The 10 Cheapest Rochester, NY Neighborhoods To Live In For 2022


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

So what exactly are those Rochester 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 Rochester are the cheapest.

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

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 Rochester For 2022

1. Strong

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 4,446
Cost Of Living Index: 86 (7th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.5 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.008 (2nd cheapest)
More on Strong: Homes For Sale | Data

2. Homestead Heights

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 4,022
Cost Of Living Index: 89 (19th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.5 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.013 (3rd cheapest)
More on Homestead Heights: Homes For Sale | Data

3. Central Business District

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 4,457
Cost Of Living Index: 86 (7th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.6 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.024 (15th cheapest)
More on Central Business District: Homes For Sale | Data

4. Lyell-Otis

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 9,016
Cost Of Living Index: 87 (10th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.4 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.029 (19th cheapest)
More on Lyell-Otis: Homes For Sale | Data

5. Upper Falls

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 6,838
Cost Of Living Index: 81 (cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.7 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.037 (25th cheapest)
More on Upper Falls: Homes For Sale | Data

6. Maplewood

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 17,663
Cost Of Living Index: 86 (7th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.0 (11th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.024 (16th cheapest)
More on Maplewood: Homes For Sale | Data

7. Genesee-Jefferson

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 4,523
Cost Of Living Index: 83 (3rd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.9 (10th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.032 (2cheapest)
More on Genesee-Jefferson: Homes For Sale | Data

8. Northland-Lyceum

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 4,774
Cost Of Living Index: 88 (15th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.1 (13th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.017 (9th cheapest)
More on Northland-Lyceum: Homes For Sale | Data

9. North Marketview Heights

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 4,924
Cost Of Living Index: 86 (7th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.8 (6th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.037 (24th cheapest)
More on North Marketview Heights: Homes For Sale | Data

10. Highland

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,792
Cost Of Living Index: 88 (15th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.3 (18th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.016 (5th cheapest)
More on Highland: Homes For Sale | Data

Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Rochester Hoods In 2022

In order to rank the cheapest places to live in Rochester, 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 29 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 Rochester." We're lookin' at you, Strong.

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

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

As we mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Rochester aren't all cheap. Susan B Anthony takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Rochester.

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 Rochester For 2022

Rank Neighborhood Cost Of Living Index
1 Strong 86
2 Homestead Heights 89
3 Central Business District 86
4 Lyell-Otis 87
5 Upper Falls 81
6 Maplewood 86
7 Genesee-Jefferson 83
8 Northland-Lyceum 88
9 North Marketview Heights 86
10 Highland 88
11 Dutchtown 84
12 Browncroft 93
13 Culver-Winton 94
14 Cobbs Hill 97
15 Plymouth-Exchange 82
16 19th Ward 90
17 Charlotte 88
18 Swillburg 92
19 Beechwood 88
20 Pearl-Meigs-Monroe 88
21 South Marketview Heights 87
22 Atlantic-University 90
23 Charles House 86
24 Park Avenue 102
25 South Wedge 94
26 Mayor's Heights 88
27 Corn Hill 100
28 Best 88
29 Susan B Anthony 95

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

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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