What $1 million buys across LA neighborhoods

One million dollars is close to the middle of the Los Angeles market right now. Zillow put the typical home value in the LA metro at about $950,000 in September 2026, up 1.3% over the year (Zillow Home Value Index, September 2026). The California Association of Realtors reported an LA County median single-family sale of $994,670 for the same month (C.A.R., released October 19, 2026).

So a $1 million budget is an ordinary one here, and the zip decides what it looks like. In some, it's at or above the median house. In others, it's a condo with a view of the house you were hoping for.

The short answer: in spring 2026, $1 million covered the median single-family house in a handful of LA zips, mostly in South LA, the Valley and the South Bay, and bought roughly 1,100 to 1,900 square feet of house depending on where. On most of the Westside it buys a condo or townhome.

Where $1 million reaches the median house

All figures below are from the Redfin Data Center, zip-level medians, March to May 2026, for single-family homes. Square footage is $1 million divided by the zip's median price per square foot, a yardstick and nothing more. Zip codes don't match neighborhood borders, so read each one as a rough picture of the area.

• Leimert Park and View Park (90043): median house $875,000, about $583 per square foot, so roughly 1,715 square feet. 57 house sales in the period, a solid sample. See our Leimert Park guide.
• Inglewood (90305): median $880,000, about $517 per square foot, or roughly 1,930 square feet, the most house per dollar on this list. Inglewood guide.
• North Hollywood and Valley Glen (91606): median $975,000, about $638 per square foot, roughly 1,570 square feet. The 91601 zip closer to the NoHo Arts District ran higher, at $1.33 million. North Hollywood guide.
• Baldwin Hills and West Adams (90016): median $985,000, about $725 per square foot, roughly 1,380 square feet. Baldwin Hills guide.
• Granada Hills (91344): median $1.04 million, about $567 per square foot, roughly 1,760 square feet. With 102 house sales, this was one of the busiest zips in the Valley. Granada Hills guide.
• North Torrance (90504): median $1.05 million, about $691 per square foot, roughly 1,450 square feet. Torrance guide.
• West Adams and Jefferson Park (90018): median $1.08 million, about $599 per square foot, roughly 1,670 square feet. West Adams guide.

Just above $1 million

A little further up, these zips had medians between $1.1 and $1.25 million, so $1 million buys a house below the middle of the local market:

• East Long Beach (90815): median $1.14 million, about $768 per square foot, roughly 1,300 square feet. Long Beach guide.
• Burbank (91505): median $1.2 million, about $827 per square foot, roughly 1,210 square feet. Burbank guide.
• Highland Park (90042): median $1.23 million, about $910 per square foot, roughly 1,100 square feet. Houses here sold for about 103% of list price at the median. Highland Park guide.

Where $1 million means a condo

On the Westside, along the coast and in the hills, the median house runs $1.9 million and up, and $1 million shops the condo and townhome market. Median condo prices in the same Redfin period:

• Encino (91316): $450,000. Encino guide.
• Culver City (90230): $607,500. Culver City guide.
• Sherman Oaks (91423): $682,000. Sherman Oaks guide.
• Studio City (91604): $795,000. Studio City guide.
• West Hollywood (90069): $800,000, across 61 condo sales. West Hollywood guide.
• Westwood (90024): $1.13 million, mostly along the Wilshire Corridor. Westwood guide.

In several of these, $1 million is well above the median condo, which can mean a larger unit, a newer building or a better floor. Zillow's typical LA metro condo value was about $662,000 in September 2026, down 1.4% over the year, so condo buyers have had a little more room lately than house buyers.

What the medians leave out

• Some zips sell over asking. In this period, houses in 90042 (Highland Park) closed at about 103% of list price and 90230 (Culver City) at about 104%. In others, such as 91606 and 90043, the median sale landed right around list.
• Small samples move. Inglewood's 90305 had 15 house sales in three months. One unusual sale can shift a median noticeably.
• Size isn't the only variable. A 1,500 square foot 1920s Spanish house in West Adams and a 1,500 square foot ranch in Granada Hills sit on very different lots, streets and timelines for updates.

For the next steps up, see what $2 million buys and what $5 million buys. Property taxes reset to your purchase price when you buy, which our Prop 13 post explains, and the city a home sits in sets its own transfer taxes and rules (all 88 cities in LA County).

If you'd like to see what $1 million is buying in a specific area this month, with real recent sales instead of medians, tell me where you're looking and I'll pull them.

General information, not advice. Price figures are estimates from public data and may be out of date.