The 10 Cheapest Richmond, VA Neighborhoods To Live In For 2024


The cheapest Richmond neighborhoods are Upper Shockoe Valley and Cullenwood for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

By: Chris Kolmar | About HomeSnacks
Last Updated: January 27, 2024
Worst Neighborhoods In Richmond
Source: Wikipedia User CoredesatChikai | CC BY-SA 2.0

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 Richmond might be more expensive than living in rural Virginia, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.

What exactly are those Richmond 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 Richmond are the cheapest using Saturday Night Science.

The Cheapest Neighborhoods In Richmond For 2024

  1. Upper Shockoe Valley
  2. Cullenwood
  3. Edgewood
  4. Broad Rock Industrial Park
  5. Cherry Gardens
  6. McGuire
  7. Worthington
  8. Deerbourne
  9. Parnell Industrial Area
  10. Oakwood Cemetery

What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in Richmond for 2024? According to the most recent census data, Upper Shockoe Valley looks to be the cheapest Richmond 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 Richmond. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates for more space and cheaper groceries.

Read on to see how we determined the places around Richmond that deserve a little bragging rights, or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in Richmond.

For more Virginia reading, check out:

Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table

The 10 Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Richmond For 2024

1. Upper Shockoe Valley

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 2,348
Cost Of Living Index: 82 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.9 (33rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.01 (cheapest)
More on Upper Shockoe Valley: Data | Real Estate

2. Cullenwood

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 376
Cost Of Living Index: 93 (49th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.4 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.013 (13th cheapest)
More on Cullenwood: Data | Real Estate

3. Edgewood

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 692
Cost Of Living Index: 90 (26th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.7 (23rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.014 (18th cheapest)
More on Edgewood: Data | Real Estate

4. Broad Rock Industrial Park

Overall SnackAbility

2
/10

Population: 1,460
Cost Of Living Index: 83 (8th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.4 (14th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.019 (52nd cheapest)
More on Broad Rock Industrial Park: Data | Real Estate

5. Cherry Gardens

Overall SnackAbility

/10

Population: 208
Cost Of Living Index: 92 (40th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.8 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.017 (40th cheapest)
More on Cherry Gardens: Data | Real Estate

6. McGuire

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 836
Cost Of Living Index: 89 (20th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.5 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (67th cheapest)
More on Mcguire: Data | Real Estate

7. Worthington

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 1,102
Cost Of Living Index: 91 (32nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.3 (13th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (47th cheapest)
More on Worthington: Data | Real Estate

8. Deerbourne

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 802
Cost Of Living Index: 92 (40th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.2 (9th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (48th cheapest)
More on Deerbourne: Data | Real Estate

9. Parnell Industrial Area

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 1,324
Cost Of Living Index: 89 (20th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.6 (18th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (6cheapest)
More on Parnell Industrial Area: Data | Real Estate

10. Oakwood Cemetery

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 1,432
Cost Of Living Index: 89 (20th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.2 (8th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.022 (74th cheapest)
More on Oakwood Cemetery: Data | Real Estate

Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Richmond Hoods In 2024

To rank the cheapest places to live in Richmond, 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 122 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 Richmond.” We’re lookin’ at you, Upper Shockoe Valley.

We updated this article for 2024. This is our fourth time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in Richmond. 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 Richmond

If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in Richmond where prices are low, and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.

The most affordable neighborhoods in Richmond are Upper Shockoe Valley, Cullenwood, Edgewood, Broad Rock Industrial Park, Cherry Gardens, McGuire, Worthington, Deerbourne, Parnell Industrial Area, and Oakwood Cemetery.

As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Richmond aren’t all cheap. Vcu takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Richmond.

The most expensive neighborhoods in Richmond are Vcu, Shockoe Slip, Bryan Park, Laburnum Park, and Shockoe Bottom.

We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.

For more Virginia reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Richmond For 2024

Rank Neighborhood Cost Of Living Index
1 Upper Shockoe Valley 82
2 Cullenwood 93
3 Edgewood 90
4 Broad Rock Industrial Park 83
5 Cherry Gardens 92
6 Mcguire 89
7 Worthington 91
8 Deerbourne 92
9 Parnell Industrial Area 89
10 Oakwood Cemetery 89
11 Oakwood 89
12 Westover Hills West 100
13 Westover Hills 104
14 Belt Center 92
15 Biotech And Mcv District 87
16 Mcguire Manor 91
17 Woodhaven 91
18 Swanson 92
19 Warwick 92
20 Pocoshock 92
21 Bellemeade 85
22 Creighton 82
23 Forest Hill 108
24 Chamberlayne Industrial Center 92
25 Gravel Hill 100
26 Fairfield 82
27 Blackwell 93
28 Swansboro West 89
29 Three Chopt 130
30 Virginia Union 95
31 Woodville 86
32 Peter Paul 86
33 Church Hill North 93
34 Midlothian 90
35 Willow Oaks 104
36 Old Town Manchester 94
37 Providence Park 89
38 Davee Gardens 89
39 Woodland Heights 99
40 Mosby 73
41 Forest Hill Terrace 105
42 Brookland Park 94
43 British Camp Farms 93
44 Forest View 104
45 Westover 94
46 Southern Barton Heights 95
47 Monument Avenue Park 111
48 Highland Terrace 88
49 Hickory Hill 92
50 Northern Barton Heights 96
51 Stratford Hills 105
52 Stadium 98
53 Oak Grove 86
54 Eastview 82
55 Bellevue 111
56 Windsor 97
57 Colonial Place 125
58 Magnolia Industrial Center 90
59 Ginter Park Terrace 96
60 Swansboro 94
61 Forest Hill Park 108
62 Cedarhurst 98
63 Green Park 90
64 Rosedale 109
65 North Highland Park 90
66 Hillside Court 84
67 Whitcomb 85
68 Malvern Gardens 116
69 Willow Lawn 119
70 Chimborazo 102
71 Maymont 93
72 Stonewall Court 134
73 Hollywood Cemetery 93
74 Sherwood Park 104
75 Oxford 106
76 Carillon 107
77 Stony Point 113
78 Randolph 97
79 The Diamond 103
80 Highland Park Southern Tip 93
81 Maymont Park 104
82 Cottrell Farms 96
83 Southampton 119
84 Jeff Davis 83
85 Byrd Park 105
86 Ginter Park 105
87 Fairmount 82
88 Powhite Park 100
89 Huguenot 114
90 Sauer’s Gardens 108
91 Carytown 113
92 Westlake Hills 98
93 Fulton 91
94 Piney Knolls 95
95 Walmsley 95
96 South Garden 92
97 Broad Rock Sports Complex 92
98 Mary Munford 124
99 Union Hill 99
100 Washington Park 91
101 Pine Camp 91
102 City Center 103
103 Belle And Mayo Islands 97
104 Oregon Hill 106
105 Chippenham Forest 109
106 Jahnke 92
107 The Fan 123
108 The Museum District 117
109 Church Hill 109
110 Northrop 103
111 Scott’s Addition 104
112 Newtowne West 103
113 Museums 103
114 Central Office 135
115 Jackson Ward 105
116 John Marshall 105
117 Carver 98
118 Shockoe Bottom 108
119 Laburnum Park 126
120 Bryan Park 114
121 Shockoe Slip 135
122 Vcu 114
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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