The Most Expensive Place To Buy a Home in Every Midwestern State

When searching for the most expensive communities in which to buy a home throughout the American Midwest, here’s a good rule of thumb: Look for the lakes. Many of the towns with the priciest real estate in the American middle are located on lakes, which offer stunning scenic views that help drive up housing prices.

Recently, GOBankingRates studied information from Zillow Home Value Index to find the American towns and cities with the most expensive median home values in each and every state. From that analysis, GOBankingRates found that in some cases low housing availability and restricted land development kept prices high, as did a close distance to much larger cities. In many cases, though, what kept real estate prices in the stratosphere were communities built on the shorelines of many of America’s great (and Great) lakes.

Check out the most expensive place to buy a home in every Midwestern state.

• Median home value: $1,888,854
• Population: 2,543

Being a suburb in close proximity to Chicago helps keep Kenilworth the most expensive town in Illinois, providing a haven for the wealthy who work in the Windy City but want to live in a more quiet environment. Additionally, Kenilworth is known for an excellent private school system, further attracting the wealthy families of Illinois.

• Median home value: $822,001
• Population: 247

Per The Times of Northwest Indiana, the homes in Dune Acres are approximately 328% more expensive than the average price of homes anywhere else in Indiana. Why? A primary reason is that Dune Acres is located on the southern shoreline of Lake Michigan, providing a stunning — and stunningly expensive — view.

• Median home value: $1,012,022
• Population: 806

Much like Dune Acres, Okoboji is based upon a shoreline (in this case, of the Iowa Great Lakes), automatically providing residents with some of most gorgeous scenery of the state. Okoboji is home to wealthy water sports enthusiasts who can afford to own a boat or two on the lakes, and the town has become a summer vacation spot for those who can afford to own seasonal homes in the area.

• Median home value: $1,494,852
• Population: 3,556

Designed in the 1920s to be part of a “country club district,” Mission Hills is replete with historic mansions, resorts and country clubs — all of which add to a staggeringly high quality of life for residents in the area.

• Median home value: $1,676,657
• Population: 277

Not only is Lake Angelus a short half-hour drive from Detroit (allowing the wealthy of Detroit a quiet and beautiful suburb to live in), it’s yet another town in the Midwest that’s built upon the shore of a lake. Additionally, the town is built around a private lake, giving the community a level of exclusivity that only the wealthy can afford, per Russ Ravary Realty.

• Median home value: $2,052,336
• Population: 410

Minnetonka Beach (with a population of only 410) reportedly has the most expensive homes in all of Minnesota. Why? The tiny community is surrounded on three sides by Lake Minnetonka and can contain approximately only 230 homes — a quirk of geography that creates an automatic exclusivity that makes it an extraordinarily expensive place to buy a home.

• Median home value: $2,314,658
• Population: 384

This very small community — Huntleigh is less than one square mile in size — reportedly has home values that reach up to $15 million. The town is wholly a residential one, with no businesses whatsoever, making an exclusive community just for wealth living; moreover, its relative closeness to St. Louis makes a beacon for the wealthy who work there. Many of the estates in Huntleigh sit upon large acreage, making housing very limited — and expensive — in the very small community.

• Median home value: $635,678
• Population: 624

Home Stratosphere has noted that the small community of Walton has very low housing availability, driving up demand (and prices). The town is also rather close to Lincoln, making it a beacon for those who want to work in the big city but live in the quiet suburbs.

• Median home value: $545,618
• Population: 888

Reiles Acres is another suburb that is very close to a much larger city — in this case, Fargo. Such proximity makes it a draw for the wealthy who prefer to work in the city and live in the exclusive suburbs. Also like other such communities, Reiles Acres has very limited housing availability, further increasing prices.

• Median home value: $1,584,388
• Population: 780

Hunting Valley is marked by a high number of expensive private estates, country clubs and horse riding facilities — keeping real estate prices rather high. The community is also surrounded by a great deal of natural beauty, with residents owning expansive land parcels — keeping the availability of housing low.

• Median home value: $1,793,876
• Population: 699

Oconomowoc Lake is yet another Midwestern community in this gallery that is located on the shoreline of a beautiful lake. Such proximity to a stellar view and natural beauty keeps house prices high, with some mansions going for as high as $13 million, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 

Methodology: To find the most expensive place to buy a home in every state, GOBankingRates analyzed every state to find the cities with the most expensive median home values, as sourced from Zillow Home Value Index. For each city, the total population was sourced from the U.S. Census American Consumer Survey as supplemental data. All data was collected on and is up to date as of May 28, 2025.