The Most Expensive Place To Buy a Home in Every East Coast State

What makes the most expensive place to live in every East Coast state changes from city to city. For some locations, extremely restrictive zoning regulations make the construction of new homes next to impossible, thereby driving up the prices of preexisting housing. Other cities offer suburban alternatives to nearby large metropolises like New York City or Washington, D.C. Some areas are simply located on the coastline, with beachfront property being some of the most expensive real estate in America.

Recently, GOBankingRates analyzed information from Zillow Home Value Index to find the cities with the most expensive median home values in every state. From that study, one can trace the line of wealth that runs along the eastern American coastline and know which cities to shoot for if your bank account can handle it — and which you might wish to avoid if you can’t affording six-figure housing.

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

• Median home value: $2,400,918
• Population: 14,528

Greenwich’s close proximity to New York City (about an hour) has made it a haven for those who want to work in NYC but live outside the city. Greenwich houses a number of hedge funds, and many of the wealthy who work on Wall Street make their homes there. The town is beautiful, and — following a mass exodus to Greenwich from NYC during the COVID-19 pandemic — real estate has become extremely limited and expensive.

• Median home value: $1,327,504
• Population: 328

Thanks to a beachside location, exciting nightlife and a short drive away from Atlantic City, it’s no wonder that real estate is so pricey in Dewey Beach. The area is also notable for its extreme natural beauty and its closely bonded community.

• Median home value: $9,514,524
• Population: 871

Jupiter has recently attracted a number of wealthy and celebrity residents (such as Celine Dion, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods) thanks to a mix of beautiful locales, low taxes, a gorgeous costal view and a very close proximity to Miami and West Palm Beach. All are reasons Jupiter’s property values have skyrocketed, making it a go-to spot for wealthy East Coasters.

• Median home value: $983,116
• Population: 41,305

Milton is the wealthiest city in the Georgia, with an equally high-end housing market. The city offers the relaxed living of a suburb, while maintaining a close proximity to Atlanta. Meanwhile, most of the houses in Milton are built atop large, expansive lots that can stretch for several acres — exponentially increasing their value and cost.

• Median home value: $1,132,804
• Population: 1,450

Kennebunkport has some rather expensive housing, primarily because of its gorgeous coastal setting, dense tourism and historic homes. Overall, the residents of Kennebunkport are rather wealthy, and the town became even more of an enclave for wealth when upper class families began relocating from larger Maine cities to the smaller suburban locale.

• Median home value: $3,232,432
• Population: 1,092

Chevy Chase, Maryland’s real estate is rather expensive (with a very strong market) due primarily to its very close proximity to Washington, D.C. — making it a haven for moneyed members of the D.C. elite who would prefer to live outside the nation’s capital in quieter environs. Additionally, Chevy Chase is known for a very high quality of living and a great school system.

• Median home value: $3,232,432
• Population: 10,837

Being a rather small island, Nantucket is, by definition, an extremely limited real estate market. Land is additionally scarce due to strict conservation laws that restricts new housing developments. Given the rather limited housing, the beauty of island living, the proliferation of vacation homes in the area and a high tourism rate, Nantucket is one of the most expensive places to live in the United States, per Realtor.com.

• Median home value: $1,042,652
• Population: 8,520

Given Hanover’s close proximity to Dartmouth College (and thus a constant influx of student residents), it’s become a rather expensive college town.

• Median home value: $4,043,692
• Population: 632

The real estate market in Deal is rather expensive, in no small part because of its lovely coastal location (a 2.5-mile private coastline and a number of waterfront properties that are perpetually in high demand), high tourism and rather large beachfront family compounds.

• Median home value: $6,685,923
• Population: 282

Located in the hyper-expensive Hamptons, Sagaponack is known for its relative closeness to New York City, its beautiful beachfront property and a number of high-demand vacation spots. Further, given its proximity to NYC, it has become a favorite vacation spot for New York celebrities and millionaires/billionaires. Additionally, Sagaponack is a relatively small village with very strict zoning and building regulations, creating a land and real estate scarcity in an already very expensive location.

• Median home value: $2,106,896
• Population: 2,679

Wrightsville Beach is exactly that — a beach — automatically making the coastal town a very expensive one. Further, Wrightstville Beach is a very small space, making that coastline real estate very rare and in demand.

• Median home value: $1,436,825
• Population: 8,431

Villanova is an exceptionally pricey suburb of Philadelphia and is known for a high-demand real estate market. The town’s fairly stringent zoning laws make it such that new housing is infrequently built, and what is there already tends to be larger estates on big properties.

• Median home value: $989,953
• Population: 25,029

Per Old Money Mansions, Newport is known as “the undisputed capital of American ‘old money,'” a haven for families that have transferred wealth from one generation to another over a very long period of time. Additionally, the town is located on the coastline, further driving up real estate prices.

• Median home value: $4,087,636
• Population: 2,127

Conveniently located near Charleston, Sullivans Island is inherently limited in terms of space and real estate, which automatically drives up prices across its three square miles of land. Further, it is yet another town defined by its beachfront properties that are both beautiful and rather expensive.

• Median home value: $1,050,829
• Population: 745

Stowe is a very popular village for tourist traffic, thanks to the skiing and other outdoor activities in the area. Also, Vermont’s very restrictive zoning policies make it such that housing is very limited, per New England Landmark Realty.

• Median home value: $1,746,064
• Population: 50,232

McLean, like Chevy Chase, is very close to Washington, D.C., making it a popular choice for the wealthy who work in the capital. The area has expensive estates with a lot of history, which boosts the real estate prices in the metro even higher.

Editor’s note: Photos are for representational purposes only and might not reflect the exact locations listed.

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.