How Many Square Feet Does $400K Buy You in Each Major City?
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G. Brian Davis
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Rebekah Evans
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You can buy a sprawling rancher in Texas for the same price as a studio apartment in San Francisco.
So which cities offer the best — and worst — bang for your buck in square footage? Find out below.
$400K Worth of Square Feet in 30 Cities
Nationwide, the median new construction home costs $202.00 per square foot, according to Zillow. But that belies an enormous range of prices. Here’s the data for the top 30 cities in the country.
| Size Rank | City | Average Cost per Square Foot | Square Feet for $400,000 |
| 1 | New York, NY | $822.79 | 486 |
| 2 | Los Angeles, CA | $654.62 | 611 |
| 3 | Chicago, IL | $212.11 | 1886 |
| 4 | Dallas, TX | $173.96 | 2299 |
| 5 | Houston, TX | $162.95 | 2455 |
| 6 | Washington, DC | $257.27 | 1555 |
| 7 | Philadelphia, PA | $244.88 | 1633 |
| 8 | Miami, FL | $546.27 | 732 |
| 9 | Atlanta, GA | $188.24 | 2125 |
| 10 | Boston, MA | $454.69 | 880 |
| 11 | Phoenix, AZ | $225.34 | 1775 |
| 12 | San Francisco, CA | $693.36 | 577 |
| 13 | Riverside, CA | $313.41 | 1276 |
| 14 | Detroit, MI | $225.89 | 1771 |
| 15 | Seattle, WA | $471.88 | 848 |
| 16 | Minneapolis, MN | $216.57 | 1847 |
| 17 | San Diego, CA | $540.43 | 740 |
| 18 | Tampa, FL | $197.31 | 2027 |
| 19 | Denver, CO | $260.12 | 1538 |
| 20 | Baltimore, MD | $243.57 | 1642 |
| 21 | St. Louis, MO | $226.27 | 1768 |
| 22 | Orlando, FL | $218.89 | 1827 |
| 23 | Charlotte, NC | $206.31 | 1939 |
| 24 | San Antonio, TX | $157.65 | 2537 |
| 25 | Portland, OR | $303.08 | 1320 |
| 26 | Sacramento, CA | $289.86 | 1380 |
| 27 | Pittsburgh, PA | $175.54 | 2279 |
| 28 | Cincinnati, OH | $198.86 | 2011 |
| 29 | Austin, TX | $181.14 | 2208 |
| 30 | Las Vegas, NV | $251.38 | 1591 |
Supply, Demand and the Ever-Shifting Population
Neither housing supply nor demand sit still. Both constantly shift, which in turn moves the market pricing per square foot of real estate.
San Diego got so expensive during and after the pandemic that many would-be buyers pulled back, causing a home price correction of 3.2% over the last year per Zillow.
On the supply side, some cities don’t add much new housing. “Scarcity of land and zoning regulations impact the price per square foot,” explained Seann Malloy, attorney at Malloy Law. San Francisco offers the perfect example of both limited land at the tip of a peninsula and regulation preventing higher-density housing.
The demand side has more dimensions. Pleasant climate certainly helps, as San Diego residents can attest. So do amenities such as beaches, mountains, museums, sports teams, diverse restaurants and entertainment.
The local economy plays a role as well. Workers move where plenty of employers are hiring and where crime rates are low. “It’s not simply a matter of population growth; it’s also who’s moving in and how much they earn,” said Ryan Fitzgerald, broker at Raleigh Realty. “Buyers compete for convenience to jobs and amenities and bid up prices for the most appealing spaces.”
Taxes factor into the demand equation too. Lower-tax states like Florida, Texas and South Carolina have seen significant inbound migration from higher-tax states like California, New York and Illinois, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
Obviously there are people willing to pay $400,000 for a 486-square-foot condo in New York City. Only you know if you’re one of them.
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