What $1 Million Actually Buys in 10 US Cities
Same budget, ten very different housing markets. From a 2-bed condo in LA to a 5,000 sqft estate in Nashville — what $1M gets you, by the numbers.
A million dollars is a meaningful budget by any measure — but what it actually buys depends massively on where you spend it. We pulled live averages from 10,000+ active listings across ten US cities and calculated how much house $1M gets you in each. The spread is absurd.
The extremes: in New York, $1M gets you roughly 549 sqft on average. In Phoenix, the same money buys 3,165 sqft. That's 6× the house for the same price.
Ranked, most expensive to cheapest per-square-foot
#1 New York
$1M buys roughly 549 sqft at average per-sqft prices. A representative listing near $1M here has 1 beds and 802 sqft.
Condo dominates inventory. Median across all listings: $1.5M. 37% of listings are under $1M.
#2 San Francisco
$1M buys roughly 1,047 sqft at average per-sqft prices. A representative listing near $1M here has 2 beds and 1,382 sqft.
Condo dominates inventory. Median across all listings: $1.3M. 38% of listings are under $1M.
#3 Los Angeles
$1M buys roughly 1,253 sqft at average per-sqft prices. A representative listing near $1M here has 4 beds and 1,686 sqft.
Single Family dominates inventory. Median across all listings: $1.2M. 39% of listings are under $1M.
#4 Seattle
$1M buys roughly 1,616 sqft at average per-sqft prices. A representative listing near $1M here has 2 beds and 1,490 sqft.
Single Family dominates inventory. Median across all listings: $769K. 68% of listings are under $1M.
#5 Miami
$1M buys roughly 1,761 sqft at average per-sqft prices. A representative listing near $1M here has 4 beds and 1,718 sqft.
Condo dominates inventory. Median across all listings: $640K. 75% of listings are under $1M.
#6 Nashville
$1M buys roughly 2,481 sqft at average per-sqft prices. A representative listing near $1M here has 3 beds and 1,787 sqft.
Single Family dominates inventory. Median across all listings: $598K. 79% of listings are under $1M.
#7 Denver
$1M buys roughly 2,513 sqft at average per-sqft prices. A representative listing near $1M here has 4 beds and 3,535 sqft.
Single Family dominates inventory. Median across all listings: $600K. 79% of listings are under $1M.
#8 Austin
$1M buys roughly 2,558 sqft at average per-sqft prices. A representative listing near $1M here has 4 beds and 3,209 sqft.
Single Family dominates inventory. Median across all listings: $550K. 81% of listings are under $1M.
#9 Chicago
$1M buys roughly 3,135 sqft at average per-sqft prices. A representative listing near $1M here has 4 beds and 2,200 sqft.
Condo dominates inventory. Median across all listings: $410K. 88% of listings are under $1M.
#10 Phoenix
$1M buys roughly 3,165 sqft at average per-sqft prices. A representative listing near $1M here has 3 beds and 1,967 sqft.
Single Family dominates inventory. Median across all listings: $476K. 88% of listings are under $1M.
The honest caveat
Average per-sqft figures hide enormous within-city variation. $1M in Beverly Hills is different from $1M in Sylmar even though both are “Los Angeles.” The numbers above represent the typical home in each city, not any specific neighborhood. If you're actually shopping, neighborhood matters more than city.
There's also a subtler point: in cities where most listings are under$1M, having a $1M budget means you're a premium buyer — expect newer construction, better finishes, bigger lots. In cities where most listings are over $1M, $1M makes you a budget buyer, and your options compress accordingly.
Related analysis
LA to Austin deep-dive →
The biggest relocation question of 2026
Nashville vs Austin →
The quieter, cheaper music city
Affordability calculator →
Back into a budget from income
Mortgage calculator →
Monthly payment on $1M at current rates
Data pulled from 10,000+ active listings across the 10 cities, refreshed daily. Representative listings selected by proximity to $1M and display whichever matching listing was closest at data pull time.