The 10 Cheapest San Diego, CA Neighborhoods To Live In For 2022


We used science and data to determine which neighborhoods in San Diego are the cheapest of the cheap.

HomeSnacks is reader-supported. When you click through real estate links on our site, we earn an affiliate commission. Learn more.

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 San Diego might be more expensive than living in rural California, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.

So what exactly are those San Diego 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 San Diego are the cheapest.

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

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 San Diego For 2022

1. Nestor

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 16,126
Cost Of Living Index: 113 (6th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.2 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.023 (53rd cheapest)
More on Nestor: Homes For Sale | Data

2. Gaslamp Quarter

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 1,083
Cost Of Living Index: 115 (7th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.1 (6th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.022 (48th cheapest)
More on Gaslamp Quarter: Homes For Sale | Data

3. Bay Terrace

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 22,838
Cost Of Living Index: 133 (3cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.2 (10th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (29th cheapest)
More on Bay Terrace: Homes For Sale | Data

4. San Ysidro

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 28,456
Cost Of Living Index: 119 (10th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.4 (3cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (30th cheapest)
More on San Ysidro: Homes For Sale | Data

5. Palm City

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 7,132
Cost Of Living Index: 119 (10th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.8 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.023 (59th cheapest)
More on Palm City: Homes For Sale | Data

6. Mira Mesa

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 71,228
Cost Of Living Index: 142 (48th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.3 (11th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.019 (23rd cheapest)
More on Mira Mesa: Homes For Sale | Data

7. Webster

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 10,383
Cost Of Living Index: 128 (18th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.4 (30th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (34th cheapest)
More on Webster: Homes For Sale | Data

8. Core

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 3,770
Cost Of Living Index: 101 (cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.9 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.033 (83rd cheapest)
More on Core: Homes For Sale | Data

9. Sky Line

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 10,572
Cost Of Living Index: 129 (2cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.2 (25th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (40th cheapest)
More on Sky Line: Homes For Sale | Data

10. Alta Vista

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 9,210
Cost Of Living Index: 135 (35th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.2 (9th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.022 (43rd cheapest)
More on Alta Vista: Homes For Sale | Data

Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest San Diego Hoods In 2022

In order to rank the cheapest places to live in San Diego, 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 85 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 San Diego." We're lookin' at you, Nestor.

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

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

As we mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in San Diego aren't all cheap. Tijuana River Valley takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in San Diego.

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 San Diego For 2022

Rank Neighborhood Cost Of Living Index
1 Nestor 113
2 Gaslamp Quarter 115
3 Bay Terrace 133
4 San Ysidro 119
5 Palm City 119
6 Mira Mesa 142
7 Webster 128
8 Core 101
9 Sky Line 129
10 Alta Vista 135
11 Jomacha-Lomita 130
12 Tierrasanta 147
13 Midtown District 126
14 Sorrento Valley 151
15 Chollas View 118
16 Encanto 131
17 Paradise Hills 129
18 Allied Gardens 133
19 Columbia 146
20 City Heights East 108
21 San Carlos 156
22 Rancho Penasquitos 165
23 Mission Valley 133
24 Balboa Park 138
25 Oak Park 124
26 Grantville 131
27 Bird Land 136
28 Darnall 131
29 Gateway 136
30 Scripps Ranch 168
31 Bario Logan 111
32 Mission Bay 136
33 Old Town 153
34 Carmel Mountain 165
35 Talmadge 134
36 Clairemont Mesa 145
37 Carmel Valley 192
38 Cortez Hill 113
39 Emerald Hills 131
40 Kearny Mesa 140
41 Valencia Park 129
42 Rancho Bernadino 161
43 Lake Murray 149
44 Sabre Springs 164
45 El Cerritos 131
46 Egger Highlands 127
47 Serra Mesa 140
48 Del Cerro 162
49 Little Italy 143
50 Kensington 158
51 North Clairemont 147
52 Marina 157
53 North Hills 146
54 Southcrest 121
55 South Park 153
56 Linda Vista 138
57 Normal Heights 134
58 Mountain View 112
59 Bay Ho 158
60 East Village 138
61 Midtown 150
62 City Heights West 122
63 Bay Park 156
64 La Jolla Village 141
65 West University Heights 146
66 Moreno Mission 136
67 Torrey Pines 190
68 North City 226
69 Roseville 179
70 University City 156
71 Del Mar Heights 225
72 Mount Hope 127
73 Wooded Area 186
74 College Area 142
75 Horton Plaza 141
76 Grant Hill 128
77 Loma Portal 158
78 La Jolla 253
79 Memorial 127
80 Ocean Beach 175
81 Rolando 137
82 Pacific Beach 171
83 Lincoln Park 130
84 Park West 160
85 Tijuana River Valley 165

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

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.

 Affordable, Rankings