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 St. Paul might be more expensive than living in rural Minnesota, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
What exactly are those St. Paul 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 St. Paul are the cheapest using Saturday Night Science.
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in St. Paul for 2024? According to the most recent census data, Como looks to be the cheapest St. Paul 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 St. Paul. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates for more space and cheaper groceries.
Read on to see how we determined the places around St. Paul that deserve a little bragging rights, or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in St. Paul.
For more Minnesota reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Minnesota
- Cheapest Places To Live In Minnesota
- 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 St. Paul For 2024
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Population: 13,098
Cost Of Living Index: 102 (8th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.5 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.014 (3rd cheapest)
More on Como: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 30,979
Cost Of Living Index: 96 (2nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.7 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (14th cheapest)
More on Payne Phallen: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 15,044
Cost Of Living Index: 99 (7th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.0 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (8th cheapest)
More on West Side: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 12,773
Cost Of Living Index: 102 (8th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.3 (6th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.014 (6th cheapest)
More on Midway: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 27,286
Cost Of Living Index: 97 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.7 (3rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (16th cheapest)
More on Greater Eastside: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 28,571
Cost Of Living Index: 96 (2nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.4 (8th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.019 (13th cheapest)
More on North End: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 11,523
Cost Of Living Index: 104 (10th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.0 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.017 (9th cheapest)
More on West 7th: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 18,746
Cost Of Living Index: 97 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.4 (7th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (15th cheapest)
More on Dayton’s Bluff: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 22,340
Cost Of Living Index: 98 (6th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 3.4 (9th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.019 (12th cheapest)
More on Battle Creek: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 17,178
Cost Of Living Index: 113 (13th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.2 (13th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.012 (2nd cheapest)
More on Merrlam Park: Data | Real Estate
Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest St. Paul Hoods In 2024
To rank the cheapest places to live in St. Paul, 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 17 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 St. Paul.” We’re lookin’ at you, Como.
We updated this article for 2024. This is our fourth time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in St. Paul. 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 St. Paul
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in St. Paul where prices are low, and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
The most affordable neighborhoods in St. Paul are Como, Payne Phallen, West Side, Midway, Greater Eastside, North End, West 7th, Dayton’s Bluff, Battle Creek, and Merrlam Park.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in St. Paul aren’t all cheap. Summit Hill takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in St. Paul.
The most expensive neighborhoods in St. Paul are Summit Hill, Summit-University, Saint Anthony, Downtown, and Highland.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
For more Minnesota reading, check out:
- Most Dangerous Cities In Minnesota
- Richest Cities In Minnesota
- Safest Places In Minnesota
- Worst Places To Live In Minnesota
Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In St. Paul For 2024
| Rank | Neighborhood | Cost Of Living Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Como | 102 |
| 2 | Payne Phallen | 96 |
| 3 | West Side | 99 |
| 4 | Midway | 102 |
| 5 | Greater Eastside | 97 |
| 6 | North End | 96 |
| 7 | West 7th | 104 |
| 8 | Dayton’s Bluff | 97 |
| 9 | Battle Creek | 98 |
| 10 | Merrlam Park | 113 |
| 11 | Thomas Dale | 93 |
| 12 | Macalester-Groveland | 116 |
| 13 | Highland | 114 |
| 14 | Downtown | 104 |
| 15 | Saint Anthony | 114 |
| 16 | Summit-University | 111 |
| 17 | Summit Hill | 124 |