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 Rochester might be more expensive than living in rural New York, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
What exactly are those Rochester 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 Rochester are the cheapest using Saturday Night Science.
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in Rochester for 2024? According to the most recent census data, Homestead Heights looks to be the cheapest Rochester 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 Rochester. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates for more space and cheaper groceries.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Rochester that deserve a little bragging rights, or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in Rochester.
For more New York reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In New York
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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 Rochester For 2024
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Population: 3,495
Cost Of Living Index: 87 (16th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.2 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.016 (7th cheapest)
More on Homestead Heights: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 6,300
Cost Of Living Index: 80 (cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.5 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.029 (23rd cheapest)
More on Upper Falls: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 4,246
Cost Of Living Index: 83 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.8 (2cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.016 (8th cheapest)
More on Strong: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 5,565
Cost Of Living Index: 85 (11th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.0 (12th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (10th cheapest)
More on Northland-Lyceum: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 3,413
Cost Of Living Index: 94 (28th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.5 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.01 (2nd cheapest)
More on Browncroft: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 8,670
Cost Of Living Index: 84 (8th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.7 (6th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.029 (22nd cheapest)
More on Lyell-Otis: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 18,384
Cost Of Living Index: 87 (16th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.8 (8th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (13th cheapest)
More on Maplewood: Data | Real Estate
Population: 55
Cost Of Living Index: 102 (33rd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.4 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (3rd cheapest)
More on Genesee Valley Park: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 19,116
Cost Of Living Index: 88 (18th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.7 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (15th cheapest)
More on 19th Ward: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 7,013
Cost Of Living Index: 91 (24th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.8 (10th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.016 (5th cheapest)
More on Culver-Winton: Data | Real Estate
Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Rochester Hoods In 2024
To rank the cheapest places to live in Rochester, 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 33 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 Rochester.” We’re lookin’ at you, Homestead Heights.
We updated this article for 2024. This is our fourth time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in Rochester. 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 Rochester
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in Rochester where prices are low, and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
The most affordable neighborhoods in Rochester are Homestead Heights, Upper Falls, Strong, Northland-Lyceum, Browncroft, Lyell-Otis, Maplewood, Genesee Valley Park, 19th Ward, and Culver-Winton.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Rochester aren’t all cheap. Susan B Anthony takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Rochester.
The most expensive neighborhoods in Rochester are Susan B Anthony, Corn Hill, Mayor’s Heights, Park Avenue, and Best.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
For more New York reading, check out:
- Most Dangerous Places In New York
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- Worst Places To Live In New York State
Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Rochester For 2024
| Rank | Neighborhood | Cost Of Living Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Homestead Heights | 87 |
| 2 | Upper Falls | 80 |
| 3 | Strong | 83 |
| 4 | Northland-Lyceum | 85 |
| 5 | Browncroft | 94 |
| 6 | Lyell-Otis | 84 |
| 7 | Maplewood | 87 |
| 8 | Genesee Valley Park | 102 |
| 9 | 19th Ward | 88 |
| 10 | Culver-Winton | 91 |
| 11 | Genesee-Jefferson | 83 |
| 12 | Edgerton | 81 |
| 13 | Beechwood | 87 |
| 14 | North Marketview Heights | 84 |
| 15 | Ellwanger-Barry | 92 |
| 16 | Cobbs Hill | 98 |
| 17 | Central Business District | 86 |
| 18 | Plymouth-Exchange | 83 |
| 19 | South Marketview Heights | 84 |
| 20 | Dutchtown | 84 |
| 21 | Charlotte | 88 |
| 22 | South Wedge | 92 |
| 23 | Charles House | 85 |
| 24 | Highland | 87 |
| 25 | Swillburg | 90 |
| 26 | Pearl-Meigs-Monroe | 89 |
| 27 | Atlantic-University | 90 |
| 28 | East Avenue | 95 |
| 29 | Best | 85 |
| 30 | Park Avenue | 98 |
| 31 | Mayor’s Heights | 89 |
| 32 | Corn Hill | 97 |
| 33 | Susan B Anthony | 94 |