How Much House Does $200K Buy You in Every State?
It’s less than 1,000 square feet in a third of the country.
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.

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

48. California
- Housing CoL index: 221
- Price per square foot: $410.23
- No. of square feet for $200,000: 488
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47. Massachusetts
- Housing CoL index: 177.8
- Price per square foot: $330.04
- No. of square feet for $200,000: 606

46. Oregon
- 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

43. Vermont
- 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

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

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

37. Arizona
- 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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32. Florida
- Housing CoL index: 104.1
- Price per square foot: $193.24
- No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,035

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

30. South Dakota
- 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

28. Utah
- 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. Ohio
- Housing CoL index: 77
- Price per square foot: $142.93
- No. of square feet for $200,000: 1,399
Also See: This Is the Salary You Need To Afford the Average Home in Your State

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. Mississippi
- 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.