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 San Francisco might be more expensive than living in rural California, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
What exactly are those San Francisco 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 San Francisco are the cheapest using Saturday Night Science.
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in San Francisco for 2024? According to the most recent census data, Potrero Hill looks to be the cheapest San Francisco 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 San Francisco. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates for more space and cheaper groceries.
Read on to see how we determined the places around San Francisco that deserve a little bragging rights, or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in San Francisco.
For more California reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In California
- Cheapest Places To Live In California
- 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 San Francisco For 2024
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Population: 11,617
Cost Of Living Index: 209 (18th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 6.8 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.014 (5th cheapest)
More on Potrero Hill: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 28,489
Cost Of Living Index: 165 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 7.8 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.017 (19th cheapest)
More on South Of Market: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 11,675
Cost Of Living Index: 185 (10th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 8.6 (9th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (11th cheapest)
More on Outer Mission: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 21,375
Cost Of Living Index: 233 (27th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 7.1 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (cheapest)
More on West Of Twin Peaks: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 9,165
Cost Of Living Index: 225 (24th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 8.3 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.014 (4th cheapest)
More on Glen Park: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 22,475
Cost Of Living Index: 165 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 8.9 (14th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.016 (16th cheapest)
More on Bayview: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 27,627
Cost Of Living Index: 205 (16th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 8.6 (10th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (9th cheapest)
More on Bernal Heights: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 21,884
Cost Of Living Index: 229 (25th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 8.4 (6th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.014 (7th cheapest)
More on Castro-Upper Market: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 59,096
Cost Of Living Index: 203 (15th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 8.8 (13th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (12th cheapest)
More on Mission: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 3,915
Cost Of Living Index: 180 (8th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 15.0 (32nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.013 (2nd cheapest)
More on Financial District: Data | Real Estate
Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest San Francisco Hoods In 2024
To rank the cheapest places to live in San Francisco, 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 34 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 San Francisco.” We’re lookin’ at you, Potrero Hill.
We updated this article for 2024. This is our fourth time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in San Francisco. 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 San Francisco
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in San Francisco where prices are low, and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
The most affordable neighborhoods in San Francisco are Potrero Hill, South Of Market, Outer Mission, West Of Twin Peaks, Glen Park, Bayview, Bernal Heights, Castro-Upper Market, Mission, and Financial District.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in San Francisco aren’t all cheap. North Beach takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in San Francisco.
The most expensive neighborhoods in San Francisco are North Beach, Outer Richmond, Lakeshore, Chinatown, and Nob Hill.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
For more California reading, check out:
- Most Dangerous Cities In California
- Richest Cities In California
- Safest Places In California
- Worst Places To Live In California
Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In San Francisco For 2024
| Rank | Neighborhood | Cost Of Living Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Potrero Hill | 209 |
| 2 | South Of Market | 165 |
| 3 | Outer Mission | 185 |
| 4 | West Of Twin Peaks | 233 |
| 5 | Glen Park | 225 |
| 6 | Bayview | 165 |
| 7 | Bernal Heights | 205 |
| 8 | Castro-Upper Market | 229 |
| 9 | Mission | 203 |
| 10 | Financial District | 180 |
| 11 | Diamond Heights | 217 |
| 12 | Ocean View | 181 |
| 13 | Outer Sunset | 200 |
| 14 | Noe Valley | 248 |
| 15 | Russian Hill | 225 |
| 16 | Crocker Amazon | 174 |
| 17 | Twin Peaks | 231 |
| 18 | Excelsior | 178 |
| 19 | Visitacion Valley | 162 |
| 20 | Seacliff | 262 |
| 21 | Pacific Heights | 287 |
| 22 | Downtown | 132 |
| 23 | Haight-Ashbury | 250 |
| 24 | Marina | 276 |
| 25 | Parkside | 201 |
| 26 | Western Addition | 196 |
| 27 | Presidio Heights | 281 |
| 28 | Inner Sunset | 221 |
| 29 | Inner Richmond | 245 |
| 30 | Nob Hill | 208 |
| 31 | Chinatown | 161 |
| 32 | Lakeshore | 188 |
| 33 | Outer Richmond | 223 |
| 34 | North Beach | 212 |