In San Jose, California, the median price for a single-family home is a whopping $1.2 million.
In many cities throughout the U.S., the cost of buying a regular, unimpressive house is only accessible to those with high paying salaries and pristine credit scores.
Unless you’re mega-wealthy, buying a small mansion in one of these places is out of the question. However, if you wander away from home listings in places like southern California, large east coast cities, and Denver, the median home price can drop significantly.
If you’re looking to get the best mansion for your buck, come with us and we’ll look at five U.S. cities with mansion prices you can afford.
5 Cities With the Lowest Mansion Prices in America
In its short history, the United States is home to many cities that had booming industries in earlier centuries and went through a period of decline. Many spectacular mansions built with the funds of wealthy industries still exist in the Rust Belt in widely varying levels of disrepair. If you’re hunting the internet for luxury home listings, you might meander through the offerings of these cities with bargain price sprawling estates.
1. Dayton, OH
The sixth-largest city in Ohio, Dayton boasts the cheapest median prices for mansions in the nation at an amazingly affordable $629,000. The Gem City had its heyday at the start of the 20th century when it was a manufacturing center as well as one of the most innovative cities in the country.
2. Indianapolis, IN
Only a two hours drive straight west from Dayton, the median prices for mansions in Indianapolis comes in at $679,000. Another city that is bouncing back after having seemingly passed its prime, the going price for a mansion in Indianapolis is going to rely heavily on what part of town you’re looking to move to. Depending on your willingness to give an enormous house a lot of TLC, there are a lot of surprisingly affordable mansions in Indy.
3. Louisville, KY
Head south from Indianapolis another two hours and you’ll get to Louisville. The biggest city in Kentucky, Louisville comes in third on our list of cities with cheap mansions for sale. The median cost of a mansion in Derby City is $765,000.
Louisville gained prominence as a U.S. city in tandem with the invention and increasing use of the steamboat. Once a major commercial center, Louisville saw a marked decline in the 20th century. Once again on the up and up, you can find some cheap mansions for sale in an increasingly hip city.
4. Allentown, PA
Another American city that was booming in the early 20th century, Allentown was once home to many wealthy titans of industry who built sprawling Victorian and Craftsmen homes. The median mansion price in Silk City is only $768,820.
If you’re looking for an even cheaper mansion but that needs quite a bit of work after many years of disrepair, you can snag a large estate for as little at $400,000.
5. Hartford, CT
The capital of Connecticut has seen better days, during which many incredible and spacious mansions were built. While Connecticut does have some of the highest property taxes in the country, the median price for mansions on the market is $799,900.
Mansions for the Ordinary Joe
You might not find the biggest mansions in the world in these cities, but you’ll definitely learn that the answer to the question “How much does a mansion cost?” is entirely relative. Mansion prices depend on the city, the location in the city, and the condition of the house.
Which of these cities do you think has the best mansions? Let us know in the comments! If you loved this article, be sure to check out the rest of our blog!