The 10 Cheapest Seattle, WA Neighborhoods To Live In For 2022


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

So what exactly are those Seattle 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 Seattle are the cheapest.

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

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 Washington reading, check out:

The 10 Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Seattle For 2022

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 7,820
Cost Of Living Index: 133 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.5 (26th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.013 (24th cheapest)
More on High Point: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

9.5
/10

Population: 1,789
Cost Of Living Index: 160 (43rd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.3 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.01 (12th cheapest)
More on Madison Valley: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 2,705
Cost Of Living Index: 152 (33rd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.0 (10th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (18th cheapest)
More on Industrial District: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 10,468
Cost Of Living Index: 136 (8th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.5 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.017 (56th cheapest)
More on Belltown: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 8,739
Cost Of Living Index: 151 (3cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.8 (36th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.006 (3rd cheapest)
More on Mount Baker: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 8,347
Cost Of Living Index: 135 (6th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.1 (13th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.017 (52nd cheapest)
More on Olympic Hills: Homes For Sale | Data

Fauntleroy Seattle, WA

Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 4,261
Cost Of Living Index: 163 (48th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.1 (12th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.011 (13th cheapest)
More on Fauntleroy: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 3,508
Cost Of Living Index: 139 (14th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.4 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.017 (55th cheapest)
More on Riverview: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 4,280
Cost Of Living Index: 143 (2cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.8 (7th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.017 (50th cheapest)
More on North Delridge: Homes For Sale | Data

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 5,133
Cost Of Living Index: 143 (2cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 6.1 (52nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.01 (9th cheapest)
More on Atlantic: Homes For Sale | Data

Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Seattle Hoods In 2022

In order to rank the cheapest places to live in Seattle, 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 78 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 Seattle." We're lookin' at you, High Point.

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

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

As we mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Seattle aren't all cheap. Pioneer Square takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Seattle.

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

For more Washington reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Seattle For 2022

Rank Neighborhood Cost Of Living Index
1 High Point 133
2 Madison Valley 160
3 Industrial District 152
4 Belltown 136
5 Mount Baker 151
6 Olympic Hills 135
7 Fauntleroy 163
8 Riverview 139
9 North Delridge 143
10 Atlantic 143
11 Arbor Heights 158
12 North College Park 140
13 Georgetown 136
14 Westlake 144
15 Victory Heights 143
16 West Seattle 159
17 Roxhill 136
18 Broadview 153
19 South Park 120
20 Greenwood 151
21 South Delridge 132
22 View Ridge 178
23 Admiral 161
24 Seward Park 160
25 South Lake Union 148
26 Bryant 166
27 Rainier Beach 137
28 Meadowbrook 151
29 Haller Lake 143
30 Madrona 177
31 Loyal Heights 165
32 Wedgwood 167
33 Highland Park 134
34 Sand Point 143
35 Northgate 139
36 Montlake 189
37 Leschi 172
38 Beacon Hill 139
39 Denny-Blaine 224
40 Cedar Park 147
41 Maple Leaf 158
42 Matthews Beach 173
43 Blue Ridge 166
44 Lower Queen Anne 155
45 Magnolia 175
46 Crown Hill 161
47 Capitol Hill 159
48 University District 136
49 Ballard 160
50 Interbay 159
51 Ravenna 170
52 Hawthorne Hills 179
53 Sunset Hill 167
54 Laurelhurst 220
55 Green Lake 176
56 Whittier Heights 169
57 Queen Anne 177
58 Broadmoor 239
59 Bitter Lake 139
60 Olympic Manor 176
61 Columbia City 143
62 Central District 150
63 Pinehurst 146
64 Madison Park 239
65 International District 126
66 Alki 171
67 Phinney Ridge 173
68 Brighton 138
69 Wallingford 173
70 Windermere 211
71 Downtown 157
72 Roosevelt 164
73 North Beach 176
74 Fremont 162
75 First Hill 143
76 Portage Bay 196
77 Eastlake 164
78 Pioneer Square 169

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

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.