How Much House Does $300K Buy You in Western States?

If you want to live in the Western region of the United States and you’re on a budget, you’ll have to compromise when it comes to your future home’s square footage. In states like California and Hawaii, where cost of living expenses are high, you won’t be able to buy more than 700 square feet with $300,000 in savings.

To find out how much house you can afford on a $300,000 budget, GOBankingRates referenced an existing study from January 2025 and isolated the costs in the Western states. A full methodology is available at the end of this article.

Here’s how much square footage you can buy with $300,000 in the West.

• Housing cost-of-living index: 117.8
• Price per square foot: $264
• Square feet for $300,000: 1,136.9

• Housing cost-of-living index: 136
• Price per square foot: $305
• Square feet for $300,000: 984.8

• Housing cost-of-living index: 209.1
• Price per square foot: $468
• Square feet for $300,000: 640.5

• Housing cost-of-living index: 107.6
• Price per square foot: $241
• Square feet for $300,000: 1,244.7

• Housing cost-of-living index: 302.6
• Price per square foot: $678
• Square feet for $300,000: 442.6

• Housing cost-of-living index: 99.1
• Price per square foot: $222
• Square feet for $300,000: 1,351.5

• Housing cost-of-living index: 84.6
• Price per square foot: $190
• Square feet for $300,000: 1,583.1

• Housing cost-of-living index: 106.8
• Price per square foot: $239
• Square feet for $300,000: 1,254

• Housing cost-of-living index: 84.9
• Price per square foot: $190
• Square feet for $300,000: 1,577.5

• Housing cost-of-living index: 131.7
• Price per square foot: $295
• Square feet for $300,000: 1,016.9

• Housing cost-of-living index: 129.7
• Price per square foot: $291
• Square feet for $300,000: 1,032.6

• Housing cost-of-living index: 126.7
• Price per square foot: $284
• Square feet for $300,000: 1,057.1

• Housing cost-of-living index: 90.1
• Price per square foot: $202
• Square feet for $300,000: 1,486.4

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed each U.S. state to find out how much house $300,000 can afford. First, GOBankingRates found the median listing price per square foot in the U.S. (as sourced from the Federal Reserve of St. Louis for the month of November 2024). Next, GOBankingRates found the housing cost index for each state (as sourced from the Missouri Economic and Research Information Center for Q3 of 2024). Using this data, the price per square foot for each state can be calculated, and using $300,000, $400,000, and $500,000 savings as a starting point, the total affordable square footage can be calculated for each state. All data was collected on and is up to date as of January 3rd, 2025.