Price Per Square Foot Statistics (2026)

The median US home for sale was listed at $222 per square foot in October 2026, according to Realtor.com data published by the St. Louis Fed. That's down 1.3 percent from a year earlier and up 48 percent from October 2019. The house itself costs less than that to build: with the lot left out, the median new for-sale home started in 2025 was $152 per square foot, by NAHB's count.

Last updated November 10, 2026. Every figure links to its source, and the method notes explain why the numbers differ.

• Key statistics
• US average
• By state
• By metro
• Cost to build
• New vs existing
• Rent
• By zip code
• Method
• FAQ

Key statistics

• $222 per square foot is the median US listing price in October 2026, 5 percent below the record $234 set in May 2025 (Realtor.com via FRED).
• $709 in Hawaii, $147 in West Virginia. The most expensive state costs 4.8 times as much per square foot as the cheapest (Realtor.com state data).
• $821 in the San Jose metro, $149 in Cleveland, the top and bottom of the 50 largest metro areas (Realtor.com metro data).
• Up 48 percent since October 2019. Consumer prices rose 31 percent over the same stretch, so the gain after inflation is about 13 percent (our calculation from the Consumer Price Index).
• Prices per square foot fell over the past year in 26 states and Washington, DC, and in 37 of the 50 largest metros. They rose in 22 states and were flat in two.
• Montana is up 87 percent since October 2019, the most of any state. Washington, DC is the only place where the price fell, by 4.5 percent.
• $152 per square foot is the median price of a new for-sale home started in 2025 with the lot taken out; custom homes run $171 (NAHB).
• $162 per square foot is the average construction cost in NAHB's 2024 Construction Cost Survey. The same house sold for $251 per square foot once the lot, overhead and profit were added.
• New homes sold for $205 per square foot and existing homes for $212 in July 2026, so new was cheaper (Zillow).
• $2.08 per square foot per month is the average US apartment rent, based on $1,740 for 835 square feet (RentCafe).
• $33.18 per square foot per year is the average office listing rate, and $9.33 is the average industrial rent (CommercialCafe office and industrial reports).
• $87 per square foot bought a new manufactured home in 2023, about half the $166 for a site-built home without land (Census Bureau table).

Average price per square foot in the US

There isn't one average price per square foot, because each source divides a different price by a different area. The four national figures below run from $152 to $222.

Asking prices per square foot climbed from $127 in July 2016 to a record $234 in May 2025. The figure usually peaks in spring and dips in winter, so compare the same month across years.

US median listing price per square foot, each October since 2016

October	Price per sq ft	Change from prior October
2016	$126	n/a
2017	$133	+5.6%
2018	$144	+8.3%
2019	$150	+4.2%
2020	$173	+15.3%
2021	$197	+13.9%
2022	$218	+10.7%
2023	$221	+1.4%
2024	$226	+2.3%
2025	$225	-0.4%
2026	$222	-1.3%

Most of the rise came in three years. The October figure went from $150 in 2019 to $218 in 2022, and has stayed within 4 percent of that level every October since.

Price per square foot by state

Hawaii is the most expensive state at $709 per square foot and West Virginia the cheapest at $147, in Realtor.com's October 2026 state file. Twenty-three states and Washington, DC sit above the national $222, and 22 states are under $200.

The fastest climbers since 2019 are Montana and northern New England:

At the other end, Washington, DC fell 4.5 percent ($509 to $486), and Louisiana rose 29 percent, the smallest gain of any state. The past year was softer: the price fell in 26 states and DC and was flat in Kentucky and Alabama, with New York (down 4.8 percent), Hawaii and Massachusetts (both down 4.2 percent) dropping most.

Price per square foot in all 50 states and DC, October 2026

Rank	State	Price per sq ft	1-year change	Change since Oct 2019	Median listing size	Sq ft per $100,000
1	Hawaii	$709	-4.2%	+38%	1,040 sq ft	141
2	District of Columbia	$486	-1.8%	-5%	1,236 sq ft	206
3	California	$452	-1.5%	+40%	1,717 sq ft	221
4	Massachusetts	$407	-4.2%	+55%	1,769 sq ft	246
5	New York	$379	-4.8%	+68%	1,559 sq ft	264
6	Rhode Island	$374	+13.1%	+68%	1,550 sq ft	267
7	Washington	$337	-0.7%	+47%	1,947 sq ft	297
8	Montana	$320	+1.3%	+87%	2,120 sq ft	312
9	New Jersey	$311	-0.8%	+61%	1,650 sq ft	322
10	New Hampshire	$307	-0.9%	+83%	1,912 sq ft	326
11	Oregon	$298	-2.3%	+37%	1,867 sq ft	336
12	Idaho	$290	+1.9%	+71%	2,179 sq ft	345
13	Connecticut	$279	+1.5%	+63%	1,876 sq ft	358
14	Colorado	$278	-1.7%	+36%	2,012 sq ft	360
15	Maine	$277	-1.7%	+81%	1,680 sq ft	361
16	Vermont	$267	+0.7%	+83%	1,940 sq ft	375
17	Nevada	$266	-2.4%	+48%	1,824 sq ft	376
18	Alaska	$260	+3.3%	+58%	1,727 sq ft	385
19	Arizona	$260	-2.1%	+49%	1,854 sq ft	385
20	Utah	$252	-0.7%	+63%	2,355 sq ft	397
21	Florida	$250	-3.5%	+37%	1,615 sq ft	400
22	Virginia	$232	+1.2%	+56%	1,976 sq ft	431
23	Delaware	$228	-2.1%	+47%	2,060 sq ft	439
24	Maryland	$227	-2.9%	+34%	1,846 sq ft	441
25	Tennessee	$220	-0.4%	+64%	1,956 sq ft	455
26	Wisconsin	$216	+1.0%	+62%	1,764 sq ft	463
27	New Mexico	$215	+0.6%	+62%	1,936 sq ft	465
28	Wyoming	$213	+2.4%	+73%	2,266 sq ft	469
29	North Carolina	$212	-2.2%	+50%	1,927 sq ft	472
30	South Carolina	$199	-1.6%	+46%	1,834 sq ft	503
31	South Dakota	$199	-3.0%	+64%	1,864 sq ft	503
32	Minnesota	$195	-2.2%	+34%	1,933 sq ft	513
33	Pennsylvania	$188	-1.4%	+55%	1,680 sq ft	532
34	Georgia	$187	-1.1%	+55%	2,084 sq ft	535
35	Michigan	$186	+2.7%	+49%	1,584 sq ft	538
36	Illinois	$185	+1.1%	+42%	1,695 sq ft	541
37	Texas	$179	-2.2%	+37%	1,996 sq ft	559
38	Kentucky	$174	0.0%	+63%	1,800 sq ft	575
39	Iowa	$173	+4.0%	+42%	1,608 sq ft	578
40	North Dakota	$173	+5.6%	+56%	2,048 sq ft	578
41	Missouri	$171	+0.7%	+54%	1,736 sq ft	585
42	Nebraska	$167	-0.4%	+45%	2,112 sq ft	599
43	Ohio	$167	+1.5%	+67%	1,711 sq ft	599
44	Arkansas	$166	+2.2%	+68%	1,872 sq ft	602
45	Alabama	$165	0.0%	+51%	1,906 sq ft	606
46	Indiana	$162	+3.8%	+67%	1,800 sq ft	617
47	Oklahoma	$162	+0.9%	+54%	1,848 sq ft	617
48	Kansas	$156	+4.0%	+64%	1,947 sq ft	641
49	Louisiana	$151	-0.4%	+29%	1,813 sq ft	662
50	Mississippi	$150	+1.2%	+52%	1,900 sq ft	667
51	West Virginia	$147	+2.7%	+58%	1,773 sq ft	680

The 2019 figures come from each state's Realtor.com series on FRED, such as Montana's. The last column is our own division: $100,000 divided by the price per square foot.

Price per square foot by metro area

Among the 50 largest metro areas, San Jose is highest at $821 per square foot and Cleveland lowest at $149, a gap of 5.5 times (Realtor.com, October 2026). The figure below shows what that gap means in floor area.

Prices per square foot fell over the past year in 37 of the 50 metros. Austin dropped most, 8.3 percent, followed by Tampa at 5.3 percent. Providence (up 7.7 percent) and Indianapolis (up 5.2 percent) rose most.

Price per square foot in the 50 largest US metro areas, October 2026

Rank	Metro area	Price per sq ft	1-year change	Median listing size	Sq ft $500,000 buys
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$821	-2.1%	1,617 sq ft	609
2	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$642	-3.1%	1,698 sq ft	779
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$630	-3.5%	1,579 sq ft	794
4	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$583	-3.7%	1,523 sq ft	858
5	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$498	-1.4%	1,450 sq ft	1,004
6	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$454	-2.7%	1,734 sq ft	1,101
7	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$423	-3.4%	1,890 sq ft	1,182
8	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$358	-0.5%	1,308 sq ft	1,397
9	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$357	+7.7%	1,618 sq ft	1,401
10	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$338	-0.3%	1,780 sq ft	1,479
11	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$330	-1.9%	1,805 sq ft	1,515
12	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$302	-2.3%	1,950 sq ft	1,656
13	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$299	-2.7%	1,908 sq ft	1,672
14	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$277	-3.7%	2,052 sq ft	1,805
15	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$264	-2.1%	1,904 sq ft	1,894
16	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$260	+0.3%	2,280 sq ft	1,923
17	Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN	$259	-0.9%	2,145 sq ft	1,931
18	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$258	-2.7%	1,798 sq ft	1,938
19	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$246	+2.0%	1,816 sq ft	2,033
20	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$232	-5.3%	1,612 sq ft	2,155
21	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$227	+2.6%	1,700 sq ft	2,203
22	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$227	-1.4%	1,600 sq ft	2,203
23	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$226	-8.3%	1,993 sq ft	2,212
24	Richmond, VA	$226	+0.2%	2,010 sq ft	2,212
25	Tucson, AZ	$223	-1.2%	1,765 sq ft	2,242
26	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	$222	-2.7%	1,840 sq ft	2,252
27	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$222	+2.2%	1,954 sq ft	2,252
28	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$219	+3.7%	1,732 sq ft	2,283
29	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$216	-1.6%	1,975 sq ft	2,315
30	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$213	-2.9%	1,790 sq ft	2,347
31	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$213	-3.1%	2,236 sq ft	2,347
32	Jacksonville, FL	$212	-1.3%	1,722 sq ft	2,358
33	Columbus, OH	$205	+1.0%	1,737 sq ft	2,439
34	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$204	-2.6%	1,954 sq ft	2,451
35	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$197	-2.2%	2,185 sq ft	2,538
36	Kansas City, MO-KS	$194	+1.8%	2,066 sq ft	2,577
37	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$193	-1.2%	2,203 sq ft	2,591
38	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$189	-0.6%	1,761 sq ft	2,646
39	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$185	+3.2%	1,482 sq ft	2,703
40	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$184	+0.1%	1,496 sq ft	2,717
41	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	$177	-0.4%	1,730 sq ft	2,825
42	Oklahoma City, OK	$170	+0.4%	1,886 sq ft	2,941
43	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$169	-3.7%	1,948 sq ft	2,959
44	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$168	-2.3%	2,130 sq ft	2,976
45	Pittsburgh, PA	$168	-1.9%	1,562 sq ft	2,976
46	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$164	+5.2%	1,822 sq ft	3,049
47	St. Louis, MO-IL	$163	-1.7%	1,642 sq ft	3,067
48	Birmingham, AL	$157	-1.0%	1,835 sq ft	3,185
49	Memphis, TN-MS-AR	$152	-1.8%	1,888 sq ft	3,289
50	Cleveland, OH	$149	-0.7%	1,840 sq ft	3,356

The four California metros at the top all list above $580 per square foot. Houston ($168) and San Antonio ($169) are among the ten cheapest, and Dallas ($197) is well under the national median. To size a specific house against these figures, add up its rooms with the house square footage calculator.

Cost to build a house per square foot

The average cost to build a house was $162 per square foot in NAHB's 2024 Construction Cost Survey, the latest edition. That's $428,215 of construction on a 2,647 square foot home, with no land in the figure. The survey had usable answers from only 41 builders, so read it as a guide, not a national average.

NAHB's larger study of Census data gives medians for homes started in 2025, also without the lot:

Construction cost per square foot by stage

Interior finishes are the biggest single stage at about $39 per square foot, ahead of the mechanical systems at $31. We divided each stage in the NAHB survey by the 2,647 square foot average home.

From $162 to build to $251 to buy

The same average home sold for $665,298, or $251 per square foot. Construction was 64.4 percent of that price. The rest, also divided by 2,647 square feet:

Part of the sale price	Per sq ft	Share of price
Construction	$162	64.4%
Finished lot	$34	13.7%
Builder profit	$28	11.0%
Overhead and general expenses	$14	5.7%
Sales commission	$7	2.8%
Financing	$4	1.5%
Marketing	$2	0.8%
Sale price	$251	100%

Rules sit inside several of those lines. NAHB estimates that government regulation accounts for 26.4 percent of a new home's price in 2026, or $131,734 on an average home.

Cost to build by region

Where you build moves the figure a long way. For for-sale homes started in 2025, NAHB reports these medians before the lot:

The lot is a separate bill. The median lot under a new for-sale detached home was valued at $59,000 in 2025, from $50,000 in the South Atlantic and East South Central divisions to $171,000 on the Pacific coast. See average lot size for what that buys in land.

How building costs have changed

New homes cost about 72 percent more per square foot in 2025 than in 2015. Census figures for new homes sold, with the land value removed, went from $100.02 per square foot in 2015 to $165.94 in 2023, and LendingTree's analysis of the 2025 Census data puts 2025 at $171.95. In 1995 the figure was $62.45.

Average price per square foot of new homes sold, land excluded, 2014 to 2025

Year	New site-built home	New manufactured home
2014	$97.25	$45.41
2015	$100.02	$47.55
2016	$105.06	$48.82
2017	$111.05	$50.42
2018	$114.43	$54.59
2019	$118.91	$56.56
2020	$123.45	$59.14
2021	$144.89	$72.21
2022	$167.48	$87.79
2023	$165.94	$86.62
2025	$171.95	not available

Census Bureau figures for 2014 to 2023; 2025 from LendingTree's analysis of Census data. We could not confirm a 2024 figure.

A factory-built home costs about half as much per square foot. The average new manufactured home sold for $124,300 in 2023 and measured 1,435 square feet, which is $86.62 per square foot, against $165.94 for a site-built home.

New homes vs existing homes

New homes now cost less per square foot than existing ones. Zillow's September 2026 analysis put the median new home at $205 per square foot in July 2026 and the median existing home at $212, a gap of $7 or about 3.3 percent.

That reverses the usual order. New homes sold at a premium in 77 of the 84 months from 2018 to 2024, and the premium peaked at $25 per square foot in November 2022.

New homes are also concentrated in lower-priced markets. In the same Zillow data they made up 37.1 percent of sales in San Antonio and 33.6 percent in Raleigh over the year to July 2026, against 3.2 percent in New York. For a second read on new homes, the Census Bureau's median new home sold in 2025 was 2,194 square feet at a median price of $417,400, which works out to roughly $190 per square foot with the lot (our division of the two medians). For sizes, see average square footage of a house.

Rent per square foot

The average US apartment rents for about $2.08 per square foot per month. That's our division of the national average rent of $1,740 by the average apartment size of 835 square feet, both from RentCafe's July 2026 report on buildings with 50 or more units (Yardi Matrix data for March 2026).

Commercial space is quoted per square foot per year, so the chart puts apartments on the same yearly basis: $2.08 a month is about $25 a year.

Office space listed at an average of $33.18 per square foot in September 2026, up 1.2 percent in a year, and industrial space rented for $9.33, up 5.3 percent.

Commercial rent and sale price per square foot, September 2026

Measure	Office	Industrial
Average rent per sq ft per year	$33.18 (listing rate)	$9.33 (in-place rent)
Change in a year	+1.2%	+5.3%
Newest leases	n/a	$10.13
Highest market cited	Manhattan, a little over $72	Miami, $14.18
Lowest market cited	Detroit, $20.86	Columbus, $5.93
Vacancy rate	17.8%	9.7%
Average sale price per sq ft, 2026 to date	$197	$140

Office rates by class: Class A $40.62, Class B $27.07, Class C $19.63. Source: CommercialCafe national office and industrial reports, October 2026.

Office buildings sold for an average of $197 per square foot in 2026 and industrial buildings for $140, both below the $222 asked for the median home. Commercial rent is billed on rentable area, which is bigger than the space you occupy; commercial square footage explains the difference, and average apartment size covers unit sizes by type.

Price per square foot by zip code

The tables above stop at the metro level, but you can look up the listing price per square foot for a single zip code in a few minutes.

1. Open Realtor.com's zip code file. Its monthly inventory data by zip code has a median listing price per square foot column. It's a large CSV, so open it in a spreadsheet and filter to your zip.
2. Check the county. FRED carries the same Realtor.com series for states, metro areas and counties. Search for "median listing price per square feet" plus the county name.
3. Work out recent sales yourself. Divide each sold price by the home's finished square feet. Three to five sales of similar homes nearby tell you more than any zip code median.

The price per square foot calculator page has worked examples for homes, projects and rent.

How these numbers are measured

Price per square foot is a price divided by an area, and both halves change from source to source. That's why a new home can be $152, $162, $205 or $251 per square foot in the same year.

Figure	Price used	Area used	Period
$222, Realtor.com	Median asking price of active listings	Square feet in the listing	October 2026
$212 and $205, Zillow	Median price of existing and new homes	Not stated in the release	July 2026
$152 and $171, NAHB	Sale or contract price without the lot	Finished floor area	Homes started in 2025
$162, NAHB survey	Builder's construction cost	Finished floor area	2024
$171.95, Census	Average sale price minus land value	Finished floor area	Homes sold in 2025
$2.08 a month, RentCafe	Average rent	Average unit size	March 2026

Three things to keep in mind when you compare any two figures:

• Listing prices are not sale prices. The Realtor.com figures are what sellers ask. Realtor.com changed its method in November 2021 and September 2022 and restated its history, according to the series notes on FRED. Its files are replaced each month, so the linked files will show newer months over time.
• The area is not measured the same way. The Census Bureau counts all finished floor space, basements and attics included, measured from the outside of the walls, and leaves out garages and unfinished space. Listings follow local practice, and appraisers report below-grade space apart from the main total under ANSI Z765. See what counts as square footage and whether a basement counts.
• Medians and averages differ. A few very expensive homes pull an average up but barely move a median, so averages usually run higher.

Our own calculations are marked as such: the change since October 2019, the square feet $100,000 or $500,000 buys, the inflation adjustment (CPI for all urban consumers, October 2019 to September 2026), the per square foot split of NAHB's cost survey, and apartment rent per square foot. To measure a home yourself, start with how to calculate square footage.

Frequently asked questions

What is the average price per square foot for a house in the US?

The median listing price was $222 per square foot in October 2026. Homes that actually sold went for a median of $212 per square foot (existing) and $205 (new) in July 2026.

What is the average cost to build a house per square foot?

About $162 per square foot for construction alone, in NAHB's 2024 survey. The median new for-sale home started in 2025 was $152 per square foot before the lot, and custom homes were $171.

Which state has the highest price per square foot?

Hawaii, at $709 per square foot in October 2026. Washington, DC ($486), California ($452), Massachusetts ($407) and New York ($379) follow.

Which state has the lowest price per square foot?

West Virginia, at $147 per square foot in October 2026, just under Mississippi ($150) and Louisiana ($151).

Is the price per square foot going down?

Slightly. The US median listing price per square foot fell 1.3 percent in the year to October 2026 and is 5 percent below its May 2025 record. It's still 48 percent higher than in October 2019.

Is it cheaper per square foot to build or buy?

Per square foot of house alone, building is cheaper: $152 to $171 against $212 for an existing home. Add the lot and the builder's other costs and a new home sold for $205 per square foot in July 2026, $7 less than an existing one.

What is the average rent per square foot?

About $2.08 per square foot per month for a US apartment, or roughly $25 a year. Offices list at $33.18 per square foot per year and industrial space rents for $9.33.

What is a good price per square foot?

One at or below what similar homes nearby sold for. National and state medians only tell you whether a market is expensive; they can't price a single house.