. 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 City that deserve a little bragging rights or maybe you're interested in the worst neighborhoods in New York City.

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:

The 10 Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In New York City For 2022

1. Howland Hook

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 3,871
Cost Of Living Index: 98 (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

2. Ardon Heights

Overall SnackAbility

9.5
/10

Population: 23,582
Cost Of Living Index: 128 (22nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.7 (30th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.005 (cheapest)
More on Ardon Heights: Homes For Sale

3. Oakwood

Overall SnackAbility

9.5
/10

Population: 26,947
Cost Of Living Index: 130 (26th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.6 (29th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.01 (9th cheapest)
More on Oakwood: Homes For Sale

4. Great Kills

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 17,149
Cost Of Living Index: 134 (3cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.4 (2cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (19th cheapest)
More on Great Kills: Homes For Sale

5. Country Club

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 52,418
Cost Of Living Index: 125 (20th 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

6. Eastchester

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 19,282
Cost Of Living Index: 134 (3cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.2 (20th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.013 (23rd cheapest)
More on Eastchester: Homes For Sale

7. Tottensville

Tottensville New York, NY

Source: Wikipedia User | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

9.5
/10

Population: 15,609
Cost Of Living Index: 130 (26th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.1 (38th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.011 (11th cheapest)
More on Tottensville: Homes For Sale

8. Mariners Harbor

Overall SnackAbility

9.5
/10

Population: 33,993
Cost Of Living Index: 124 (18th 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

9. The Rockaways

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 119,512
Cost Of Living Index: 131 (28th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.7 (3cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (18th cheapest)
More on The Rockaways: Homes For Sale

10. Bloomfield-Chelsea-Travis

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 10,884
Cost Of Living Index: 129 (24th 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

Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest New York City Hoods In 2022

In order to rank the cheapest places to live in New York City, 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 121 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 City." 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 City. 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 New York City

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

As we mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in New York City aren't all cheap. Borough Park takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in New York City.

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

For more New York reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In New York City For 2022

Rank Neighborhood Cost Of Living Index
1 Howland Hook 98
2 Ardon Heights 128
3 Oakwood 130
4 Great Kills 134
5 Country Club 125
6 Eastchester 134
7 Tottensville 130
8 Mariners Harbor 124
9 The Rockaways 131
10 Bloomfield-Chelsea-Travis 129
11 Ettingville 137
12 Laurelton 144
13 Steinway 136
14 Annandale 142
15 Midland Beach 146
16 Springfield Gardens 138
17 Riverdale 145
18 Woodrow 148
19 Hamilton Heights 112
20 Woodlawn-Nordwood 129
21 Westerleigh-Castleton 139
22 New Brighton 139
23 South Beach 146
24 Kings Bridge 117
25 Washington Heights 113
26 Lower East Side 125
27 Throggs Neck 142
28 Spuyten Duyvil 145
29 High Bridge 105
30 Hunts Point 106
31 University Heights 105
32 Bedford Park 107
33 Mott Haven 106
34 Inwood 120
35 Fordham 106
36 Port Richmond 122
37 Rossville 145
38 Morris Heights 108
39 Rosebank 151
40 Tremont 109
41 Prince's Bay 150
42 Saintalbans 146
43 Parkchester 128
44 East Village 141
45 City Island 156
46 Huguenot 156
47 Richmondtown 145
48 Todt Hill 154
49 South Bronx 114
50 Queens Village 149
51 Clifton 142
52 Nkew Gardens 145
53 North Sutton Area 197
54 Douglastown-Little Neck 158
55 Union Port 134
56 Garment District 166
57 Soundview 123
58 Battery Park 204
59 Williams Bridge 129
60 Morris Park 141
61 Gramercy 169
62 Charlestown-Richmond Valley 152
63 East Harlem 122
64 Clearview 162
65 Clinton 158
66 Glendale 153
67 Morningside Heights 156
68 Brownsville 132
69 Wakefield-Williamsbridge 137
70 Baychester 153
71 Canarsie 154
72 Harlem 138
73 Jamaica 144
74 Sunny Side 151
75 Financial District 223
76 Upper West Side 198
77 Forest Hills 156
78 Chinatown 156
79 Yorkville 138
80 Middle Village 164
81 Murray Hill 189
82 Upper East Side 211
83 Utopia 158
84 Williamsburg 145
85 Tribeca 281
86 Midtown 193
87 Astoria-Long Island City 147
88 Downtown 197
89 West Village 211
90 Chelsea 207
91 Bushwick 143
92 Ridgewood 154
93 Greenwood 172
94 Woodhaven-Richmond Hill 154
95 Carnegie Hill 309
96 Central Park 219
97 Auburndale 168
98 Jackson Heights 149
99 East Brooklyn 143
100 Woodside 149
101 Park Slope 218
102 Gravesend-Sheepshead Bay 163
103 Soho 236
104 Flushing 150
105 Cobble Hill 253
106 Little Italy 199
107 Carroll Gardens 227
108 Maspeth 162
109 Greenwich Village 220
110 Boerum Hill 219
111 Fort Green 182
112 Queensboro Hill 162
113 Bay Ridge 176
114 Dyker Heights 184
115 Bedford-Stuyvesant 154
116 Bensonhurst 170
117 Mapleton-Flatlands 174
118 Corona 165
119 Whitestone 211
120 Sunset Park 170
121 Borough Park 183

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

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.

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