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 Little Rock might be more expensive than living in rural Arkansas, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
What exactly are those Little Rock 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 Little Rock are the cheapest using Saturday Night Science.
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in Little Rock for 2024? According to the most recent census data, Big Dickinson Lake looks to be the cheapest Little Rock 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 Little Rock. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates for more space and cheaper groceries.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Little Rock that deserve a little bragging rights, or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in Little Rock.
For more Arkansas reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Arkansas
- Cheapest Places To Live In Arkansas
- 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 Little Rock For 2024
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Population: 750
Cost Of Living Index: 86 (7th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.0 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (12th cheapest)
More on Big Dickinson Lake: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 1,711
Cost Of Living Index: 86 (7th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.4 (8th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.016 (7th cheapest)
More on South Geyer Springs: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 3,738
Cost Of Living Index: 86 (7th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.2 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (14th cheapest)
More on 65th Street West: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 6,314
Cost Of Living Index: 87 (10th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.3 (6th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (10th cheapest)
More on Cloverdale Watson: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 2,787
Cost Of Living Index: 84 (2nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.2 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.025 (25th cheapest)
More on South End: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 11,175
Cost Of Living Index: 86 (7th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.2 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.023 (20th cheapest)
More on Upper Baseline: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 7,104
Cost Of Living Index: 97 (22nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.3 (7th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (2nd cheapest)
More on Reservoir: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 3,017
Cost Of Living Index: 86 (7th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.3 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.023 (2cheapest)
More on Wakefield: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 8,651
Cost Of Living Index: 88 (12th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.5 (9th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.019 (13th cheapest)
More on Chicot West: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 1,859
Cost Of Living Index: 82 (cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.2 (20th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.023 (18th cheapest)
More on Central High: Data | Real Estate
Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Little Rock Hoods In 2024
To rank the cheapest places to live in Little Rock, 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 27 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 Little Rock.” We’re lookin’ at you, Big Dickinson Lake.
We updated this article for 2024. This is our fourth time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in Little Rock. 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 Little Rock
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in Little Rock where prices are low, and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
The most affordable neighborhoods in Little Rock are Big Dickinson Lake, South Geyer Springs, 65th Street West, Cloverdale Watson, South End, Upper Baseline, Reservoir, Wakefield, Chicot West, and Central High.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Little Rock aren’t all cheap. Westwood-Pecan Lake takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Little Rock.
The most expensive neighborhoods in Little Rock are Westwood-Pecan Lake, Downtown, Capital View-Stiff, Heights, and Hillcrest.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
For more Arkansas reading, check out:
- Most Dangerous Places in Arkansas
- Richest Cities In Arkansas
- Safest Places In Arkansas
- Worst Places To Live In Arkansas
Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Little Rock For 2024
| Rank | Neighborhood | Cost Of Living Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Dickinson Lake | 86 |
| 2 | South Geyer Springs | 86 |
| 3 | 65th Street West | 86 |
| 4 | Cloverdale Watson | 87 |
| 5 | South End | 84 |
| 6 | Upper Baseline | 86 |
| 7 | Reservoir | 97 |
| 8 | Wakefield | 86 |
| 9 | Chicot West | 88 |
| 10 | Central High | 82 |
| 11 | Oak Forest | 85 |
| 12 | Stephens | 87 |
| 13 | River Mountain | 104 |
| 14 | East Of I-30 | 85 |
| 15 | Briarwood | 94 |
| 16 | Otter Creek Crystal | 91 |
| 17 | Midtown | 98 |
| 18 | John Barrow | 89 |
| 19 | Rock Creek | 100 |
| 20 | West Markham | 95 |
| 21 | Walnut Valley | 95 |
| 22 | Boyle Park | 91 |
| 23 | Hillcrest | 105 |
| 24 | Heights | 122 |
| 25 | Capital View-Stiff | 96 |
| 26 | Downtown | 93 |
| 27 | Westwood-Pecan Lake | 93 |