How to work out price per square foot
Divide the total price by the square footage. A house listed at $300,000
with 2,500 square feet is 300,000 ÷ 2,500 = $120.00 a square foot. Type
the price in the box the way it is written — $300,000 — and the
area as the listing states it, or measure the floors and add them as areas;
the working under the answer shows the division with your numbers in it.
Price per square foot is a way to compare two places of different sizes on one scale. Three listings on one street:
| Price | Square feet | Per square foot |
|---|---|---|
| $300,000 | 2,500 | $120.00 |
| $350,000 | 2,800 | $125.00 |
| $275,000 | 1,900 | $144.74 |
The cheapest house is the dearest per square foot, and the dearest house is nearly the cheapest. That is the comparison the number exists for — and also its limit, below.
Which square feet
The figure is only as good as the area under it. A listing usually reports the finished area above ground, measured the way appraisers do; a garage, an unfinished basement or a low attic is not in it. Divide one house's price by its finished area and another's by everything under its roof and the two numbers are not comparable. The house square footage calculator works out the finished area by that standard.
What it does not tell you
Price per square foot leaves out everything that is not floor area: the lot, the street, the age of the roof, the kitchen. Smaller homes usually cost more per square foot than larger ones nearby, because a kitchen, a bathroom and a furnace cost much the same in both and are spread over fewer feet. Compare like with like — similar size, same kind of building, same area — and treat a gap as a question to ask, not an answer.
A builder's cost per square foot is a different number: what it costs to build, often without the land. A sale price per square foot includes the land and whatever the market adds.
Rent per square foot
The same division works for rent. An apartment of 1,200 square feet at $2,400 a month is $2.00 a square foot a month: type the monthly rent as the total price. Homes are usually compared that way, by the month. Offices and shops are usually quoted by the year — $24 a square foot a year is $2 a month — so check which a listing means before you compare two of them.
Commercial space adds a second question: which square feet. A lease may charge for a share of the lobby and the corridors as well as the space you occupy, so the rate per square foot of two offices can match while the rooms you use differ. Ask for the area the rent is charged on.
Common questions
How do I calculate price per square foot?
Total price ÷ square feet. $300,000 ÷ 2,500 square feet is $120 a square foot.
What is the price per square meter?
Multiply the price per square foot by 10.7639, the square feet in a square meter: $120 a square foot is $1,291.67 a square meter.
How do I go the other way, from a price per square foot to a total?
Multiply the price per square foot by the area. The square footage calculator does that with a price per unit area: type $4.50 a square foot of flooring and it gives the cost of the room.
Can I use it for land?
Yes, with the lot's area — the acreage calculator measures a lot from its sides. Land is often priced per acre: one acre is 43,560 square feet.