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 Raleigh might be more expensive than living in rural North Carolina, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
What exactly are those Raleigh 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 Raleigh are the cheapest using Saturday Night Science.
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in Raleigh for 2024? According to the most recent census data, Northeast looks to be the cheapest Raleigh 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 Raleigh. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates for more space and cheaper groceries.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Raleigh that deserve a little bragging rights, or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in Raleigh.
For more North Carolina reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In North Carolina
- Cheapest Places To Live In North Carolina
- 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 Raleigh For 2024
/10
Population: 87,424
Cost Of Living Index: 93 (6th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.7 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.017 (9th cheapest)
More on Northeast: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 17,197
Cost Of Living Index: 88 (2nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.1 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (12th cheapest)
More on South: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 76,649
Cost Of Living Index: 104 (11th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.3 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.011 (4th cheapest)
More on North: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 28,074
Cost Of Living Index: 89 (3rd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.8 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.022 (16th cheapest)
More on Southeast: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 5,599
Cost Of Living Index: 101 (8th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.0 (10th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (5th cheapest)
More on North Central: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 37,998
Cost Of Living Index: 93 (6th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.3 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (14th cheapest)
More on West: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 8,669
Cost Of Living Index: 132 (17th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.0 (8th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.008 (cheapest)
More on Five Points: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 81,974
Cost Of Living Index: 107 (14th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.5 (7th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (6th cheapest)
More on Northwest: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 22,629
Cost Of Living Index: 90 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.4 (6th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.024 (17th cheapest)
More on Southwest: Data | Real Estate
/10
Population: 8,325
Cost Of Living Index: 144 (18th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.0 (9th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.009 (2nd cheapest)
More on Glenwood: Data | Real Estate
Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Raleigh Hoods In 2024
To rank the cheapest places to live in Raleigh, 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 18 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 Raleigh.” We’re lookin’ at you, Northeast.
We updated this article for 2024. This is our fourth time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in Raleigh. 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 Raleigh
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in Raleigh where prices are low, and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
The most affordable neighborhoods in Raleigh are Northeast, South, North, Southeast, North Central, West, Five Points, Northwest, Southwest, and Glenwood.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Raleigh aren’t all cheap. Hillsborough takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Raleigh.
The most expensive neighborhoods in Raleigh are Hillsborough, South Central, Falls Of Neuse, East Raleigh, and Central.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
For more North Carolina reading, check out:
- Most Dangerous Cities In North Carolina
- Richest Cities In North Carolina
- Safest Cities in North Carolina
- Worst Places To Live In North Carolina
Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Raleigh For 2024
| Rank | Neighborhood | Cost Of Living Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northeast | 93 |
| 2 | South | 88 |
| 3 | North | 104 |
| 4 | Southeast | 89 |
| 5 | North Central | 101 |
| 6 | West | 93 |
| 7 | Five Points | 132 |
| 8 | Northwest | 107 |
| 9 | Southwest | 90 |
| 10 | Glenwood | 144 |
| 11 | Mordecai | 106 |
| 12 | Wade | 117 |
| 13 | Six Forks | 119 |
| 14 | Central | 102 |
| 15 | East Raleigh | 94 |
| 16 | Falls Of Neuse | 106 |
| 17 | South Central | 88 |
| 18 | Hillsborough | 101 |