Mapped: Median Home Prices in States With Booming Growth

The housing markets in the nation’s 15 fastest-growing states are a mixed bag, with some regions being dramatically less affordable than others.

“Home prices vary greatly across the country’s fastest-growing states, highlighting the differing motivations for mover,” says Realtor.com® senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones.

Washington, DC—a federal district rather than a state—emerged as the leading population growth juggernaut in 2024, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures analyzed by economists at the National Association of Realtors®. The district had a median home list price of $585,000 as of January 2025, well above the national median of $400,500.

New Jersey, which made impressive population gains last year at a rate of 1.3%, earning it the 11th spot on the list of the fastest-growing states, was not too far behind the nation’s capital when it comes to home prices.

A typical single-family property in the Garden State was listed at $535,000 in January, according to economic researchers at Realtor.com.

“Washington, DC, and New Jersey are higher-priced than the nation’s median as limited inventory meets high demand, keeping upward pressure on prices,” says Jones.

But either state was a far cry from Massachusetts, No. 15 on the NAR list, where the median home list price soared to $722,425, making it the most expensive of the fastest-growing states for homebuying.

Jones explains that sustained demand, coupled with limited inventory, has sent prices skyrocketing in Massachusetts.

“The Boston metro and surrounding metros have ranked among the country’s hottest markets consistently over the last few years, emphasizing the tight market dynamics in the region,” she adds.

For example, within the city of Boston, the median list price soared to a staggering $799,000 last month, which was nearly double the national figure.

On the other side of the spectrum, South Carolina, which was the fifth fastest-growing state in the nation, had the lowest median home list price of just $350,000 in January.

Texas, whose sizeable 1.8% population growth rate has propelled it to the second spot on the list of fastest-growing states, boasted a similarly affordable median list price of $354,954, still well below the national median.

Meanwhile, Florida, which was second only to DC in population gains last year, adding residents at a rate of 2%, saw its median home list price reach $435,000.

“Texas and Florida are the more affordable of the fast-growing states, due in large part to ample inventory and strong residential construction,” according to Jones. “These states are able to accommodate strong demand due to their vast size, which has kept prices rather affordable.”

Overall, the Realtor.com analyst explains that the more expensive states tend to be denser in population and smaller than their more affordable counterparts, which funnels demand into relatively few for-sale homes and drives prices higher.

The 15 fastest-growing states and their median home list prices

1. Washington, DC ($585,000)
2. Florida ($435,000)
3. Texas ($354,945)
4. Utah ($585,000)
5. South Carolina ($350,000)
6. Nevada ($480,000)
7. Idaho ($559,750)
8. North Carolina ($399,000)
9. Delaware ($479,895)
10. Arizona ($481,388)
11. New Jersey ($535,000)
12. Washington ($599,000)
13. Tennessee ($419,948)
14. Georgia ($381,950)
15. Massachusetts ($722,425)