Everything else equal, I think 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 Buffalo might be more expensive than living in rural New York, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
So what exactly are those Buffalo 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 find out which neighborhoods in Buffalo are the cheapest.
Here are the cheapest neighborhoods in Buffalo for 2020:
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in Buffalo for 2020? According to the most recent census data, First Ward looks to be the cheaptest Buffalo 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 Buffalo. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates in return for more space and cheaper groceries.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Buffalo that deserve a little bragging rights or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in Buffalo.
Once you’re done, you can look at the bottom of the story for a complete chart of every neighborhood we looked at from cheapest to most expensive.
For more New York reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In New York
- Best Counties To Live In New York
- Cheapest Cities To Live In America
- Cheapest States To Live In America
How We Determined The Cheapest Buffalo Hoods In 2020
In order to rank the cheapest places to live in Buffalo, we had to determine what criteria defines “cheap”.
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 50 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 Buffalo.” We’re lookin’ at you, First Ward.
Read on below to learn more about what it’s like to live in the cheapest places Buffalo. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the neighborhoods in the city from cheapest to most expensive.
The 10 Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Buffalo For 2020
/10
Population: 1,641
Cost Of Living Index: 77 (2nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.1 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (27th cheapest)
More on First Ward: Homes For Sale | Data
The median income in First Ward comes in at $22,075 and the median home value is $24,533 for 2020.
/10
Population: 5,166
Cost Of Living Index: 81 (16th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.6 (19th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.011 (3rd cheapest)
More on Kaisertown: Homes For Sale | Data
The median income in Kaisertown comes in at $41,058 and the median home value is $66,317 for 2020.
/10
Population: 5,425
Cost Of Living Index: 78 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 0.7 (1st cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.025 (36th cheapest)
More on Grider: Homes For Sale | Data
The median income in Grider comes in at $28,327 and the median home value is $18,575 for 2020.
/10
Population: 6,430
Cost Of Living Index: 82 (23rd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.4 (13th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.011 (5th cheapest)
More on South Park: Homes For Sale | Data
The median income in South Park comes in at $46,756 and the median home value is $65,414 for 2020.
/10
Population: 10,344
Cost Of Living Index: 81 (16th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.3 (7th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (19th cheapest)
More on Kensington: Homes For Sale | Data
The median income in Kensington comes in at $37,941 and the median home value is $47,975 for 2020.
/10
Population: 7,184
Cost Of Living Index: 77 (2nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.1 (4th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.029 (42nd cheapest)
More on Broadway-Fillmore: Homes For Sale | Data
The median income in Broadway-Fillmore comes in at $19,697 and the median home value is $21,479 for 2020.
/10
Population: 1,327
Cost Of Living Index: 81 (16th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.3 (10th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (23rd cheapest)
More on Tifft: Homes For Sale | Data
The median income in Tifft comes in at $34,819 and the median home value is $46,267 for 2020.
/10
Population: 3,160
Cost Of Living Index: 79 (7th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 0.9 (2nd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.026 (40th cheapest)
More on Babcock: Homes For Sale | Data
The median income in Babcock comes in at $26,499 and the median home value is $23,860 for 2020.
/10
Population: 2,485
Cost Of Living Index: 79 (7th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.4 (15th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.023 (30th cheapest)
More on South Ellicott: Homes For Sale | Data
The median income in South Ellicott comes in at $26,230 and the median home value is $37,900 for 2020.
/10
Population: 7,787
Cost Of Living Index: 80 (10th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 1.4 (14th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (28th cheapest)
More on Lovejoy: Homes For Sale | Data
The median income in Lovejoy comes in at $28,195 and the median home value is $40,582 for 2020.
Summing Up The Cheapest Places In Buffalo
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in Buffalo where prices are low and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
As we mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Buffalo aren’t all cheap. Columbus takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Buffalo.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
For more New York reading, check out:
- Cheapest Places To Live In New York
- Best Places To Raise A Family In New York
- Best Places To Retire In New York
- Richest Cities In New York
- Safest Places In New York According To Science
- Worst Places To Live In New York State
Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Buffalo For 2020
| Rank | Neighborhood | Cost Of Living Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | First Ward | 77 |
| 2 | Kaisertown | 81 |
| 3 | Grider | 78 |
| 4 | South Park | 82 |
| 5 | Kensington | 81 |
| 6 | Broadway-Fillmore | 77 |
| 7 | Tifft | 81 |
| 8 | Babcock | 79 |
| 9 | South Ellicott | 79 |
| 10 | Lovejoy | 80 |
| 11 | Kenfield | 81 |
| 12 | Emslie | 79 |
| 13 | Mlk Park | 79 |
| 14 | Squaw Island | 79 |
| 15 | South Abbott | 86 |
| 16 | Emerson | 78 |
| 17 | University | 85 |
| 18 | Kingsley | 80 |
| 19 | Black Rock | 82 |
| 20 | Abbott Mckinley | 86 |
| 21 | Cazenovia Park | 85 |
| 22 | Valley | 81 |
| 23 | Willert Park | 81 |
| 24 | Genesee Moselle | 81 |
| 25 | Military | 82 |
| 26 | North Delaware | 89 |
| 27 | Forest | 87 |
| 28 | Triangle | 83 |
| 29 | Grant Ferry | 85 |
| 30 | Hamlin Park | 84 |
| 31 | Riverside Park | 81 |
| 32 | Starin Central | 99 |
| 33 | Schiller Park | 81 |
| 34 | North Park | 93 |
| 35 | Parkside | 99 |
| 36 | Medical Park | 83 |
| 37 | Lakeview | 85 |
| 38 | Masten Park | 82 |
| 39 | Seneca | 85 |
| 40 | Lasalle | 85 |
| 41 | Delaware-West Ferry | 95 |
| 42 | Leroy | 82 |
| 43 | Waterfront | 116 |
| 44 | Albright | 108 |
| 45 | Delaware Park | 97 |
| 46 | Bryant | 93 |
| 47 | Park Meadow | 108 |
| 48 | Front Park | 87 |
| 49 | Allen | 100 |
| 50 | Columbus | 86 |
