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 Jose might be more expensive than living in rural California, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
What exactly are those San Jose 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 Jose are the cheapest using Saturday Night Science.
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in San Jose for 2024? According to the most recent census data, North San Jose looks to be the cheapest San Jose 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 Jose. 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 Jose that deserve a little bragging rights, or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in San Jose.
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 Jose For 2024
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Population: 35,478
Cost Of Living Index: 143 (cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.7 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (5th cheapest)
More on North San Jose: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 81,105
Cost Of Living Index: 190 (14th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.6 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (6th cheapest)
More on Evergreen: Data | Real Estate
Population: 115,325
Cost Of Living Index: 153 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 6.7 (6th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.023 (13th cheapest)
More on East San Jose: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 58,064
Cost Of Living Index: 176 (11th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.8 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (9th cheapest)
More on Santa Teresa: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 80,651
Cost Of Living Index: 159 (7th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 6.9 (8th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (8th cheapest)
More on North Valley: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 46,778
Cost Of Living Index: 210 (18th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 6.5 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.016 (cheapest)
More on Almaden Valley: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 41,443
Cost Of Living Index: 158 (6th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 6.4 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.024 (15th cheapest)
More on Edenvale-Seven Trees: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 56,423
Cost Of Living Index: 147 (2nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 7.7 (11th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.025 (16th cheapest)
More on Fairgrounds: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 71,983
Cost Of Living Index: 169 (10th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 6.8 (7th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.022 (12th cheapest)
More on Blossom Valley: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 84,990
Cost Of Living Index: 156 (5th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 8.8 (14th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.022 (11th cheapest)
More on Downtown: Data | Real Estate
Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest San Jose Hoods In 2024
To rank the cheapest places to live in San Jose, 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 San Jose.” We’re lookin’ at you, North San Jose.
We updated this article for 2024. This is our fourth time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in San Jose. 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 Jose
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in San Jose where prices are low, and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
The most affordable neighborhoods in San Jose are North San Jose, Evergreen, East San Jose, Santa Teresa, North Valley, Almaden Valley, Edenvale-Seven Trees, Fairgrounds, Blossom Valley, and Downtown.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in San Jose aren’t all cheap. Burbank takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in San Jose.
The most expensive neighborhoods in San Jose are Burbank, Buena Vista, West San Jose, Cambrian Park, and Alum Rock-East Foothills.
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 Jose For 2024
| Rank | Neighborhood | Cost Of Living Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | North San Jose | 143 |
| 2 | Evergreen | 190 |
| 3 | East San Jose | 153 |
| 4 | Santa Teresa | 176 |
| 5 | North Valley | 159 |
| 6 | Almaden Valley | 210 |
| 7 | Edenvale-Seven Trees | 158 |
| 8 | Fairgrounds | 147 |
| 9 | Blossom Valley | 169 |
| 10 | Downtown | 156 |
| 11 | Willow Glen | 191 |
| 12 | Berryessa | 180 |
| 13 | Rose Garden | 185 |
| 14 | Alum Rock-East Foothills | 161 |
| 15 | Cambrian Park | 191 |
| 16 | West San Jose | 201 |
| 17 | Buena Vista | 149 |
| 18 | Burbank | 165 |