Oregon Has 5/25 Of The Most Expensive Towns In the U.S.
Despite the rumor that living in towns is less expensive than in cities, the data shows that it’s not always more budget-friendly to relocate to towns around the country.
Study Rates 5 Oregon Towns Among 25 Most Expensive In US
A new Lending Tree study identified 50 U.S. towns with populations between 10,000 and 50,000 from data extracted from the U.S. Census Bureau 2022 American Community Survey to assess how house prices compare across these towns. Nationwide, the three United States towns with the most expensive homes are:
- Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts: Median home value- $998,100
- Jackson, Wyoming: Median home value- $847,300
- Breckenridge, Colorado: Median home value- $760,000
Lower down the list- but still within the top 25, house prices in 5 Oregon towns that have the highest value in the U.S. are:
- 7th place- Hood River (population 23,965): Comparing competitively with a home in the Portland, Oregon Metro area, the median home value in the town is $492,500
- 10th place- Astoria (population 41,190): Comparing competitively with a home in the Austin, Texas metro area, the median home value in the town is $407,700
- 16th place- Prineville (population 24,987): Comparing competitively with a home in the Las Vegas, Nevada metro area, the median home value in the town is $368,200
- 18th place- Brookings (population 23,404): Comparing competitively with a home in Baltimore, Maryland, the median home value in the town is $353,200
- 25th place- The Dalles (population: 26,639): Comparing competitively with a home in the Dallas, Texas metro area, the median home value is $298,200
See also: The Coziest Small Towns in Oregon, According to WorldAtlas
Another Oregon town that came close in value is La Grande (26,286). The median home value in the town is $243,400, comparable with a home in New Orleans, Louisiana. Interestingly, none of the Californian towns made it to the top 25.
Highest U.S. Home Values
Some median home values in the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas rival or are less than the home values in the top 25 towns. The Los Angeles median home value is $772,000 and San Francisco’s $1,073,300 is not much more than Vineyard Haven- the town with the highest median home value.
The factors that play a role in driving up home values include:
- Vacation Homes: Expensive towns are often popular vacation spots for more affluent people who can purchase a house in a rural area.
- Limited Housing Stock: Even rural towns that aren’t popular vacation spots aren’t immune to high prices where there is limited real estate and housing in the area, creating fierce competition among buyers.
The Lending Tree study highlighted that not all real estate in smaller towns is prohibitively expensive but in the current high-rate, high-price housing market, buying a house in a quiet town could be more expensive than the amount initially budgeted.