Markets
Mapped: The Top 30 Most Valuable Real Estate Cities in the U.S.
The Most Valuable Real Estate Cities in America
According to real estate tycoon Harold Samuel, there are three things that matter when it comes to real estate value—location, location, and location.
America’s property market is no exception to this rule. Depending on the city and its—you guessed it—location, there are vast discrepancies in real estate value across the country.
Using the latest data from LendingTree, this graphic ranks the top 30 most valuable real estate cities in America. We’ll also evaluate the top cities based on median value of homes, and how COVID-19 has impacted the market.
The Most Valuable Real Estate Cities
Out of the $32.6 trillion of total real estate value included in LendingTree’s database, the top 30 cities account for almost 57%:
Rank | City | State | Total Value (in billions) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | New York | New York | $2,838 |
2 | Los Angeles | California | $2,289 |
3 | San Francisco | California | $1,320 |
4 | Chicago | Illinois | $906 |
5 | Washington, D.C. | -- | $826 |
6 | Boston | Massachusetts | $815 |
7 | Miami | Florida | $774 |
8 | Seattle | Washington | $700 |
9 | Dallas | Texas | $628 |
10 | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | $577 |
11 | San Jose, Calif. | California | $568 |
12 | San Diego | California | $564 |
13 | Houston | Texas | $535 |
14 | Atlanta | Georgia | $531 |
15 | Riverside, Calif. | California | $485 |
16 | Phoenix | Arizona | $484 |
17 | Denver | Colorado | $439 |
18 | Minneapolis | Minnesota | $383 |
19 | Detroit | Michigan | $348 |
20 | Portland, Ore. | Oregon | $319 |
21 | Sacramento, Calif. | California | $318 |
22 | Baltimore | Maryland | $301 |
23 | Tampa, Fla. | Florida | $286 |
24 | Austin, Texas | Texas | $248 |
25 | Charlotte, N.C | North Carolina | $248 |
26 | Orlando, Fla. | Florida | $233 |
27 | Honolulu | Hawaii | $219 |
28 | Nashville, Tenn. | Tennessee | $209 |
29 | St. Louis | Missouri | $202 |
30 | Las Vegas | Nevada | $191 |
New York has the highest real estate value in the country at $2.8 trillion—that’s around the size of the UK’s GDP in 2019. Close behind is Los Angeles at $2.3 trillion, while San Francisco ranks third at $1.3 trillion.
This may not come as a surprise, considering the popularity of these areas. New York and Los Angeles have the two highest city populations in the U.S., and San Francisco is the second most densely populated city in America (after New York). Historically, these areas have been notorious for their red-hot real estate markets, limited housing supply, and high costs of living.
However, while these cities take the top three spots when it comes to total real estate value, the ranking looks a bit different when comparing the median value of each city.
Most Valuable Cities, by Median Home Value
When it comes to median home value, San Jose claims the top spot at $1.1 million, while San Francisco places second at $959K:
Rank | City | State | Median Value of a Home |
---|---|---|---|
1 | San Jose | California | $1,100,000 |
2 | San Francisco | California | $959,000 |
3 | Honolulu | Hawaii | $705,000 |
4 | Los Angeles | California | $668,000 |
5 | San Diego | California | $594,000 |
6 | Oxnard | California | $586,000 |
7 | New York | New York | $501,000 |
8 | Boston | Massachusetts | $498,000 |
9 | Seattle | Washington | $498,000 |
10 | Washington, D.C. | -- | $455,000 |
11 | Denver | Colorado | $430,000 |
12 | Sacramento | California | $410,000 |
13 | Bridgeport | Connecticut | $410,000 |
14 | Portland | Oregon | $401,000 |
15 | Riverside | California | $365,000 |
16 | Naples | Florida | $329,000 |
17 | Austin | Texas | $323,000 |
18 | Salt Lake City | Utah | $312,000 |
19 | Providence | Rhode Island | $300,000 |
20 | Miami | Florida | $297,000 |
21 | Minneapolis | Minnesota | $294,000 |
22 | Baltimore | Maryland | $284,000 |
23 | Las Vegas | Nevada | $278,000 |
24 | Phoenix | Arizona | $276,000 |
25 | Raleigh | North Carolina | $271,000 |
26 | Nashville | Tennessee | $265,000 |
27 | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | $246,000 |
28 | Chicago | Illinois | $245,000 |
29 | Orlando | Florida | $245,000 |
30 | North Port | Florida | $244,000 |
The Bay Area leads the pack in terms of median value, but San Francisco and San Jose aren’t the only Californian cities to make the list. In fact, half of the top 10 cities are in the Golden State.
Suburban Shuffle
It’s important to note that these numbers are from January 2020, before the global pandemic triggered numerous societal and economic changes, including an accelerated migration to the suburbs from key urban centers like New York and San Francisco.
This mass exodus has negatively impacted sales activity. In fall 2020, or example, home sales in New York dropped by 50% compared to last year.
In contrast, places like Honolulu have seen significant growth in home sales—in September 2020, single-family home sales rose by 12.7% compared to last year. Some experts believe COVID has been a key factor driving this growth, as more people are able to work from anywhere, thanks to remote work.
Markets
Visualizing Global Income Distribution Over 200 Years
How has global income distribution changed over history? Below, we show three distinct periods since the Industrial Revolution.

Visualizing Global Income Distribution Over 200 Years
Has the world become more unequal?
With COVID-19 disrupting societies and lower-income countries in particular, social and economic progress made over the last decade is in danger of being reversed. And with rising living costs and inflation across much of the world, experts warn that global income inequality has been exacerbated.
But the good news is that absolute incomes across many poorer countries have significantly risen over the last century of time. And though work remains, poverty levels have fallen dramatically in spite of stark inequality.
To analyze historical trends in global income distribution, this infographic from Our World in Data looks at three periods over the last two centuries. It uses economic data from 1800, 1975, and 2015 compiled by Hans and Ola Rosling.
Methodology
For global income estimates, data was gathered by country across three key variables:
- Population
- GDP per capita
- Gini coefficient, which measures income inequality by statistical distribution
Daily incomes were measured in a hypothetical “international-$” currency, equal to what a U.S. dollar would buy in America in 2011, to allow for comparable incomes across time periods and countries.
Historical Patterns in Global Income Distribution
In 1800, over 80% of the world lived in what we consider extreme poverty today.
At the time, only a small number of countries—predominantly Western European countries, Australia, Canada and the U.S.—saw meaningful economic growth. In fact, research suggests that between 1 CE and 1800 CE the majority of places around the world saw miniscule economic growth (only 0.04% annually).
By 1975, global income distribution became bimodal. Most citizens in developing countries lived below the poverty line, while most in developed countries lived above it, with incomes nearly 10 times higher on average. Post-WWII growth was unusually rapid across developed countries.
Fast forward just 40 years to 2015 and world income distribution changed again. As incomes rose faster in poorer countries than developed ones, many people were lifted out of poverty. Between 1975 and 2015, poverty declined faster than at any other time. Still, steep inequality persisted.
A Tale of Different Economic Outputs
Even as global income distribution has started to even out, economic output has trended in the opposite direction.
As the above interactive chart shows, GDP per capita was much more equal across regions in the 19th century, when it sat around $1,100 per capita on a global basis. Despite many people living below the poverty line during these times, the world also had less wealth to go around.
Today, the global average GDP per capita sits at close to $15,212 or about 14 times higher, but it is not as equally distributed.
At the highest end of the spectrum are Western and European countries. Strong economic growth, greater industrial output, and sufficient legal institutions have helped underpin higher GDP per capita numbers. Meanwhile, countries with the lowest average incomes have not seen the same levels of growth.
This highlights that poverty, and economic prosperity, is heavily influenced by where one lives.
Mining
Mapped: The 10 Largest Gold Mines in the World, by Production
Gold mining companies produced over 3,500 tonnes of gold in 2021. Where in the world are the largest gold mines?

The 10 Largest Gold Mines in the World, by Production
This was originally posted on Elements. Sign up to the free mailing list to get beautiful visualizations on natural resource megatrends in your email every week.
Gold mining is a global business, with hundreds of mining companies digging for the precious metal in dozens of countries.
But where exactly are the largest gold mines in the world?
The above infographic uses data compiled from S&P Global Market Intelligence and company reports to map the top 10 gold-producing mines in 2021.
Editor’s Note: The article uses publicly available global production data from the World Gold Council to calculate the production share of each mine. The percentages slightly differ from those calculated by S&P.
The Top Gold Mines in 2021
The 10 largest gold mines are located across nine different countries in North America, Oceania, Africa, and Asia.
Together, they accounted for around 13 million ounces or 12% of global gold production in 2021.
Rank | Mine | Location | Production (ounces) | % of global production |
---|---|---|---|---|
#1 | Nevada Gold Mines | 🇺🇸 U.S. | 3,311,000 | 2.9% |
#2 | Muruntau | 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan | 2,990,020 | 2.6% |
#3 | Grasberg | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | 1,370,000 | 1.2% |
#4 | Olimpiada | 🇷🇺 Russia | 1,184,068 | 1.0% |
#5 | Pueblo Viejo | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | 814,000 | 0.7% |
#6 | Kibali | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | 812,000 | 0.7% |
#7 | Cadia | 🇦🇺 Australia | 764,895 | 0.7% |
#8 | Lihir | 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea | 737,082 | 0.6% |
#9 | Canadian Malartic | 🇨🇦 Canada | 714,784 | 0.6% |
#10 | Boddington | 🇦🇺 Australia | 696,000 | 0.6% |
N/A | Total | N/A | 13,393,849 | 11.7% |
Share of global gold production is based on 3,561 tonnes (114.5 million troy ounces) of 2021 production as per the World Gold Council.
In 2019, the world’s two largest gold miners—Barrick Gold and Newmont Corporation—announced a historic joint venture combining their operations in Nevada. The resulting joint corporation, Nevada Gold Mines, is now the world’s largest gold mining complex with six mines churning out over 3.3 million ounces annually.
Uzbekistan’s state-owned Muruntau mine, one of the world’s deepest open-pit operations, produced just under 3 million ounces, making it the second-largest gold mine. Muruntau represents over 80% of Uzbekistan’s overall gold production.
Only two other mines—Grasberg and Olimpiada—produced more than 1 million ounces of gold in 2021. Grasberg is not only the third-largest gold mine but also one of the largest copper mines in the world. Olimpiada, owned by Russian gold mining giant Polyus, holds around 26 million ounces of gold reserves.
Polyus was also recently crowned the biggest miner in terms of gold reserves globally, holding over 104 million ounces of proven and probable gold between all deposits.
How Profitable is Gold Mining?
The price of gold is up by around 50% since 2016, and it’s hovering near the all-time high of $2,000/oz.
That’s good news for gold miners, who achieved record-high profit margins in 2020. For every ounce of gold produced in 2020, gold miners pocketed $828 on average, significantly higher than the previous high of $666/oz set in 2011.
With inflation rates hitting decade-highs in several countries, gold mining could be a sector to watch, especially given gold’s status as a traditional inflation hedge.
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