By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-06-16 21:07:26 | Updated at 2026-06-17 19:27:19
23 hours ago
For generations of Americans, a starter home was seen as the first step onto the property ladder, a modest house that offered an affordable path to homeownership.
But in an increasing number of cities across the country, even the most basic homes now come with a seven-figure price tag.
A new analysis from Zillow found that a record 242 cities across the US now have starter homes worth at least $1 million, nearly triple the number recorded before the pandemic.
The findings highlight how dramatically housing costs have risen in recent years, with million-dollar entry-level homes no longer confined to a handful of ultra-wealthy coastal communities.
Zillow defines a starter home as a property in the lowest third of home values within a local housing market.
While the typical starter home nationwide is still valued at around $198,649, the number of cities where buyers need at least $1 million just to get a foot on the housing ladder continues to grow.
'The pandemic reset the cost of buying a home, spreading million-dollar starter homes from a handful of coastal states to more than two dozen states across the country,' Kara Ng, senior economist at Zillow, said.
The surge reflects the lasting impact of the pandemic-era housing boom, when historically low mortgage rates collided with a chronic shortage of homes for sale.
Intense competition pushed prices sharply higher, and many markets have yet to return to more affordable levels.
California remains the undisputed epicenter of America's million-dollar starter-home crisis.
The Golden State accounts for 105 of the 242 cities where entry-level homes now cost at least $1 million, more than any other state by a considerable margin.
New York ranks second with 41 cities, followed by New Jersey with 26.
Florida has 11 such cities, while Massachusetts has 10 and Washington state has eight.
In total, 26 states now have at least one city where a starter home costs $1 million or more. Before the pandemic, only nine states met that threshold.
The spread of million-dollar starter homes into states such as Texas, Illinois, Wyoming, South Carolina and Kansas illustrates how affordability pressures are no longer limited to traditional high-cost housing markets.
Some of the fastest growth has occurred in the Northeast.
California remains the undisputed epicenter of America's million-dollar starter-home crisis
New York ranks second with 41 cities, followed by New Jersey with 26
New York has expanded from just 12 cities with million-dollar starter homes before the pandemic to 41 today, while New Jersey has jumped from only one city to 26 over the same period.
According to Zillow, a lack of new housing supply is helping to drive those increases.
'Million-dollar starter homes are popping up in more Northeast cities because the housing shortage there hasn't been solved,' Ng said.
'Sun Belt markets have responded with new supply and seen price growth moderate as a result. The Northeast hasn't had that relief.'
The New York City metropolitan area now leads the nation, with 63 cities where a typical starter home costs at least $1 million.
The San Francisco metro area follows with 37, while Los Angeles has 33.
San Jose, Miami and Seattle also rank among the markets with the highest concentrations of seven-figure starter homes.
The findings come as affordability remains one of the biggest challenges facing prospective homebuyers.
The median existing-home price nationwide recently stood at nearly $418,000, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Separate data from Redfin suggests a household now needs annual income of roughly $117,000 to comfortably afford the average home.
Housing experts generally recommend spending no more than 30 percent of income on housing costs, but many buyers are exceeding that threshold in today's market.
There are some signs conditions may be slowly improving.
Zillow noted that inventory levels have increased in many markets and home-price growth has moderated compared with the rapid gains seen during the pandemic.
Separate data from Redfin suggests a household now needs annual income of roughly $117,000 to comfortably afford the average home (stock image)
The company also found that the average homebuyer now breaks even financially versus renting after about six years, down from more than eight years in late 2023.
Still, for many Americans hoping to buy their first home, the dream of a starter property remains increasingly out of reach.
And while million-dollar starter homes remain the exception nationally, Zillow's latest figures suggest they are becoming far less exceptional than they once were.
What was once a phenomenon limited largely to California and a handful of wealthy coastal enclaves is now a reality stretching across more than half the country.
