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 Seattle might be more expensive than living in rural Washington, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
What exactly are those Seattle 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 Seattle are the cheapest using Saturday Night Science.
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in Seattle for 2024? According to the most recent census data, High Point looks to be the cheapest Seattle 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 Seattle. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates for more space and cheaper groceries.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Seattle that deserve a little bragging rights, or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in Seattle.
For more Washington reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Washington
- Cheapest Places To Live In Washington
- 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 Seattle For 2024
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Population: 8,807
Cost Of Living Index: 135 (6th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 6.0 (25th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (2cheapest)
More on High Point: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 5,252
Cost Of Living Index: 146 (25th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.0 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (28th cheapest)
More on Westlake: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 12,572
Cost Of Living Index: 162 (45th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.5 (9th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (6th cheapest)
More on Admiral: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 5,143
Cost Of Living Index: 157 (37th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.6 (10th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (20th cheapest)
More on Arbor Heights: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 16,060
Cost Of Living Index: 138 (12th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.2 (7th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (52nd cheapest)
More on Rainier Beach: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 12,974
Cost Of Living Index: 137 (9th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 6.1 (28th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.016 (39th cheapest)
More on Belltown: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 4,900
Cost Of Living Index: 159 (39th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.9 (2cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.014 (17th cheapest)
More on Seward Park: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 3,518
Cost Of Living Index: 160 (4cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.6 (11th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (26th cheapest)
More on Crown Hill: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 6,008
Cost Of Living Index: 142 (20th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.7 (13th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.017 (45th cheapest)
More on Victory Heights: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 2,666
Cost Of Living Index: 179 (7cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.0 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.013 (7th cheapest)
More on Olympic Manor: Data | Real Estate
Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Seattle Hoods In 2024
To rank the cheapest places to live in Seattle, 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 78 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 Seattle.” We’re lookin’ at you, High Point.
We updated this article for 2024. This is our fourth time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in Seattle. 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 Seattle
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in Seattle where prices are low, and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
The most affordable neighborhoods in Seattle are High Point, Westlake, Admiral, Arbor Heights, Rainier Beach, Belltown, Seward Park, Crown Hill, Victory Heights, and Olympic Manor.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Seattle aren’t all cheap. Pioneer Square takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Seattle.
The most expensive neighborhoods in Seattle are Pioneer Square, Windermere, First Hill, Pinehurst, and Bitter Lake.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
For more Washington reading, check out:
- Most Dangerous Cities In Washington
- Richest Cities In Washington
- Safest Places In Washington
- Worst Places To Live In Washington