A house worth $6,700 sounds almost impossible now. Yet that was Arkansas’s median home value in the 1960 Census. At the other end of the country’s housing market, Hawaii’s median was $20,900. Even at the beginning of the Sixties, where you lived made an enormous difference.
If you have ever heard a parent or grandparent mention what their first home cost, these figures offer a little context. Below is a state-by-state look at all 50 states, with the lowest and highest values pulled out first.
What these 1960 house values actually mean
This is a snapshot of 1960, not an average across the whole decade. The numbers come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s historical home-value tables. They are median owner-estimated home values in the dollars of the time, not recorded sale prices or inflation-adjusted amounts.
A median is the middle value, rather than an arithmetic average. The Census series covers owner-occupied single-family homes on less than 10 acres, without a business or medical office on the property. It does not describe every type of housing, and a statewide figure cannot tell you the value of one particular home.
The national median was $11,900. The historical photographs accompanying this article show real homes from the period. Their individual prices are not documented here, so none should be read as a home that sold for the state median.
The lowest and highest state medians
Lowest: Arkansas $6,700; South Carolina $7,500; West Virginia $7,600; Mississippi and Oklahoma tied at $7,900.
Highest: Hawaii $20,900; Connecticut $16,700; New Jersey $15,600; New York $15,300; Nevada $15,200. California followed closely at $15,100.
Hawaii’s median was a little more than three times Arkansas’s. That is a comparison of the reported values, not a claim that homes in either state were equally sized, equally equipped or equally affordable.
1960 home values, state by state
Find your state below. Every amount is the 1960 median owner-estimated value for the housing category described above, in nominal 1960 dollars.
1. Alabama
$8,600 median home value in 1960.
2. Alaska
$9,100 median home value in 1960.
3. Arizona
$11,100 median home value in 1960.
4. Arkansas
$6,700 median home value in 1960.
5. California
$15,100 median home value in 1960.
6. Colorado
$12,300 median home value in 1960.
7. Connecticut
$16,700 median home value in 1960.
8. Delaware
$12,400 median home value in 1960.
9. Florida
$11,800 median home value in 1960.
10. Georgia
$9,500 median home value in 1960.
11. Hawaii
$20,900 median home value in 1960.
12. Idaho
$10,600 median home value in 1960.
13. Illinois
$14,700 median home value in 1960.
14. Indiana
$10,200 median home value in 1960.
15. Iowa
$9,900 median home value in 1960.
16. Kansas
$9,300 median home value in 1960.
17. Kentucky
$8,800 median home value in 1960.
18. Louisiana
$10,700 median home value in 1960.
19. Maine
$8,800 median home value in 1960.
20. Maryland
$11,900 median home value in 1960.
21. Massachusetts
$13,800 median home value in 1960.
22. Michigan
$12,000 median home value in 1960.
23. Minnesota
$12,800 median home value in 1960.
24. Mississippi
$7,900 median home value in 1960.
25. Missouri
$10,900 median home value in 1960.
26. Montana
$10,900 median home value in 1960.
27. Nebraska
$9,400 median home value in 1960.
28. Nevada
$15,200 median home value in 1960.
29. New Hampshire
$10,700 median home value in 1960.
30. New Jersey
$15,600 median home value in 1960.
31. New Mexico
$10,700 median home value in 1960.
32. New York
$15,300 median home value in 1960.
33. North Carolina
$8,000 median home value in 1960.
34. North Dakota
$9,800 median home value in 1960.
35. Ohio
$13,400 median home value in 1960.
36. Oklahoma
$7,900 median home value in 1960.
37. Oregon
$10,500 median home value in 1960.
38. Pennsylvania
$10,200 median home value in 1960.
39. Rhode Island
$12,300 median home value in 1960.
40. South Carolina
$7,500 median home value in 1960.
41. South Dakota
$8,800 median home value in 1960.
42. Tennessee
$8,300 median home value in 1960.
43. Texas
$8,800 median home value in 1960.
44. Utah
$12,600 median home value in 1960.
45. Vermont
$9,700 median home value in 1960.
46. Virginia
$10,800 median home value in 1960.
47. Washington
$11,700 median home value in 1960.
48. West Virginia
$7,600 median home value in 1960.
49. Wisconsin
$12,600 median home value in 1960.
50. Wyoming
$12,300 median home value in 1960.
Were houses really more affordable?
Those old dollar amounts are striking, but a small price tag does not settle the affordability question. A fair comparison also needs incomes, borrowing costs, access to financing, housing quality and the kind of property being compared. A state median also hides differences between towns, neighborhoods and individual homes.
The figures are useful for a narrower question: how did reported home values vary across the country at the start of the Sixties? For that, the Census offers a consistent starting point, rather than a handful of memorable family stories.
What do you remember about your family’s first home?
Do you know what your parents or grandparents paid, and in which year and state? Share the details you remember. A purchase price from 1968 is not directly comparable with a statewide 1960 median, but the story behind that first front-door key is still worth preserving.
Sources and photo notes
Home values: U.S. Census Bureau, Historical Census of Housing Tables: Home Values, Median Home Values: Unadjusted, 1960 column. All 50 states are included; the District of Columbia is not included in the state ranking. Values are not inflation-adjusted.
Photographs are credited with their actual dates and locations. They illustrate period housing, not the statewide median or the purchase price of the pictured property.
More interesting articles you may be interested in reading:
15 Things You Remember if You Grew Up in a Small Town in the 1970s
12 Old-Fashioned Ways Our Grandparents Saved Money That Still Work Today
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