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 Buffalo might be more expensive than living in rural New York, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
What exactly are those Buffalo 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 Buffalo are the cheapest using Saturday Night Science.
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in Buffalo for 2024? According to the most recent census data, Cold Spring looks to be the cheapest Buffalo 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 Buffalo. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates for more space and cheaper groceries.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Buffalo that deserve a little bragging rights, or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in Buffalo.
For more New York reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In New York
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Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Buffalo For 2024
/10
Population: 1,237
Cost Of Living Index: 77 (10th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.6 (6th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (12th cheapest)
More on Cold Spring: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 3,476
Cost Of Living Index: 83 (37th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.5 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.01 (cheapest)
More on South Abbott: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 5,454
Cost Of Living Index: 78 (16th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.7 (9th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.017 (17th cheapest)
More on Kaisertown: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 1,045
Cost Of Living Index: 78 (16th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.5 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.019 (24th cheapest)
More on Tifft: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 3,806
Cost Of Living Index: 80 (28th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.7 (13th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.013 (7th cheapest)
More on Triangle: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 5,836
Cost Of Living Index: 79 (24th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.9 (18th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.014 (8th cheapest)
More on South Park: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 5,495
Cost Of Living Index: 75 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.7 (12th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.022 (34th cheapest)
More on Grider: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 7,076
Cost Of Living Index: 83 (37th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.7 (14th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (2nd cheapest)
More on Abbott Mckinley: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 7,136
Cost Of Living Index: 78 (16th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.6 (7th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (30th cheapest)
More on Kenfield: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 2,652
Cost Of Living Index: 77 (10th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.6 (8th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.022 (37th cheapest)
More on Kingsley: Data | Real Estate
Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Buffalo Hoods In 2024
To rank the cheapest places to live in Buffalo, 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 52 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 Buffalo.” We’re lookin’ at you, Cold Spring.
We updated this article for 2024. This is our fourth time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in Buffalo. 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 Buffalo
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in Buffalo where prices are low, and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
The most affordable neighborhoods in Buffalo are Cold Spring, South Abbott, Kaisertown, Tifft, Triangle, South Park, Grider, Abbott McKinley, Kenfield, and Kingsley.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Buffalo aren’t all cheap. Lakeview takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Buffalo.
The most expensive neighborhoods in Buffalo are Lakeview, Bryant, Columbus, Front Park, and Central Business District.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
For more New York reading, check out:
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Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Buffalo For 2024
| Rank | Neighborhood | Cost Of Living Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cold Spring | 77 |
| 2 | South Abbott | 83 |
| 3 | Kaisertown | 78 |
| 4 | Tifft | 78 |
| 5 | Triangle | 80 |
| 6 | South Park | 79 |
| 7 | Grider | 75 |
| 8 | Abbott Mckinley | 83 |
| 9 | Kenfield | 78 |
| 10 | Kingsley | 77 |
| 11 | Broadway-Fillmore | 74 |
| 12 | Lovejoy | 77 |
| 13 | First Ward | 74 |
| 14 | Kensington | 79 |
| 15 | Genesee Moselle | 78 |
| 16 | Medical Park | 80 |
| 17 | Mlk Park | 76 |
| 18 | Valley | 78 |
| 19 | South Ellicott | 77 |
| 20 | Hamlin Park | 81 |
| 21 | Emslie | 76 |
| 22 | Emerson | 75 |
| 23 | University | 82 |
| 24 | Military | 79 |
| 25 | Schiller Park | 78 |
| 26 | Seneca | 82 |
| 27 | Babcock | 76 |
| 28 | Grant Ferry | 82 |
| 29 | Cazenovia Park | 82 |
| 30 | Lasalle | 82 |
| 31 | Black Rock | 79 |
| 32 | Starin Central | 96 |
| 33 | Riverside Park | 78 |
| 34 | Leroy | 79 |
| 35 | Squaw Island | 76 |
| 36 | North Park | 90 |
| 37 | Parkside | 97 |
| 38 | Delaware Park | 94 |
| 39 | Forest | 84 |
| 40 | Masten Park | 79 |
| 41 | Park Meadow | 105 |
| 42 | Delaware-West Ferry | 92 |
| 43 | Willert Park | 78 |
| 44 | North Delaware | 86 |
| 45 | Waterfront | 114 |
| 46 | Albright | 105 |
| 47 | Allen | 97 |
| 48 | Central Business District | 98 |
| 49 | Front Park | 84 |
| 50 | Columbus | 83 |
| 51 | Bryant | 90 |
| 52 | Lakeview | 82 |