Everything else equal, 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 Boston might be more expensive than living in rural Massachusetts, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
What exactly are those Boston 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 determine which neighborhoods in Boston are the cheapest using Saturday Night Science.
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in Boston for 2024? According to the most recent census data, Hyde Park looks to be the cheapest Boston 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 Boston. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates for more space and cheaper groceries.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Boston that deserve a little bragging rights, or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in Boston.
For more Massachusetts reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Massachusetts
- Cheapest Places To Live In Massachusetts
- Cheapest Cities To Live In America
- Cheapest States To Live In America
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 5 Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Boston For 2024
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Population: 38,370
Cost Of Living Index: 130 (6th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.1 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.017 (3rd cheapest)
More on Hyde Park: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 33,915
Cost Of Living Index: 140 (11th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.6 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (cheapest)
More on West Roxbury: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 31,348
Cost Of Living Index: 128 (5th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.5 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (9th cheapest)
More on Roslindale: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 38,280
Cost Of Living Index: 127 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.9 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.03 (16th cheapest)
More on Fenway-Kenmore: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 19,678
Cost Of Living Index: 147 (13th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 6.0 (7th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.016 (2nd cheapest)
More on Charlestown: Data | Real Estate
Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Boston Hoods In 2024
To rank the cheapest places to live in Boston, we had to determine what criteria define “cheap” and then apply Saturday Night Science.
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 16 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 Boston.” We’re lookin’ at you, Hyde Park.
We updated this article for 2024. This is our fourth time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in Boston. 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 Boston
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in Boston where prices are low, and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
The most affordable neighborhoods in Boston are Hyde Park, West Roxbury, Roslindale, Fenway-Kenmore, Charlestown, South Boston, Allston-Brighton, North Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, and Mattapan.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Boston aren’t all cheap. South End takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Boston.
The most expensive neighborhoods in Boston are South End, Back Bay-Beacon Hill, Roxbury, South Dorchester, and Central.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
For more Massachusetts reading, check out:
- Most Dangerous Cities In Massachusetts
- Richest Cities In Massachusetts
- Safest Places In Massachusetts
- Worst Places To Live In Massachusetts
Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Boston For 2024
| Rank | Neighborhood | Cost Of Living Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hyde Park | 130 |
| 2 | West Roxbury | 140 |
| 3 | Roslindale | 128 |
| 4 | Fenway-Kenmore | 127 |
| 5 | Charlestown | 147 |
| 6 | South Boston | 141 |
| 7 | Allston-Brighton | 134 |
| 8 | North Dorchester | 136 |
| 9 | Jamaica Plain | 139 |
| 10 | Mattapan | 122 |
| 11 | East Boston | 127 |
| 12 | Central | 169 |
| 13 | South Dorchester | 137 |
| 14 | Roxbury | 124 |
| 15 | Back Bay-Beacon Hill | 190 |
| 16 | South End | 161 |