What a $1 Million Dream Home Looks Like Across the U.S.

It pays to do your research.

Share

We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs.

When you think about the home you’d buy if you won $1 million in a lottery, chances are you envision a sprawling, multi-bedroom house. Or if you’re an urbanite, a historic brownstone. Then again, perhaps you’d be perfectly happy with a moderately sized home, as long as it’s outfitted with a recently renovated bathroom and new appliances. There are so many different ways a $1 million home can look—and it largely has to do with where it’s located.

A new report by Zillow explains exactly how much space you can buy for $1 million in various cities across the country, and the differences are pretty staggering in some cases. The smallest median square footage is found, unsurprisingly, in San Francisco, where that seven-figure price tag will get you only an 888-square-foot condo. In New York, things aren’t much better: Million-dollar homes have a median of just 1,000 square feet. On the other end of the spectrum are $1 million properties in El Paso, Texas, and Knoxville, Tennessee, where you can get a staggering 7,032 square feet and 6,518 square feet, respectively.

If you don’t want to move across state lines to get the most bang for your buck, it is worth taking a look at smaller towns just outside of major metropolises. Million-dollar listings in the suburbs of Chicago, for example, are twice as large as their counterparts in the Windy City, and a home in Islip, New York, will have more than quadruple the amount of square footage of a place for the same price in Manhattan. Or, you know, you can just make the most of your tiny apartment wherever you live now.

See more inspiring homes: A Leafy Piano Nook Is the Best Part of This Craftsman-Style Los Angeles Home Finding 3 Feet of Space Was a Game Changer in This Family’s Dumbo Apartment This Artist’s Home Is as Cool and Collected as Her Work