The 10 Cheapest Tempe, AZ Neighborhoods To Live In For 2022


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

Chris Kolmar, About HomeSnacks
Last Updated: April 6, 2022

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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 Tempe might be more expensive than living in rural Arizona, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.

So what exactly are those Tempe 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 Tempe are the cheapest.

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

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 Arizona reading, check out:

The 10 Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Tempe For 2022

1. Mcclintock

Overall SnackAbility

/10

Population: 1,112
Cost Of Living Index: 99 (14th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.6 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.0 (4th cheapest)
More on Mcclintock: Homes For Sale | Data

2. Tempe Gardens

Overall SnackAbility

/10

Population: 779
Cost Of Living Index: 102 (20th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.4 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.0 (4th cheapest)
More on Tempe Gardens: Homes For Sale | Data

3. Superstition

Overall SnackAbility

/10

Population: 338
Cost Of Living Index: 103 (26th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.1 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.0 (4th cheapest)
More on Superstition: Homes For Sale | Data

4. Dava-Lakeshore

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 1,124
Cost Of Living Index: 100 (16th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.2 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.014 (14th cheapest)
More on Dava-Lakeshore: Homes For Sale | Data

5. Knoell Gardens

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 284
Cost Of Living Index: 87 (cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.0 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.024 (42nd cheapest)
More on Knoell Gardens: Homes For Sale | Data

6. Kyrene-Superstition

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 1,456
Cost Of Living Index: 96 (8th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.7 (7th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (30th cheapest)
More on Kyrene-Superstition: Homes For Sale | Data

7. Baseline-Hardy

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 5,619
Cost Of Living Index: 96 (8th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.6 (6th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (35th cheapest)
More on Baseline-Hardy: Homes For Sale | Data

8. Wood Park

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 4,260
Cost Of Living Index: 95 (5th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.0 (13th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (34th cheapest)
More on Wood Park: Homes For Sale | Data

9. Cyprus Southwest

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 1,972
Cost Of Living Index: 96 (8th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.4 (27th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (2cheapest)
More on Cyprus Southwest: Homes For Sale | Data

10. Ntna-College

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 2,884
Cost Of Living Index: 94 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.7 (33rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (22nd cheapest)
More on Ntna-College: Homes For Sale | Data

Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Tempe Hoods In 2022

In order to rank the cheapest places to live in Tempe, 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 58 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 Tempe." We're lookin' at you, Mcclintock.

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

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

As we mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Tempe aren't all cheap. University Park takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Tempe.

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

For more Arizona reading, check out:

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

Rank Neighborhood Cost Of Living Index
1 Mcclintock 99
2 Tempe Gardens 102
3 Superstition 103
4 Dava-Lakeshore 100
5 Knoell Gardens 87
6 Kyrene-Superstition 96
7 Baseline-Hardy 96
8 Wood Park 95
9 Cyprus Southwest 96
10 Ntna-College 94
11 Mach 8 101
12 Tempe Royal Estates 102
13 Pepperwood 97
14 Bell De Mar Crossing 102
15 Brentwood-Cavalier 106
16 Optimist Park Se 114
17 Ntna-Indian Bend 99
18 Sandahl 124
19 Alameda-Campus 109
20 Optimist Park Ne 109
21 Alta Mira 127
22 Escalante 92
23 Shalimar 105
24 Evergreen 106
25 Tally Ho Farms 130
26 Optimist Park Sw 108
27 Meyer Park 98
28 Optimist Park Nw 107
29 Kiwanis Park 104
30 Raintree 165
31 Tally Ho Farms North 165
32 Mitchell Park East 103
33 Mitchell Park West 99
34 Broadmor 117
35 Corona Del Sol 161
36 Warner Estates 145
37 Sunburst Farms 147
38 Mission Ridge 162
39 Duskfire Ii 122
40 University Estates 116
41 Daley Park 116
42 Rural-Geneva 102
43 Ntna-Canal Park 107
44 Estate La Colina 119
45 Camelot Village 118
46 Marilyn Ann 103
47 Alegre Community 94
48 Hughes Acres 104
49 Hudson Manor 96
50 Clark Park 103
51 Gililland 102
52 Holdeman 102
53 University Heights 97
54 Ntna-West Rio 105
55 Ntna-Cavalier Hills 106
56 Maple-Ash 121
57 Riverside 108
58 University Park 125

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