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 Dayton might be more expensive than living in rural Ohio, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
What exactly are those Dayton 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 Dayton are the cheapest using Saturday Night Science.
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in Dayton for 2024? According to the most recent census data, Mccook Field looks to be the cheapest Dayton 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 Dayton. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates for more space and cheaper groceries.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Dayton that deserve a little bragging rights, or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in Dayton.
For more Ohio reading, check out:
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Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Dayton For 2024
1. McCook Field
/10
Population: 789
Cost Of Living Index: 75 (3rd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 0.5 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.011 (9th cheapest)
More on Mccook Field: Real Estate
2. Arlington Heights
/10
Population: 443
Cost Of Living Index: 74 (2nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 0.8 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (10th cheapest)
More on Arlington Heights: Real Estate
3. Northern Hills
/10
Population: 1,706
Cost Of Living Index: 76 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.7 (18th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.01 (6th cheapest)
More on Northern Hills: Real Estate
4. Five Oaks
/10
Population: 2,500
Cost Of Living Index: 77 (6th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.6 (10th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (15th cheapest)
More on Five Oaks: Real Estate
5. Southern Dayton View
/10
Population: 2,229
Cost Of Living Index: 78 (8th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.3 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.016 (20th cheapest)
More on Southern Dayton View: Real Estate
6. Dayton View Triangle
/10
Population: 1,763
Cost Of Living Index: 80 (17th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.7 (17th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.007 (cheapest)
More on Dayton View Triangle: Real Estate
7. Fairlane
/10
Population: 1,546
Cost Of Living Index: 80 (17th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.8 (22nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.01 (7th cheapest)
More on Fairlane: Real Estate
8. Hearthstone
/10
Population: 1,995
Cost Of Living Index: 81 (24th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.6 (11th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.014 (14th cheapest)
More on Hearthstone: Real Estate
9. Lakeview
/10
Population: 1,574
Cost Of Living Index: 73 (cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 0.3 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.028 (5cheapest)
More on Lakeview: Real Estate
10. Old North Dayton
/10
Population: 5,559
Cost Of Living Index: 79 (11th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.9 (27th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (30th cheapest)
More on Old North Dayton: Real Estate
Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Dayton Hoods In 2024
To rank the cheapest places to live in Dayton, 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 64 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 Dayton.” We’re lookin’ at you, Mccook Field.
We updated this article for 2024. This is our fourth time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in Dayton. 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 Dayton
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in Dayton where prices are low, and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
The most affordable neighborhoods in Dayton are McCook Field, Arlington Heights, Northern Hills, Five Oaks, Southern Dayton View, Dayton View Triangle, Fairlane, Hearthstone, Lakeview, and Old North Dayton.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Dayton aren’t all cheap. Downtown takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Dayton.
The most expensive neighborhoods in Dayton are Downtown, Webster Station, Oregon, Midtown, and South Park.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
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Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Dayton For 2024
| Rank | Neighborhood | Cost Of Living Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mccook Field | 75 |
| 2 | Arlington Heights | 74 |
| 3 | Northern Hills | 76 |
| 4 | Five Oaks | 77 |
| 5 | Southern Dayton View | 78 |
| 6 | Dayton View Triangle | 80 |
| 7 | Fairlane | 80 |
| 8 | Hearthstone | 81 |
| 9 | Lakeview | 73 |
| 10 | Old North Dayton | 79 |
| 11 | Eastern Hills | 82 |
| 12 | Roosevelt | 76 |
| 13 | Old Dayton View | 80 |
| 14 | Greenwich Village | 78 |
| 15 | Princeton Heights | 85 |
| 16 | Forest Ridge-Quail Hollow | 89 |
| 17 | Pineview | 79 |
| 18 | West Wood | 80 |
| 19 | Patterson Park | 89 |
| 20 | Kittyhawk | 82 |
| 21 | Wright View | 82 |
| 22 | Linden Heights | 84 |
| 23 | Twin Towers | 80 |
| 24 | Historic Inner East | 82 |
| 25 | Eastmont | 86 |
| 26 | Madden Hills | 79 |
| 27 | Germantown Meadows | 83 |
| 28 | Carillon | 81 |
| 29 | Edgemont | 78 |
| 30 | University Row | 85 |
| 31 | College Hill | 83 |
| 32 | Deweese | 86 |
| 33 | Shroyer Park | 87 |
| 34 | Pheasant Hill | 94 |
| 35 | Wolf Creek | 81 |
| 36 | Miami Chapel | 80 |
| 37 | Springfield | 85 |
| 38 | Fairview | 81 |
| 39 | Little Richmond | 82 |
| 40 | Cornell Heights | 82 |
| 41 | University Park | 87 |
| 42 | Five Points | 82 |
| 43 | Santa Clara | 82 |
| 44 | Gateway | 98 |
| 45 | Hillcrest | 82 |
| 46 | Stoney Ridge | 80 |
| 47 | Highview Hills | 80 |
| 48 | North Riverdale | 81 |
| 49 | Northridge Estates | 86 |
| 50 | Residence Park | 81 |
| 51 | Walnut Hills | 87 |
| 52 | Belmont | 87 |
| 53 | Mcpherson | 93 |
| 54 | Mount Vernon | 83 |
| 55 | Wesleyan Hill | 80 |
| 56 | Philadelphia Woods | 85 |
| 57 | Burkhardt | 82 |
| 58 | Grafton Hill | 87 |
| 59 | Riverdale | 82 |
| 60 | South Park | 89 |
| 61 | Midtown | 85 |
| 62 | Oregon | 94 |
| 63 | Webster Station | 96 |
| 64 | Downtown | 97 |