How Much House Does $400K Buy You in the Midwest?

Purchasing a home with $400,000 savings? This amount of money can buy more than 1,800 square feet across all 12 states that make up the Midwestern United States.

To determine how much house $400,000 can buy, GOBankingRates utilized an existing study that examined how much house $300,000 can afford. Data on the median listing price per square foot was pulled from the Federal Reserve of St. Louis for November 2024. Each state’s housing cost index was also sourced to calculate the price per square foot for each state.

In alphabetical order, this is how much house a $400,000 budget buys you in the Midwest.

Also see Midwest housing markets that have dropped in value in the past five years.

• Housing cost-of-living index: 84.2
• Price per square foot: $189
• Square feet for $400,000: 2,121

• Housing cost-of-living index: 77.3
• Price per square foot: $173
• Square feet for $400,000: 2,310

• Housing cost-of-living index: 75.4
• Price per square foot: $169
• Square feet for $400,000: 2,368

• Housing cost-of-living index: 70.7
• Price per square foot: $158
• Square feet for $400,000: 2,526

• Housing cost-of-living index: 78.5
• Price per square foot: $176
• Square feet for $400,000: 2,275

• Housing cost-of-living index: 80.3
• Price per square foot: $180
• Square feet for $400,000: 2,224

• Housing cost-of-living index: 78.6
• Price per square foot: $176
• Square feet for $400,000: 2,272

• Housing cost-of-living index: 79.5
• Price per square foot: $178
• Square feet for $400,000: 2,246

• Housing cost-of-living index: 79.8
• Price per square foot: $179
• Square feet for $400,000: 2,238

• Housing cost-of-living index: 87.6
• Price per square foot: $196
• Square feet for $400,000: 2,039

• Housing cost-of-living index: 89.7
• Price per square foot: $201
• Square feet for $400,000: 1,991

• Housing cost-of-living index: 98.5
• Price per square foot: $221
• Square feet for $400,000: 1,813

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed each 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. from the Federal Reserve of St. Louis for November 2024. Next, GOBankingRates found the housing cost index for each state from the Missouri Economic and Research Information Center for Q3 of 2024. Using this data, the price per square foot for each state was calculated. All data was collected on and is up to date as of Jan. 3, 2025.