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 Knoxville might be more expensive than living in rural Tennessee, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
What exactly are those Knoxville 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 Knoxville are the cheapest using Saturday Night Science.
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in Knoxville for 2024? According to the most recent census data, Parkridge looks to be the cheapest Knoxville 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 Knoxville. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates for more space and cheaper groceries.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Knoxville that deserve a little bragging rights, or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in Knoxville.
For more Tennessee reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Tennessee
- Cheapest Places To Live In Tennessee
- 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 Knoxville For 2024
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Population: 1,348
Cost Of Living Index: 76 (6th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.1 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.016 (4th cheapest)
More on Parkridge: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 1,498
Cost Of Living Index: 71 (cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.9 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.03 (12th cheapest)
More on Beaumont: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 2,878
Cost Of Living Index: 80 (10th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.5 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.016 (3rd cheapest)
More on Oakwood: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 1,596
Cost Of Living Index: 76 (6th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.7 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.023 (7th cheapest)
More on Belle Morris: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 9,556
Cost Of Living Index: 79 (9th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.6 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (6th cheapest)
More on South Knoxville: Data | Real Estate
Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Knoxville Hoods In 2024
To rank the cheapest places to live in Knoxville, 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 14 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 Knoxville.” We’re lookin’ at you, Parkridge.
We updated this article for 2024. This is our fourth time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in Knoxville. 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 Knoxville
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in Knoxville where prices are low, and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
The most affordable neighborhoods in Knoxville are Parkridge, Beaumont, Oakwood, Belle Morris, South Knoxville, Mornngside, Old North Knoxville, Mechanicsville, Fourth And Gill, and College Hills.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Knoxville aren’t all cheap. Old City takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Knoxville.
The most expensive neighborhoods in Knoxville are Old City, Downtown Knoxville, Park City, Old Sevier, and College Hills.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
For more Tennessee reading, check out:
- Most Dangerous Cities In Tennessee
- Richest Cities In Tennessee
- Safest Places In Tennessee
- Worst Places To Live In Tennessee
Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Knoxville For 2024
| Rank | Neighborhood | Cost Of Living Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parkridge | 76 |
| 2 | Beaumont | 71 |
| 3 | Oakwood | 80 |
| 4 | Belle Morris | 76 |
| 5 | South Knoxville | 79 |
| 6 | Mornngside | 74 |
| 7 | Old North Knoxville | 81 |
| 8 | Mechanicsville | 76 |
| 9 | Fourth And Gill | 85 |
| 10 | College Hills | 72 |
| 11 | Old Sevier | 77 |
| 12 | Park City | 75 |
| 13 | Downtown Knoxville | 99 |
| 14 | Old City | 100 |