How Big of a House Can You Get for $1M Around the United States?

A million dollars is a million dollars, right? Well, it turns out that a million dollars can go a lot further in some U.S. cities than it can in others. This new 3D bar graph map visualization from RoofClaim.com reveals just how far (or not so far) your dollar can go when it comes to buying a house. The results are fascinating:

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In Detroit, Michigan, you can buy a 22,000-plus square foot mega-mansion for $1 million. That’s nearly half the size of a football field. And in Memphis, Tennessee, you can get a similarly-sized 17,847 sq ft home for the same amount of money. Although, the local market in Memphis seems to be turning around this year.

On the other end of the spectrum, the real estate market in San Francisco is a whole different story. With one million dollars you’d only be able to get about 909 square feet. In Detroit, a home of that size would only run you about $40,905. But, just because housing prices are low, doesn’t mean it’s a good buy. Be sure to do your own research.

So why is it that real estate markets in the same country can be priced so wildly different? Well, that’s a complicated answer. A lot of factors come into play when it comes to real estate value in a specific city. Some include housing availability, crime rate, the job market, waterfront or other favorable views, and more. In San Francisco, it’s emerging that housing prices are so high that even highly paid tech workers can’t afford to live there.

How does your local city or town stack up? Let us know in the comments!