How Much House Does $200K Buy You in Every State?

Housing prices rose so high in 2021 — just shy of 20% — that Zillow now quotes the median home value in the U.S. as $316,368. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, prices shot up so high in the second half of the year that the median sale price in the third quarter of 2021 breached $400,000 for the first time when it hit $404,700.

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In the post-pandemic world, $200,000 clearly doesn’t go as far as it used to. In fact, the last time the median sale price was under $200,000 was the fourth quarter of 2003, when it hit $198,000. If $200,000 is your budget’s ceiling, then you’re going to have to put a lot of thought into where you’re going to live. 

In 2015, the average American home topped out at an indulgent 2,687 square feet, according to Rocket Mortgage, before settling down to 2,301. Even so, $200,000 won’t get you anywhere near that in any state in the country — you’ll be well under 2,000 square feet even in the cheapest states. In the most expensive states, $200,000 will buy you something between a tiny house and the smallest studio apartments.

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Using data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center’s housing cost of living index (CoL), GoBankingRates ranked all 50 states by how much house — or how little — you can buy for $200,000. 

See what $200,000 can buy you in each state.

50. Hawaii

• Housing CoL index: 312.6
• Price per square foot: $580.26
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 345

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• Housing CoL index: 227.5
• Price per square foot: $422.30
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 474

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• Housing CoL index: 221
• Price per square foot: $410.23
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 488

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• Housing CoL index: 177.8 
• Price per square foot: $330.04 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 606 

• Housing CoL index: 169.3 
• Price per square foot: $314.26 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 636 

45. Maryland 

• Housing CoL index: 163.6 
• Price per square foot: $303.68 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 659 

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44. New Jersey 

• Housing CoL index: 148 
• Price per square foot: $274.73 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 728 

• Housing CoL index: 135.5 
• Price per square foot: $251.52 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 795 

42. Connecticut 

• Housing CoL index: 131.2 
• Price per square foot: $243.54 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 821 

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41. Maine 

• Housing CoL index: 130.3 
• Price per square foot: $241.87 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 827 

40. Alaska 

• Housing CoL index: 126 
• Price per square foot: $233.89 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 855 

• Housing CoL index: 121.6 
• Price per square foot: $225.72 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 886 

• Housing CoL index: 121.5 
• Price per square foot: $225.53 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 887 

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• Housing CoL index: 117.8 
• Price per square foot: $218.67 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 915 

36. Colorado

• Housing CoL index: 117.3 
• Price per square foot: $217.74 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 919 

35. Nevada

• Housing CoL index: 114.3 
• Price per square foot: $212.17 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 943 

34. New Hampshire

• Housing CoL index: 106.8 
• Price per square foot: $198.25 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,009 

33. Montana

• Housing CoL index: 105.2 
• Price per square foot: $195.28 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,024 

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• Housing CoL index: 104.1 
• Price per square foot: $193.24 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,035 

• Housing CoL index: 102.4 
• Price per square foot: $190.08 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,052 

• Housing CoL index: 101.6 
• Price per square foot: $188.60 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,060 

29. Virginia

• Housing CoL index: 100.7 
• Price per square foot: $186.92 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,070 

• Housing CoL index: 99.3 
• Price per square foot: $184.33 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,085 

27. Idaho

• Housing CoL index: 97.3 
• Price per square foot: $180.67 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,107 

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26. Pennsylvania

• Housing CoL index: 95 
• Price per square foot: $176.37 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,134 

25. North Dakota

• Housing CoL index: 94.3 
• Price per square foot: $175.04 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,143 

24. North Carolina

• Housing CoL index: 90.7 
• Price per square foot: $168.36 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,188 

23. Minnesota

• Housing CoL index: 88.5 
• Price per square foot: $164.28 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,217 

22. Wisconsin

• Housing CoL index: 86.7 
• Price per square foot: $160.94 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,243 

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21. Louisiana 

• Housing CoL index: 86 
• Price per square foot: $159.64 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,253 

• Housing CoL index: 84.7 
• Price per square foot: $157.22 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,272 

• Housing CoL index: 83.9 
• Price per square foot: $155.74 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,284 

• Housing CoL index: 82.1 
• Price per square foot: $152.40 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,312 

• Housing CoL index: 82 
• Price per square foot: $152.21 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,314 

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• Housing CoL index: 82 
• Price per square foot: $152.21 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,314 

• Housing CoL index: 79.8 
• Price per square foot: $148.13 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,350 

• Housing CoL index: 79.6 
• Price per square foot: $147.76 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,354 

• Housing CoL index: 79.4 
• Price per square foot: $147.39 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,357 

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• Housing CoL index: 78.6 
• Price per square foot: $145.90 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,371 

• Housing CoL index: 78.5 
• Price per square foot: $145.72 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,373 

• Housing CoL index: 78.4 
• Price per square foot: $145.53 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,374 

• Housing CoL index: 77.8 
• Price per square foot: $144.42 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,385 

• Housing CoL index: 77 
• Price per square foot: $142.93 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,399 

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• Housing CoL index: 75.3 
• Price per square foot: $139.78 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,431 

• Housing CoL index: 75.2 
• Price per square foot: $139.59 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,433 

• Housing CoL index: 75.1 
• Price per square foot: $139.40 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,435 

• Housing CoL index: 74.7 
• Price per square foot: $138.66 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,442 

• Housing CoL index: 72.8 
• Price per square foot: $135.14 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,480 

• Housing CoL index: 69.5 
• Price per square foot: $129.01 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,550 

• Housing CoL index: 66.4 
• Price per square foot: $123.26 
• No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,623 

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Methodology: To determine how much house $200,000 will buy you in every state, GOBankingRates first sourced the (1) US median listing price per square feet in the United States as sourced from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis ($185.63). With this figure isolated, GOBankingRates sourced each state’s (2) housing cost of living index as sourced from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center data for Quarter 3 of 2021. With these two factors, GOBankingRates was able to calculate how much square footage you could afford in each state with $200,000. All data were collected and are up to date as of Dec. 1, 2021.