--- title: Here's What a $1 Million Home Looks like in D.C., San Francisco, El Paso, and Other Big Cities description: What are the most expensive (and most affordable) cities to buy a home? A Zillow report shows what a $1 million house looks like in the U.S. authors: - name: Shaina Mishkin url: https://money.com/author/shaina-mishkin/ at_money_since: 2017 articles: 131 covers: - Housing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Economy and Politics - Investing - Lifestyle - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology former_staff: true published: '2019-10-15T17:20:29.000Z' modified: '2024-04-17T12:16:35.000Z' section: Housing tags: - buying a home word_count: 314 canonical: https://money.com/buying-a-house-1-million-dollar-homes/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Suburban street](https://img.money.com/2019/10/one-million-dollar-homes-zillow-90042895.jpg) A million dollars can pay for a whole lot of house — but just how much can vary immensely depending on where you're trying to buy. At a national level, the typical $1 million home is 2,200 square feet, with four bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms, according to a new [Zillow analysis](http://zillow.mediaroom.com/2019-10-15-From-Bay-Area-Condos-to-Texas-Mansions-What-1-Million-Gets-You-in-Todays-Housing-Market) that used the company's [Zillow Home Value Index](https://www.zillow.com/research/data/) to analyze the market. In practice, that house might look a lot like this [two-story home for sale in Lake Forest, California](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/42-Wild-Rose-Lake-Forest-CA-92630/122243380_zpid/?), this [waterfront home in Sunset Beach, North Carolina](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/408-40th-St-Sunset-Beach-NC-28468/78258925_zpid/), or [this townhouse in Washington, D.C.](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2040-Pierce-Mill-Rd-NW-Washington-DC-20010/466384_zpid/) [Watch video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZlezzoljOU) That said, $1 million can go much further than that "standard" house in areas where real estate is affordable. And it can be depressing how little $1 million will buy you if you're in the market for a home in an expensive city, like San Francisco. In El Paso, Texas, millionaires hunting for a home can settle into a 7,030-square foot home with 5 bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms, according to the study. That's similar, though not identical, to this sprawling stucco estate with an elevator, carport and outdoor fountain [currently on the market in El Paso](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6598-Morrill-Rd-El-Paso-TX-79932/2124840602_zpid/?). At the other end of the spectrum, the median $1 million home in San Francisco has three bedrooms, one bathroom and measures 1,150 square feet, according to the study — similar to [this compact home](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1500-Visitacion-Ave-San-Francisco-CA-94134/15174445_zpid/) in the city's southernmost neighborhood, Visitacion Valley. And that's if you buy a home. The average $1 million condo in the Golden Gate City measures only 890 square feet, according to the study, and has just one bedroom and one bathroom. Wondering how your city stacked up? You can see more stats in the [full Zillow study](https://www.zillow.com/research/what-1-million-gets-you-25747/) and the [company's press release](http://zillow.mediaroom.com/2019-10-15-From-Bay-Area-Condos-to-Texas-Mansions-What-1-Million-Gets-You-in-Todays-Housing-Market). If you're looking for more information, you can also check out [Redfin's guide to getting a mortgage](https://www.redfin.com/home-buying-guide/how-to-get-a-mortgage) or Money.com's [best mortgage lenders](https://money.com/best-mortgage-lenders/). ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/buying-a-house-1-million-dollar-homes/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Housing", "item": "https://money.com/housing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Home Buying", "item": "https://money.com/home-buying/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Here's What a $1 Million Home Looks like in D.C., San Francisco, El Paso, and Other Big Cities" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/buying-a-house-1-million-dollar-homes/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/buying-a-house-1-million-dollar-homes/", "name": "Here's What a $1 Million Home Looks like in D.C., San Francisco, El Paso, and Other Big Cities", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2019-10-15T17:20:29.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/buying-a-house-1-million-dollar-homes/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/buying-a-house-1-million-dollar-homes/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-17T12:16:35.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Here's What a $1 Million Home Looks like in D.C., San Francisco, El Paso, and Other Big Cities", "articleSection": "Housing", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2019/10/one-million-dollar-homes-zillow-90042895.jpg", "width": 5370, "height": 3580, "caption": "Suburban street" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Shaina Mishkin", "url": "https://money.com/author/shaina-mishkin/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/shaina-mishkin/#author" } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2019-10-15T17:20:29.000Z", "description": "What are the most expensive (and most affordable) cities to buy a home? 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