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 Grand Rapids might be more expensive than living in rural Michigan, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
What exactly are those Grand Rapids 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 Grand Rapids are the cheapest using Saturday Night Science.
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in Grand Rapids for 2024? According to the most recent census data, Black Hills looks to be the cheapest Grand Rapids 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 Grand Rapids. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates for more space and cheaper groceries.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Grand Rapids that deserve a little bragging rights, or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in Grand Rapids.
For more Michigan reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Michigan
- Cheapest Places To Live In Michigan
- 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 Grand Rapids For 2024
/10
Population: 590
Cost Of Living Index: 81 (cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.3 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.019 (18th cheapest)
More on Black Hills: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 739
Cost Of Living Index: 87 (11th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.1 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.014 (4th cheapest)
More on Cherry Run: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 17,372
Cost Of Living Index: 85 (5th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.9 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.019 (17th cheapest)
More on Garfield Park: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 11,928
Cost Of Living Index: 87 (11th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.5 (11th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (6th cheapest)
More on Westside Connection: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 2,019
Cost Of Living Index: 85 (5th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.0 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (20th cheapest)
More on Fuller Avenue: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 6,380
Cost Of Living Index: 83 (2nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.2 (6th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (23rd cheapest)
More on Roosevelt Park: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 4,344
Cost Of Living Index: 87 (11th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.4 (10th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.017 (10th cheapest)
More on Alger Heights: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 1,034
Cost Of Living Index: 92 (23rd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.0 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (5th cheapest)
More on Fulton Heights: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 3,324
Cost Of Living Index: 87 (11th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.3 (9th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (13th cheapest)
More on Highland Park: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 701
Cost Of Living Index: 91 (22nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.6 (14th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.008 (cheapest)
More on Eastgate: Data | Real Estate
Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Grand Rapids Hoods In 2024
To rank the cheapest places to live in Grand Rapids, 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 32 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 Grand Rapids.” We’re lookin’ at you, Black Hills.
We updated this article for 2024. This is our fourth time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in Grand Rapids. 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 Grand Rapids
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in Grand Rapids where prices are low, and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
The most affordable neighborhoods in Grand Rapids are Black Hills, Cherry Run, Garfield Park, Westside Connection, Fuller Avenue, Roosevelt Park, Alger Heights, Fulton Heights, Highland Park, and Eastgate.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Grand Rapids aren’t all cheap. Heartside takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Grand Rapids.
The most expensive neighborhoods in Grand Rapids are Heartside, Ottawa Hills, Heritage Hill, Belknap Lookout, and South Hill.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
For more Michigan reading, check out:
- Most Dangerous Places in Michigan
- Richest Cities In Michigan
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- Worst Places To Live In Michigan
Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Grand Rapids For 2024
| Rank | Neighborhood | Cost Of Living Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black Hills | 81 |
| 2 | Cherry Run | 87 |
| 3 | Garfield Park | 85 |
| 4 | Westside Connection | 87 |
| 5 | Fuller Avenue | 85 |
| 6 | Roosevelt Park | 83 |
| 7 | Alger Heights | 87 |
| 8 | Fulton Heights | 92 |
| 9 | Highland Park | 87 |
| 10 | Eastgate | 91 |
| 11 | South East End | 88 |
| 12 | Oakdale | 85 |
| 13 | Michgan Oaks | 95 |
| 14 | Creston | 89 |
| 15 | Baxter | 89 |
| 16 | Norteast Citizens Action | 95 |
| 17 | West Grand | 86 |
| 18 | John Ball Park | 89 |
| 19 | Madison Area | 85 |
| 20 | Midtown | 88 |
| 21 | East Hills | 93 |
| 22 | Millbrook | 87 |
| 23 | South East Community | 85 |
| 24 | Eastown | 97 |
| 25 | Auburn Hill | 90 |
| 26 | Swan | 88 |
| 27 | Ridgemoor | 100 |
| 28 | South Hill | 88 |
| 29 | Belknap Lookout | 95 |
| 30 | Heritage Hill | 96 |
| 31 | Ottawa Hills | 94 |
| 32 | Heartside | 102 |