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Cheapest and most expensive states to buy a house

The cheapest state to buy a house, judged by median home value, is West Virginia, at $170,800 in 2024. The most expensive is Hawaii, at $875,900. The national median was $360,600. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 1-year, 2024.

These figures are the Census Bureau’s survey of what owners think their homes are worth, so they describe the existing housing stock rather than this year’s listing or sale prices. They are collected the same way in every state, which makes the comparison fair, but a house on the market today can cost more or less than the state median.

Data year: 2024Source released Sept. 11, 2025Last updated Oct. 23, 2026GCT2510

50 ranked states; DC and Puerto Rico appear as reference rows where the source supplies them. Highest does not mean best. Ranks reflect point estimates; close values may not differ statistically.

Lowest state estimate $170,800 West Virginia
Highest state estimate $875,900 Hawaii
Hawaii: $875,900 California: $759,500 Massachusetts: $607,400 Washington: $602,200 Colorado: $574,600 Utah: $545,200 Oregon: $497,500 New Jersey: $496,000 New Hampshire: $458,800 Rhode Island: $455,700 Nevada: $455,500 New York: $449,800 Idaho: $446,400 Maryland: $436,300 Arizona: $426,000 Montana: $425,400 Virginia: $403,500 Connecticut: $396,900 Florida: $396,900 Alaska: $376,500 Delaware: $371,600 Vermont: $352,800 Minnesota: $344,600 Georgia: $343,300 Maine: $341,900 Wyoming: $339,500 North Carolina: $333,000 Tennessee: $332,600 Texas: $313,200 South Carolina: $299,500 Wisconsin: $294,700 South Dakota: $289,600 Illinois: $280,700 New Mexico: $279,900 Pennsylvania: $277,600 North Dakota: $266,100 Nebraska: $263,100 Missouri: $254,400 Michigan: $254,200 Indiana: $243,500 Ohio: $239,800 Kansas: $238,700 Alabama: $233,300 Iowa: $227,300 Kentucky: $226,000 Louisiana: $223,200 Oklahoma: $222,100 Arkansas: $215,600 Mississippi: $186,500 West Virginia: $170,800
Each dot is a state. The scale runs from the lowest to highest estimate; intervals are not shown here. Read about uncertainty.

The 10 states with the cheapest homes

  1. West Virginia: $170,800
  2. Mississippi: $186,500
  3. Arkansas: $215,600
  4. Oklahoma: $222,100
  5. Louisiana: $223,200
  6. Kentucky: $226,000
  7. Iowa: $227,300
  8. Alabama: $233,300
  9. Kansas: $238,700
  10. Ohio: $239,800

The 10 states with the most expensive homes

  1. Hawaii: $875,900
  2. California: $759,500
  3. Massachusetts: $607,400
  4. Washington: $602,200
  5. Colorado: $574,600
  6. Utah: $545,200
  7. Oregon: $497,500
  8. New Jersey: $496,000
  9. New Hampshire: $458,800
  10. Rhode Island: $455,700

State distribution and comparisons

The middle of the 50-state distribution is $340,700: the average of the 25th and 26th ordered state estimates. This treats each state equally, so it answers a different question from a population-weighted national estimate.

No other state is statistically tied with Hawaii at 90% confidence. Every other state differs from the highest point estimate under this pairwise test. This is not a confidence interval for rank, and testing multiple pairs increases false-positive risk.

See the top ten estimates with their 90% margins of error$168,206$889,913HawaiiCaliforniaMassachusettsWashingtonColoradoUtahOregonNew JerseyNew HampshireRhode Island

Shared axis spans the complete 50-state estimate ± MOE range. Intervals describe individual estimates; overlapping intervals alone are not our significance test.

Do home values and monthly owner costs tell the same story?

These states’ ranks change the most between median home value and monthly owner costs with a mortgage. These comparisons identify different questions worth investigating; a rank gap does not measure a causal effect or a statistical difference between unlike units.

StateMedian home valueMonthly owner costs with a mortgage
Idaho$446,400 · #13$1,769 · #30
Texas$313,200 · #29$2,211 · #14
Illinois$280,700 · #33$1,994 · #19

Inspect these states, definitions and pairwise differences.

Values over time

Annual ACS 1-year estimates, 2021–2024. Each year is a separate published survey release; 2020 is excluded because the Census Bureau did not release standard 1-year estimates for that year. Dollar figures are in each year’s dollars, not adjusted for inflation. Ranks are recalculated among the same 50 states for each year.

The state-by-state view

Download table

Ranked among 50 states; District of Columbia and Puerto Rico shown for reference. Rank 1 = highest value.

Median home value · 2024 · U.S. dollars
RankState / jurisdictionValue90% margin of errorDifference from previous rank
1Hawaii$875,900± $14,013Highest estimate
2California$759,500± $3,644Different at 90%
3Massachusetts$607,400± $3,979Different at 90%
4Washington$602,200± $3,897Not distinguishable at 90%
5Colorado$574,600± $3,773Different at 90%
6Utah$545,200± $6,188Different at 90%
7Oregon$497,500± $3,618Different at 90%
8New Jersey$496,000± $2,982Not distinguishable at 90%
9New Hampshire$458,800± $6,138Different at 90%
10Rhode Island$455,700± $6,647Not distinguishable at 90%
11Nevada$455,500± $3,836Not distinguishable at 90%
12New York$449,800± $3,718Different at 90%
13Idaho$446,400± $5,301Not distinguishable at 90%
14Maryland$436,300± $3,089Different at 90%
15Arizona$426,000± $2,728Different at 90%
16Montana$425,400± $10,246Not distinguishable at 90%
17Virginia$403,500± $3,411Different at 90%
18Connecticut$396,900± $3,745Different at 90%
18Florida$396,900± $1,617Not distinguishable at 90%
20Alaska$376,500± $7,020Different at 90%
21Delaware$371,600± $4,972Not distinguishable at 90%
22Vermont$352,800± $7,277Different at 90%
23Minnesota$344,600± $1,807Different at 90%
24Georgia$343,300± $2,287Not distinguishable at 90%
25Maine$341,900± $4,987Not distinguishable at 90%
26Wyoming$339,500± $8,452Not distinguishable at 90%
27North Carolina$333,000± $1,908Not distinguishable at 90%
28Tennessee$332,600± $2,448Not distinguishable at 90%
29Texas$313,200± $1,780Different at 90%
30South Carolina$299,500± $3,303Different at 90%
31Wisconsin$294,700± $1,862Different at 90%
32South Dakota$289,600± $6,421Not distinguishable at 90%
33Illinois$280,700± $1,768Different at 90%
34New Mexico$279,900± $4,338Not distinguishable at 90%
35Pennsylvania$277,600± $1,517Not distinguishable at 90%
36North Dakota$266,100± $5,332Different at 90%
37Nebraska$263,100± $3,117Not distinguishable at 90%
38Missouri$254,400± $2,059Different at 90%
39Michigan$254,200± $1,616Not distinguishable at 90%
40Indiana$243,500± $1,916Different at 90%
41Ohio$239,800± $1,395Different at 90%
42Kansas$238,700± $2,937Not distinguishable at 90%
43Alabama$233,300± $2,461Different at 90%
44Iowa$227,300± $2,299Different at 90%
45Kentucky$226,000± $2,611Not distinguishable at 90%
46Louisiana$223,200± $2,575Not distinguishable at 90%
47Oklahoma$222,100± $2,147Not distinguishable at 90%
48Arkansas$215,600± $3,253Different at 90%
49Mississippi$186,500± $3,787Different at 90%
50West Virginia$170,800± $2,594Different at 90%
Ref.District of ColumbiaNot ranked among states$733,400± $25,632Reference jurisdiction
Ref.Puerto RicoNot ranked among states$142,100± $1,869Reference jurisdiction

50 states plus 2 reference rows.

Common questions

What is the cheapest state to buy a house?

West Virginia has the lowest median home value of the 50 states, at $170,800 in 2024.

What is the most expensive state to buy a house?

Hawaii has the highest median home value of the 50 states, at $875,900 in 2024.

What else affects the cost of owning a home?

Mortgage payments, insurance and property taxes. The monthly owner costs ranking compares what owners with a mortgage actually pay each month.

What this ranking measures

The median reported value of owner-occupied housing units.

These are survey estimates of existing homes, not asking prices, sale prices, or the cost of a new purchase.

The size of the gap

The difference between the highest and lowest state estimates is $705,100. The U.S. benchmark is $360,600. It is not a simple average of the states.

21 states have point estimates above the U.S. benchmark and 29 below it. These counts do not establish statistical significance.

How much should you read into a rank?

Each estimate has a 90% margin of error published by the Census Bureau. For two different states, we flag a difference only when its absolute size exceeds the square root of the sum of their squared margins of error. The comparison tool applies this check to every selected pair.

Non-significance is not proof of equality. These pairwise tests are not adjusted for multiple comparisons and do not form ranking confidence intervals. Statistical method and limitations.

Ranks use the full precision of the source file, so only truly equal values share a rank (1, 2, 2, 4).

Keep exploring

Why prices, housing spending and burden produce different state orders.

Explore the same states in a side-by-side comparison, or combine this measure with others in the custom ranking tool.

Source and method

Producer
U.S. Census Bureau
Product / file
ACS 1-year · GCT2510
Period
2024
Unit
U.S. dollars
Calculation
Published estimate; no transformation of the value. Rank = 1 + number of eligible jurisdictions with a higher value.
Coverage
The 50 states are ranked. Washington, D.C., can be added with the toggle above the table; Puerto Rico is shown for reference only, where the source covers it.
Cadence
Annual. 2025 ACS 1-year estimates scheduled for October 29, 2026 (Census ACS updates page); adoption follows editorial review.
Independence
Rank the States is independent. The agencies that produce the source data do not endorse these rankings.

Download, cite, or embed

Download the default full table (CSV) or use the download above for the table’s current filter and order. Data dictionary and source metadata

Updates and corrections

Last updated Oct. 23, 2026. Earlier editions stay available on the data page, and every change is listed in the update log. If a number or definition looks wrong, report an error with the state, value, and source you checked.

Related rankings

State distributions: each mark is one state, from lowest to highest. Each row uses its own scale.

01

Owners with a mortgage: mean income after housing costs

2024 · Census PUMS

$157,270 Massachusetts · highest estimate 02

Mortgage-free owners: mean income after housing costs

2024 · Census PUMS

$130,864 Massachusetts · highest estimate 03

Monthly owner costs with a mortgage

2024 · Census ACS

$3,001 California · highest estimate

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