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 Fresno might be more expensive than living in rural California, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
What exactly are those Fresno 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 Fresno are the cheapest using Saturday Night Science.
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in Fresno for 2024? According to the most recent census data, South Growth Area looks to be the cheapest Fresno 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 Fresno. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates for more space and cheaper groceries.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Fresno that deserve a little bragging rights, or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in Fresno.
For more California reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In California
- Cheapest Places To Live In California
- 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 Fresno For 2024
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Population: 3,848
Cost Of Living Index: 113 (8th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.0 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.019 (5th cheapest)
More on South Growth Area: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 123,984
Cost Of Living Index: 100 (3rd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.7 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (7th cheapest)
More on Roosevelt: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 58,391
Cost Of Living Index: 122 (10th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.6 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.016 (cheapest)
More on Woodward Park: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 39,506
Cost Of Living Index: 104 (6th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.5 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.022 (8th cheapest)
More on West: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 56,759
Cost Of Living Index: 101 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.5 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.025 (10th cheapest)
More on Fresno-High: Data | Real Estate
Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Fresno Hoods In 2024
To rank the cheapest places to live in Fresno, 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 12 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 Fresno.” We’re lookin’ at you, South Growth Area.
We updated this article for 2024. This is our fourth time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in Fresno. 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 Fresno
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in Fresno where prices are low, and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
The most affordable neighborhoods in Fresno are South Growth Area, Roosevelt, Woodward Park, West, Fresno-High, Bullard, Mclane, Hoover, Southeast Growth Area, and Edison.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Fresno aren’t all cheap. Central takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Fresno.
The most expensive neighborhoods in Fresno are Central, North Growth Area, Edison, Southeast Growth Area, and Hoover.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
For more California reading, check out:
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Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Fresno For 2024
| Rank | Neighborhood | Cost Of Living Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Growth Area | 113 |
| 2 | Roosevelt | 100 |
| 3 | Woodward Park | 122 |
| 4 | West | 104 |
| 5 | Fresno-High | 101 |
| 6 | Bullard | 116 |
| 7 | Mclane | 101 |
| 8 | Hoover | 106 |
| 9 | Southeast Growth Area | 124 |
| 10 | Edison | 99 |
| 11 | North Growth Area | 138 |
| 12 | Central | 95 |