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 Houston might be more expensive than living in rural Texas, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
What exactly are those Houston 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 Houston are the cheapest using Saturday Night Science.
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in Houston for 2024? According to the most recent census data, Pasadina looks to be the cheapest Houston 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 Houston. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates for more space and cheaper groceries.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Houston that deserve a little bragging rights, or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in Houston.
For more Texas reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Texas
- Cheapest Places To Live In Texas
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- Cheapest States To Live In America
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Houston For 2024
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Population: 143,203
Cost Of Living Index: 91 (8th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.9 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (9th cheapest)
More on Pasadina: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 90,207
Cost Of Living Index: 99 (13th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.1 (6th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.008 (4th cheapest)
More on Far Northeast: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 59,742
Cost Of Living Index: 83 (cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.7 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.025 (26th cheapest)
More on Far North: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 69,368
Cost Of Living Index: 100 (14th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.6 (9th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.011 (7th cheapest)
More on Meyerland: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 129,659
Cost Of Living Index: 84 (2nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.0 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.022 (24th cheapest)
More on Northeast: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 125,992
Cost Of Living Index: 88 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.0 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (23rd cheapest)
More on Sugarland: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 261,757
Cost Of Living Index: 88 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.4 (7th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (19th cheapest)
More on Southeast: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 108,921
Cost Of Living Index: 91 (8th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.1 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (20th cheapest)
More on Southwest: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 119,685
Cost Of Living Index: 87 (3rd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.6 (8th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (22nd cheapest)
More on North: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 138,832
Cost Of Living Index: 92 (10th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.7 (10th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.016 (16th cheapest)
More on Northwest: Data | Real Estate
Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Houston Hoods In 2024
To rank the cheapest places to live in Houston, 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 26 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 Houston.” We’re lookin’ at you, Pasadina.
We updated this article for 2024. This is our fourth time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in Houston. 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 Houston
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in Houston where prices are low, and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
The most affordable neighborhoods in Houston are Pasadina, Far Northeast, Far North, Meyerland, Northeast, Sugarland, Southeast, Southwest, North, and Northwest.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Houston aren’t all cheap. Westchase takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Houston.
The most expensive neighborhoods in Houston are Westchase, River Oaks, Midtown, Greater Memorial, and Montrose.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
For more Texas reading, check out:
- Most Dangerous Places In Texas
- Richest Cities In Texas
- Safest Places In Texas
- Worst Places To Live In Texas
Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Houston For 2024
| Rank | Neighborhood | Cost Of Living Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pasadina | 91 |
| 2 | Far Northeast | 99 |
| 3 | Far North | 83 |
| 4 | Meyerland | 100 |
| 5 | Northeast | 84 |
| 6 | Sugarland | 88 |
| 7 | Southeast | 88 |
| 8 | Southwest | 91 |
| 9 | North | 87 |
| 10 | Northwest | 92 |
| 11 | East End | 89 |
| 12 | Bellaire | 96 |
| 13 | West Houston | 106 |
| 14 | Greater Heights | 121 |
| 15 | Medical | 105 |
| 16 | Downtown | 94 |
| 17 | Spring Branch | 103 |
| 18 | Rice Military | 127 |
| 19 | Rice | 148 |
| 20 | West University | 167 |
| 21 | Galleria-Uptown | 127 |
| 22 | Montrose | 124 |
| 23 | Greater Memorial | 175 |
| 24 | Midtown | 108 |
| 25 | River Oaks | 152 |
| 26 | Westchase | 92 |