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 Eugene might be more expensive than living in rural Oregon, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
What exactly are those Eugene 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 Eugene are the cheapest using Saturday Night Science.
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in Eugene for 2024? According to the most recent census data, Active Bethel looks to be the cheapest Eugene 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 Eugene. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates for more space and cheaper groceries.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Eugene that deserve a little bragging rights, or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in Eugene.
For more Oregon reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Oregon
- Cheapest Places To Live In Oregon
- Cheapest Cities To Live In America
- Cheapest States To Live In America
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Eugene For 2024
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Population: 26,225
Cost Of Living Index: 105 (3rd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.2 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.022 (15th cheapest)
More on Active Bethel: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 4,394
Cost Of Living Index: 106 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.7 (10th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (6th cheapest)
More on West Eugene: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 9,308
Cost Of Living Index: 117 (14th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.4 (7th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.011 (cheapest)
More on Churchill Area: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 11,883
Cost Of Living Index: 120 (16th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.1 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (4th cheapest)
More on Southeast: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 17,963
Cost Of Living Index: 116 (13th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.8 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.019 (8th cheapest)
More on Santa Clara: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 1,299
Cost Of Living Index: 104 (2nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.3 (6th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.025 (17th cheapest)
More on Trainsong: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 14,597
Cost Of Living Index: 110 (8th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.3 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (14th cheapest)
More on River Road: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 4,506
Cost Of Living Index: 107 (6th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.4 (12th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.019 (9th cheapest)
More on Far West: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 591
Cost Of Living Index: 134 (20th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.3 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.014 (3rd cheapest)
More on Laurel Hill Valley: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 3,315
Cost Of Living Index: 114 (10th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.6 (8th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.019 (11th cheapest)
More on Industrial Corridor: Data | Real Estate
Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Eugene Hoods In 2024
To rank the cheapest places to live in Eugene, 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 21 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 Eugene.” We’re lookin’ at you, Active Bethel.
We updated this article for 2024. This is our fourth time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in Eugene. 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 Eugene
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in Eugene where prices are low, and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
The most affordable neighborhoods in Eugene are Active Bethel, West Eugene, Churchill Area, Southeast, Santa Clara, Trainsong, River Road, Far West, Laurel Hill Valley, and Industrial Corridor.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Eugene aren’t all cheap. South University takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Eugene.
The most expensive neighborhoods in Eugene are South University, Fairmount, Downtown, Jefferson Westside, and U Of O Campus.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
For more Oregon reading, check out:
- Most Dangerous Cities In Oregon
- Richest Cities In Oregon
- Safest Places In Oregon
- Worst Places To Live In Oregon
Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Eugene For 2024
| Rank | Neighborhood | Cost Of Living Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Active Bethel | 105 |
| 2 | West Eugene | 106 |
| 3 | Churchill Area | 117 |
| 4 | Southeast | 120 |
| 5 | Santa Clara | 116 |
| 6 | Trainsong | 104 |
| 7 | River Road | 110 |
| 8 | Far West | 107 |
| 9 | Laurel Hill Valley | 134 |
| 10 | Industrial Corridor | 114 |
| 11 | Crest Drive | 122 |
| 12 | Cal Young | 115 |
| 13 | Harlow | 114 |
| 14 | Amazon | 129 |
| 15 | Whiteaker | 107 |
| 16 | Friendly Area | 121 |
| 17 | U Of O Campus | 103 |
| 18 | Jefferson Westside | 115 |
| 19 | Downtown | 109 |
| 20 | Fairmount | 136 |
| 21 | South University | 120 |