Here's How Much Space $400,000 Can Get You in These Major Cities

Advent in Brooklyn

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Indianapolis, Indiana, USA Canal
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Big City Living

The median home price in the United States is now $405,000, a whopping 26.5% year-over-year jump. It's all thanks to a white hot real estate market spurred by low inventories, all-cash offers, and rising rents. But how far will $400,000 really go across the country? If you're looking to move, here are the U.S. cities where you will get the least and most square footage for your money, based on a recent Pont2Homes.com study that sourced real estate data from various listing portals in the country’s 100 most populous cities. 


Related: Buying a Home? Ignore This Outdated Advice


Aerial view suburban neighborhood with identical villas next to each other in the valley. San Diego, California, USA.
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10th Least: San Diego

How much space $400,000 buys you: 599 square feet

The median single family home price in San Diego reached $1 million in April, though experts expect sales and prices to cool slightly since with higher loan interest rates.


Related: Secrets Realtors Don’t Want You to Know


Orange County Houses
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9th Least: Irvine, California

How much space $400,000 buys you: 597 square feet

The median price per square foot for homes in Irvine is $670, so you're only likely to get a measly 597 square feet with a $400,000 mortgage. 


Related: What to Know When Buying a House After 50

Scenic Honolulu Oahu Hawaii Suburban Neighborhood
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8th Least: Honolulu

How much space $400,000 buys you: 592 square feet

So many people dream of living in tropical Hawaii that it's no surprise the housing market is high priced. The median price of a single-family home on Oahu is more than $1.1 million, so your money won't get you very far.


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Sunny Day in San Jose
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7th Least: San Jose, California

How much space $400,000 buys you: 510 square feet

With big tech companies come big prices and demand. San Jose is the most competitive housing market in the country, with a bidding war rate of almost 80%. Not only will you be paying a huge amount, it'll cost you some stress too.


Fremont, California
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6th Least: Fremont, California

How much space $400,000 buys you: 494 square feet

Just next door to San Jose is Fremont, where you'll get even less space for your money. At the end of 2021, 87% of homes sold for above asking price in this Bay Area suburb.


Boston, Ma skyline sunset from Winthrop
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5th Least: Boston

How much space $400,000 buys you: 487 square feet

Real estate prices grew 11% faster than local incomes in March, making Boston one of the most overvalued markets in the country.

Advent in Brooklyn
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4th Least: Brooklyn, New York

How much space $400,000 buys you: 456 square feet

Though $400,000 doesn’t get you much in Brooklyn, the market there is still hot compared with Manhattan, where higher interest rates are finally quelling the real estate buy up.


new york
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3rd Least: New York (All Boroughs)

How much space $400,000 buys you: 449 square feet

Millions of people want to — and do — live in the Big Apple, but they pay a huge price for the privilege whether they rent or own. Unsurprisingly, it'll cost you about $890 per square foot to buy, so don't expect much space.


San Francisco
Realtor.com

2nd Least: San Francisco, California

How much space $400,000 buys you: 400 square feet

While the housing market in San Francisco is finally starting to level off, it's still the second-most-expensive city in the country. The median home price is still just over $1.5 million, with the price per square foot right at $1,000.


Janet Jackson Manhattan Condo
Realtor.com

Least: Manhattan, New York

How much space $400,000 buys you: 267 square feet

You'll get the least amount of space for $400,000 in the country in Manhattan. But it's hard to find a home that small there for obvious reasons, making the borough mostly a neighborhood for the ultra rich and famous. You can expect to pay around $1,500 per square foot.


Related: Opulent Castles You Can Buy for the Price of a Manhattan Condo


Lubbock, Texas
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10th Most: Lubbock, Texas

How much space $400,000 buys you: 3,175 square feet

Compared with the most expensive cities, buying a house in Lubbock seems like a dream. The median price per square foot is only $126, so you'll get more than 3,000 square feet of space to spread out in. 


Welcome to Tulsa
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9th Most: Tulsa, Oklahoma

How much space $400,000 buys you: 3,200 square feet

The median home price in Tulsa was $240,000 this year. While that number has gone up over the pandemic, it's still low enough to entice buyers from California and Colorado looking for a lower cost of living.

Indianapolis, Indiana, USA Canal
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8th Most: Indianapolis

How much space $400,000 buys you: 3,252 square feet

The value of homes in Indianapolis increased 35.2% over the course of the pandemic, but the average home price is still only around $250,000, so you'll get a lot for your money.


American homes - Milwaukee, Lower East Side
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7th Most: Milwaukee

How much space $400,000 buys you: 3,279 square feet

The median price per square foot for a home in the city of Milwaukee is only $122. That means you could theoretically get a spacious 3,279-square-foot home for a $400,000 mortgage.


Buffalo, New York, USA
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6th Most: Buffalo, New York

How much space $400,000 buys you: 3,361 square feet

Upstate New York is a whole different beast than New York City, with its sky-high prices. If you can live with piles of lake effect snow in winter, you can get a small mansion of 3,300 square feet in Buffalo.


Aerial Perspective Over The Urban City Center Skyline in Fort Wayne Indiana
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5th Most: Fort Wayne, Indiana

How much space $400,000 buys you: 3,540 square feet

Houses are very affordable in Fort Wayne, so despite prices increasing almost 30% since the start of the pandemic, the average price is just under $200,000. You'd be able to fit a lot of bedrooms — and kids — into a 3,500-square-foot home.


Panorama of Wichita at night
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4th Most: Wichita, Kansas

How much space $400,000 buys you: 3,846 square feet

A powerful tornado that tore through Wichita in May has made an already tight housing market even tighter. Luckily, those looking for a new home won't have to pay an exorbitant amount to get enough square footage.

East Toledo, Ohio with Downtown Skyline - Aerial
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3rd Most: Toledo, Ohio

How much space $400,000 buys you: 4,444 square feet

Toledo is one of only three real estate markets in America's 100 largest cities to have a median square footage price of less than $100. At $90 per square foot, you can get a huge home of more than 4,400 feet.


Cleveland Suburb Houses
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2nd Most: Cleveland

How much space $400,000 buys you: 5,128 square feet

As the song goes, Cleveland rocks, and home prices are a big reason why. The median home price was only $115,000 recently. If you have $400,000 to spend, you can easily afford more than 5,000 square feet.

Abandoned brick houses, Detroit, Michigan
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Most: Detroit

How much space $400,000 buys you: 5,882 square feet

Detroit is the least expensive big city for homebuying, and plenty of people have caught on recently. Millennials are relocating to the city, lured by single-family homes with a median price of only $80,000. The median price per square foot is only $68, so you could live like a king with a $400,000 budget.


Related: What You Need to Know Before Buying a House at Auction