With space at a premium and prices skyscraper high in many urban markets—combined with a growing movement to purge one’s belongings and consume less—pint-size homes are attracting a lot of attention these days. But where are the best places to find a smaller—if not quite tiny—home?
Builder has pinpointed the hottest small-home markets by evaluating home closing data from Metrostudy and the National Association of Home Builders, focusing on the top places within nine U.S. regions where houses have a median square footage of 1,500 or less.
The results are a smattering of 39 cities nationwide where itty-bitty homes are plentiful. For a look at all your options, check out Builder’s interactive map, or read on to see the towns in each region where people are living large in small homes.
New England: Seems like ye merry New Englanders prefer their massive McMansions—the smallest median homes are found in Keene, NH, at 1,500 square feet. A bit compact maybe, but certainly not tiny.
Middle Atlantic: New Castle, PA, has good options for small homesteaders, with the median home size coming in at 1,100 square feet.
South Atlantic: Ocala, FL, boasts the smallest homes in this region, at a median of 850 square feet.
East North Central: Muskegon, MI, keeps it modest with a median size of 833 square feet. Veering into tiny territory!
East South Central: Newport, TN, has plenty of small homes with a median of 864 square feet.
West North Central: In Burlington, IA, the median home size comes in at a respectably small 990 square feet.
West South Central: Southwesterners love their sprawling ranches, but Harrison, AR, has the smallest in the area at 1,396 square feet.
Mountain: All hail to Hailey, ID! Here, the median home size qualifies as a genuine tiny house: a mere 500 square feet. Now we’re talking! Ski cabin, perhaps?
Pacific: Hood River, OR, has homes at a median size of 1,000 square feet.
