The 10 Cheapest Wichita, KS Neighborhoods To Live In For 2022


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

So what exactly are those Wichita 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 Wichita are the cheapest.

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

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 Kansas reading, check out:

The 10 Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Wichita For 2022

1. South Area

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,666
Cost Of Living Index: 82 (20th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.4 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (6th cheapest)
More on South Area: Homes For Sale | Data

2. Riverside

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 7,195
Cost Of Living Index: 82 (20th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.7 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.014 (12th cheapest)
More on Riverside: Homes For Sale | Data

3. South City Community

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 7,076
Cost Of Living Index: 82 (20th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.7 (7th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.014 (14th cheapest)
More on South City Community: Homes For Sale | Data

4. Pueblo

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 6,339
Cost Of Living Index: 82 (20th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.9 (2cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.014 (13th cheapest)
More on Pueblo: Homes For Sale | Data

5. Planeview United

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 3,956
Cost Of Living Index: 80 (6th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.7 (10th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (44th cheapest)
More on Planeview United: Homes For Sale | Data

6. Pleasant Valley

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 1,009
Cost Of Living Index: 86 (42nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.8 (16th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.007 (4th cheapest)
More on Pleasant Valley: Homes For Sale | Data

7. Hilltop

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 1,507
Cost Of Living Index: 77 (cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 0.9 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.026 (60th cheapest)
More on Hilltop: Homes For Sale | Data

8. Oakview

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 1,529
Cost Of Living Index: 78 (2nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 0.9 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.026 (62nd cheapest)
More on Oakview: Homes For Sale | Data

9. Sherwood Glen

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 1,574
Cost Of Living Index: 88 (5cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.8 (16th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.007 (4th cheapest)
More on Sherwood Glen: Homes For Sale | Data

10. Linwood

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 1,109
Cost Of Living Index: 78 (2nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.7 (6th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.026 (63rd cheapest)
More on Linwood: Homes For Sale | Data

Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Wichita Hoods In 2022

In order to rank the cheapest places to live in Wichita, 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 72 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 Wichita." We're lookin' at you, South Area.

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

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

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

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

For more Kansas reading, check out:

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

Rank Neighborhood Cost Of Living Index
1 South Area 82
2 Riverside 82
3 South City Community 82
4 Pueblo 82
5 Planeview United 80
6 Pleasant Valley 86
7 Hilltop 77
8 Oakview 78
9 Sherwood Glen 88
10 Linwood 78
11 Sleepy Hollow 88
12 Orchard Park 86
13 Southwest Village 86
14 Macdonald 85
15 Southwest 84
16 Schweiter 82
17 Chisholm Creek 85
18 North Riverside 85
19 Meadowlark 86
20 Sunflower 81
21 Country Overlook 87
22 Matlock Heights 81
23 South Central Improvemen 81
24 Power 81
25 Fabrique 83
26 Longview 92
27 Crown Heights 91
28 Indian Hills 83
29 Mccormick 82
30 Historic Midtown 82
31 Ken-Mar 82
32 La Placita Park 84
33 New Salem 79
34 Schweiter East 82
35 East Mt Vernon Na 86
36 Westlink 86
37 Hilltop-Jefferson 92
38 Mead 85
39 Stanley-Aley 84
40 Northwest Big River 92
41 Indian Hills Riverbend 90
42 Benjamin Hills 89
43 K-15 88
44 Kellogg School 81
45 North Central 80
46 Delano 85
47 Murdock 81
48 Northeast Millair 81
49 Northeast Heights 85
50 The Elm 82
51 Sunnyside 86
52 College Hill 94
53 Mcadams 81
54 Park Meadows 97
55 Harrison Park Rk 98
56 Cottonwood Village 92
57 East Front 87
58 Brookhollow 97
59 Delano Township 109
60 Fairmount 83
61 Courtland 94
62 Eastridge 86
63 Rockhurst 100
64 Village 97
65 Central 2000 84
66 Crown Heights South 93
67 Comotara Mainsgate Villa 96
68 Orchard Breeze 87
69 Uptown 89
70 Grandview Heights 93
71 Jones Park 86
72 Lambsdale 95

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

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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