If you want to buy a house this year, you may well be paying around $199,200, the median price for a home in the U.S., according to Zillow.
That’s far more than you’d have forked over 10, 20 or 50 years ago. In 1940, the median home value in the U.S. was just $2,938. In 1980, it was $47,200, and by 2000, it had risen to $119,600. Even adjusted for inflation, the median home price in 1940 would only have been $30,600 in 2000 dollars, according to data from the U.S. Census.
Of course, location matters. The median value for a house in New Mexico in 1940 was just $656 — or $6,800 when adjusted to 2000 dollars. The same year, the median value for a home in California clocked in at $3,527, or the equivalent of $36,700.
And prices haven’t risen uniformly. The median home now costs about the same in Connecticut and Colorado, just under $167,000, but that’s a significant shift upwards for Colorado since, half a century ago, the median Rocky Mountain home cost less than half as much as one in southern New England.
Read on to see how the cost of owning a home has changed in all 50 U.S. states since 1940.
Alabama
Median home price in 1940: $16,800Median home price in 1980: $67,100Median home price in 2000: $85,100
Alaska
Median home price in 1940: N/A Median home price in 1980: $151,00 Median home price in 2000: $144,200
Arizona
Median home price in 1940: $14,600 Median home price in 1980: $108,500 Median home price in 2000: $121,300
A pedestrian uses an umbrella to get some relief from the sun as she walks past a sign displaying the temperature on June 20, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Getty Images
Arkansas
Median home price in 1940: $11,400 Median home price in 1980: $61,600 Median home price in 2000: $72,800
Top States 2017- Cheapest States to Live: Arkansas.
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California
Median home price in 1940: $36,700 Median home price in 1980: $167,300 Median home price in 2000: $211,500
Colorado
Median home price in 1940: $21,800 Median home price in 1980: $126,900 Median home price in 2000: $ $166,600
Connecticut
Median home price in 1940: $48,000 Median home price in 1980: $129,900 Median home price in 2000: $166,900
Delaware
Median home price in 1940: $43,300 Median home price in 1980: $87,900 Median home price in 2000: $130,400
Florida
Median home price in 1940: $23,100 Median home price in 1980: $89,300 Median home price in 2000: $105,500
Georgia
Median home price in 1940: $20,400 Median home price in 1980: $73,000 Median home price in 2000: $111,200
Atlanta reflected in the lake of Piedmont Park.
Giorgio Fochesato | Getty Images
Hawaii
Median home price in 1940: N/A Median home price in 1980: $233,800 Median home price in 2000: $272,700
Idaho
Median home price in 1940: $16,700 Median home price in 1980: $90,300 Median home price in 2000: $106,300
Illinois
Median home price in 1940: $34,100 Median home price in 1980: $104,500 Median home price in 2000: $130,800
Indiana
Median home price in 1940: $25,000 Median home price in 1980: $73,600 Median home price in 2000: $94,300
Iowa
Median home price in 1940: $23,400 Median home price in 1980: $80,400 Median home price in 2000: $82,500
Pioneers of the Territory outside the Iowa Capitol overlooking West Capitol Terrace and downtown in Des Moines, Iowa.
Denis Tangney Jr. | Getty Images
Kansas
Median home price in 1940: $18,000 Median home price in 1980: $74,800 Median home price in 2000: $83,500
Royer | Getty Images
Kentucky
Median home price in 1940: $21,600 Median home price in 1980: $67,700 Median home price in 2000: $86,700
Louisiana
Median home price in 1940: $14,700 Median home price in 1980: $85,100 Median home price in 2000: $85,000
Revelers party in the French Quarter on Mardi Gras Day, March 4, 2014 in New Orleans.
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Maine
Median home price in 1940: $20,900 Median home price in 1980: $75,000 Median home price in 2000: $98,700
Maryland
Median home price in 1940: $31,500 Median home price in 1980: $115,400 Median home price in 2000: $146,000
Massachusetts
Median home price in 1940: $39,000 Median home price in 1980: $95,800 Median home price in 2000: $185,700
Michigan
Median home price in 1940: $29,800 Median home price in 1980: $77,200 Median home price in 2000: $115,600
Minnesota
Median home price in 1940: $31,500 Median home price in 1980: $105,100 Median home price in 2000: $122,400
A file photo showing joggers on the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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Mississippi
Median home price in 1940: $12,400 Median home price in 1980: $62,200 Median home price in 2000: $122,400
Missouri
Median home price in 1940: $24,900 Median home price in 1980: $72,600 Median home price in 2000: $89,900
The Lewis and Clark statue at Kaw Point, where the Kansas and Missouri rivers merge.
Derek Slagle | Getty Images
Montana
Median home price in 1940: $17,200 Median home price in 1980: $92,00 Median home price in 2000: $99,500
An eastbound manifest freight swoops through a S curve in Lombard Canyon just east of Toston, Montana.
Mike Danneman | Getty Images
Nebraska
Median home price in 1940: $22,400 Median home price in 1980: $75,200 Median home price in 2000: $88,000
Nevada
Median home price in 1940: $20,700 Median home price in 1980: $136,000 Median home price in 2000: $142,000
New Hampshire
Median home price in 1940: $26,100 Median home price in 1980: $95,000 Median home price in 2000: $133,300
Nashua is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire and is the second largest city in the state.
Denis Tangney Jr. | Getty Images
New Jersey
Median home price in 1940: $47,100 Median home price in 1980: $119,200 Median home price in 2000: $170,800
Pedestrians walk along the Hudson River waterfront in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Emile Wamsteker | Bloomberg | Getty Images
New Mexico
Median home price in 1940: $6,800 Median home price in 1980: $89,700 Median home price in 2000: $108,100
New York
Median home price in 1940: $45,700 Median home price in 1980: $90,300 Median home price in 2000: $148,700
One57 building in the skyline of New York City as seen from the Rockefeller Center Observation Deck.
Roberto Machado Noa | LightRocket | Getty Images
North Carolina
Median home price in 1940: $18,800 Median home price in 1980: $71,300 Median home price in 2000: $108,300
North Dakota
Median home price in 1940: $16,900 Median home price in 1980: $86,900 Median home price in 2000: $74,400
Peter Beck | Getty Images
Ohio
Median home price in 1940: $35,500 Median home price in 1980: $88,900 Median home price in 2000: $103,700
Oklahoma
Median home price in 1940: $13,500 Median home price in 1980: $70,500 Median home price in 2000: $70, 700
Oregon
Median home price in 1940: $24,400 Median home price in 1980: $112,600 Median home price in 2000: $152,100
Pennsylvania
Median home price in 1940: $33,400 Median home price in 1980: $77,400 Median home price in 2000: $97,000
Zolashine/Getty Images
Rhode Island
Median home price in 1940: $40,000 Median home price in 1980: $92,600 Median home price in 2000: $133,000
South Carolina
Median home price in 1940: $22,300 Median home price in 1980: $69,500 Median home price in 2000: $94,900
South Dakota
Median home price in 1940: $16,800 Median home price in 1980: $72,400 Median home price in 2000: $79,600
Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, the fourth-best state for retirees.
EyeJoy | iStock | Getty Images Plus
Tennessee
Median home price in 1940: $19,000 Median home price in 1980: $70,500 Median home price in 2000: $93,000
Texas
Median home price in 1940: $17,600 Median home price in 1980: $77,400 Median home price in 2000: $82,500
A Houston METRORail light rail train in Downtown Houston.
Davel5957 | Getty Images
Utah
Median home price in 1940: $24,100 Median home price in 1980: $113,400 Median home price in 2000: $146,100
Vermont
Median home price in 1940: $29,500 Median home price in 1980: $83,500 Median home price in 2000: $111,500
Virginia
Median home price in 1940: $27,400 Median home price in 1980: $95,000 Median home price in 2000: $125,400
Washington
Median home price in 1940: $24,500 Median home price in 1980: $118,600 Median home price in 2000: $168,300
West Virginia
Median home price in 1940: $24,500 Median home price in 1980: $76,200 Median home price in 2000: $72,800
Wisconsin
Median home price in 1940: $33,600 Median home price in 1980: $96,200 Median home price in 2000: $112,200
Wyoming
Median home price in 1940: $22,600 Median home price in 1980: $118,400 Median home price in 2000: $96,600
Don’t miss: Here’s how much housing prices have skyrocketed over the last 50 years
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