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The Median Lot Size in Every U.S. State in 2022

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Comparing average lot sizes in every U.S. state

The Median Lot Size in Every U.S. State in 2022

The “American Dream” is often associated with imagery of spacious estates adorned with white picket fences, wrap-around porches, and sprawling green lawns that seem to go on forever.

But in reality, modern American life has become much more compact. Over the last few decades, the typical lot size in the U.S. has decreased significantly—from 18,760 square feet in 1978 to 13,896 in 2020.

While lot sizes are getting smaller overall, there are still large discrepancies in lot sizes from state to state. This graphic by Angi uses data from the 2022 U.S. Lot Size Index to show the median lot size in every U.S. State, using data from 312,456 Zillow listings as of May 2022.

Largest and Smallest Median Lot Sizes by State

When it comes to the states with the largest plots of land, New England dominates the ranking, with Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine at the top of the list.

RankStateMedian lot size (sq.ft.)
1Vermont78,408
2New Hampshire49,223
3Maine45,738
4Montana43,560
5Alaska42,423
6Mississippi31,799
7Connecticut30,928
8Arkansas24,829
9Tennessee24,394
10Georgia22,215

New England was one of the first regions settled by the Europeans in Colonial America. This long history, along with a large rural population, could explain why the area has strict zoning policies that limit density and require large minimum lot sizes for new builds.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Nevada ranks as the state with the smallest median lot size:

RankStateMedian lot size (sq.ft.)
1Nevada7,405
2California8,327
3Arizona8,726
4Illinois9,025
5Texas9,540
6Colorado10,019
7Florida10,019
8North Dakota10,019
9New Jersey10,019
10Ohio10,019

One possible explanation is that Nevada’s population boom—and subsequent development—is relatively recent. Newer homes listed in the dataset tend to have smaller lot sizes, and in Nevada, 34.6% of homes included in the research were built in 2000 or later.

Comparing Lot Size to Land Price

Generally speaking, the states with the biggest lots also tend to have the cheapest land when broken down per square foot. For instance, in Vermont, properties sold for a median $5.95 per square foot.

comparing average lot sizes in the U.S. to price

View the full-size infographic

On the flip side, in Nevada, land sold for a median $82.80 per square foot—that’s the third most expensive of any state.

Of course, other factors are at play here when it comes to the cost of land. Like anything else that’s for sale, the price of a lot is governed largely by the laws of supply and demand.

For example, housing supply is scarce in Hawaii, where only 4.9% of the land is zoned for residential development, and the median home size is much smaller than in other parts of the country. Not surprisingly, the median plot of land in Hawaii costs $110.86 per square foot, the most expensive on the list.

The Future of Housing in America

Lot sizes remain relatively large in some states for now, but as the U.S. population continues to become more urbanized, living conditions in America could get even tighter.

Will America hold onto its spacious way of living, or could life in the U.S. start to resemble more densely populated regions in the future?

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This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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Ranked: 15 of the World’s Least Affordable Housing Markets

This map examines middle-income housing market affordability across eight major countries, highlighting some of the least affordable cities.

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Mapping housing market affordability and some of the least affordable cities

Ranked: 15 of the World’s Least Affordable Housing Markets

When considering where to live, big cities are attractive to people for a number of reasons, but affordability is usually not one of them.

This map, using data from Demographia, highlights the major cities ranked the worst for housing market affordability on a global basis.

Unaffordable Housing Markets

Demographia’s report looks at middle-income housing affordability in 94 cities in eight countries, many of which are known for having pricy housing markets:

  • 🇦🇺 Australia
  • 🇨🇦 Canada
  • 🇨🇳 China (Hong Kong)
  • 🇮🇪 Ireland
  • 🇳🇿 New Zealand
  • 🇸🇬 Singapore
  • 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
  • 🇺🇸 United States

For the 2023 report, it uses 2022 Q3 prices and income levels for evaluation, dividing the median house price by the gross median household income to find the median multiple for housing.

And for the first time in the history of Demographia’s reporting, not a single of the 94 cities scored below 3.0, the cutoff to be deemed “affordable.” Here’s a closer look at the least affordable markets in 2023:

RankCityHousing Median Multiple
1🇭🇰 Hong Kong18.8
2🇦🇺 Sydney13.3
3🇨🇦 Vancouver12.0
4🇺🇸 Honolulu11.8
5🇺🇸 San Jose11.5
6🇺🇸 Los Angeles11.3
7🇳🇿 Auckland10.8
8🇺🇸 San Francisco10.7
9🇦🇺 Melbourne9.9
10🇨🇦 Toronto9.5
11🇺🇸 San Diego9.4
12🇬🇧 London8.7
13🇺🇸 Miami8.5
14🇦🇺 Adelaide8.2
15🇬🇧 Bournemouth & Dorset8.0

For well over a decade now, Hong Kong has taken the top spot as the least affordable market globally. The only city to become even less affordable year over year was Los Angeles.

On the flip side, the most affordable city in the U.S. was Pittsburgh, with the median multiple sitting at 3.1. As people start to get priced out of certain markets, they may start to move to these more affordable cities.

Zooming out farther, here are the housing market affordability scores for all eight jurisdictions covered in this report:

Country / JurisdictionHousing Median Multiple
🇭🇰 Hong Kong18.8
🇳🇿 New Zealand10.8
🇦🇺 Australia8.2
🇨🇦 Canada5.3
🇸🇬 Singapore5.3
🇬🇧 UK5.3
🇮🇪 Ireland5.1
🇺🇸 U.S.5.0

Again, none of these countries are considered affordable, but within each there is a wide range of scores. Hong Kong is significantly less affordable than the second-place New Zealand and third-place Australia.

Scores across Canada, Singapore, the UK, Ireland and the U.S., however, are quite similar.

Better Cities for Housing Market Affordability

While many people flock to big cities, evidenced by the fact that many of the least affordable places are also among the most populous, others are opting to live somewhere more in their price range.

Here’s a glance at some of the most affordable housing markets worldwide:

RankCityHousing Median Multiple
1🇺🇸 Pittsburgh, PA3.1
2🇺🇸 Rochester, NY3.2
3🇺🇸 Cleveland, OH3.5
3🇺🇸 St. Louis, MO-IL3.5
5🇺🇸 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN3.6
5🇺🇸 Oklahoma City, OK3.6
7🇺🇸 Buffalo, NY3.7
8🇺🇸 Detroit, MI3.8
9🇺🇸 Louisville, KY-IN3.9
9🇺🇸 Tusla, OK3.9
11🇨🇦 Edmonton, AB4.0
11🇺🇸 Hartford, CT4.0
11🇺🇸 Kansas City, MO-KS4.0
14🇺🇸 Columbus, OH4.1
14🇺🇸 Grand Rapid, MI4.1
14🇺🇸 Indianapolis, IN4.1
14🇺🇸 Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI4.1
14🇺🇸 Philadelphia, PA-NJ-DE-MD4.1

All of the top 18 most affordable cities covered in the report are located in North America.

While big, global cities will certainly continue to attract talent and residents from all over, the more affordable cities may gain new residents for more practical financial reasons.

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