The Best Cities to Buy a Smart Home

Welcome to the future of living—where your home isn't just smart, it's practically psychic! Picture this: your morning alarm gently wakes you up, the coffee starts brewing, and your favorite playlist fills the air, all without you lifting a finger. Intrigued? That’s what it’s like to live in a smart home.

Smart homes consist of virtually connected smart devices and smart appliances that can be controlled via remotes, smartphone apps, and voice commands. Additionally, some smart home features are automated so you don’t have to think about it! We analyzed Redfin listings in April 2024 and synthesized the data to determine which cities are the best for tech-savvy living. Find out where the most (and most affordable) futuristic homes lie below.

The Most & Least Expensive Cities to Buy a Smart Home

Beginning with the most expensive cities to buy a smart home, it’s no surprise that futuristic homes cost the most on a picturesque island. Honolulu, Hawaii, takes the cake for the highest price tag on a smart home with a $15,709,500 average price. That’s about $3,226.10 per sq. ft., which is also the highest in this study. If you’re looking for a smart home there, you might want to start saving as soon as … yesterday.

California, with Silicon Valley’s technical innovations, also has highly-priced smart homes. Three of the top 5 most expensive markets for smart homes are in the state: #2 San Francisco ($6,627,714); #3 Los Angeles ($6,091,675); and #5 San Diego ($4,794,047). Even though #4 New York City, New York, rounds out to a similar average price, it beats out the California homes on square footage. New Yorkers pay $892.23 per sq. ft. for a smart home, but Californians pay much more: $1,255.16 in Los Angeles, $1,364.02 in San Diego, and $1,671.92 in San Francisco. It’s worth mentioning that the average national price per sq. ft. is $464.55, so these cities are paying a lot higher than average regardless.

As for the most affordable smart homes, the South is the place to be. Columbia, South Carolina, has the least expensive smart home market with an average price of $266,059. Close behind is Winston-Salem, North Carolina, at $288,339 on average. Another South Carolina city, Greenville, holds the third spot with a $311,258 average list price.

Rochester, New York, is starkly different from the Big Apple when it comes to smart home prices. Instead of several million dollars, smart homes in the Lake Ontario area cost about $319,800 on average. El Paso, Texas, is another area for affordable smart homes back down in the South. Priced at $324,590 on average, the area is primed for new homeowners looking to control their home’s smart appliances for a reasonable price.

U.S. Cities With the Most Smart Homes Per 100k Residencies

Some cities are getting smarter by the minute. By looking at the number of smart homes per 100,000 houses, the landscape of smart homes can be better understood.

Just south of Denver, Colorado, Colorado Springs has the highest amount of smart homes per 100,000 residents (8). While that may seem low, it’s important to remember that many smart appliances are still new. After all, the national average number of smart homes is only 1.1 per 100,000 residents.

Florida is a hotspot for new developments with smart appliances. 4 of the top 10 cities with the most smart homes per 100,000 people are in the Sunshine State. On the Atlantic side, Palm Bay takes the number two spot with 5.35 followed by Daytona Beach at 4.67. On the Gulf side, Sarasota (4.07) and Fort Myers (3.81) are 6th and 7th, respectively. Palm Bay also made the list as one of the most affordable cities for a smart home with the 9th-best average price at $373,411.79. One can only imagine what it must feel like when automatic curtains kick the day off with a beautiful ocean view.

Texas is the only other state found twice in the top 10. With booming cities and loads of new developments, the Lone Star State isn’t just bigger and better—it’s becoming smarter. El Paso has the 4th most smart appliance-filled homes per 100,000 people at 4.48. This makes the city's second top 5 appearance in the study with the 5th most affordable average price ($324,589.74). Austin clutches the #10 spot with 3.32 smart homes per 100,000 people. This young and tech-forward city is primed for the smart home revolution. What’s next, Texas? Smart cowboy hats?

Closing Thoughts

After tracking the affordability and accessibility of smart homes, living in futuristic homes might be more realistic than previously conceived. Smart homes, filled with smart appliances like smart fridges and ovens, form a seamless network of interconnected devices that elevate our daily lives. From coffee brewers that wake you up with your favorite order to lamps that know when you’re ready to hit the hay, smart appliances can make a house more than a home; they make them a smart home.

To help you be the smartest with your smart home, Mr. Appliance is dedicated to quality customer service and repairs to household appliances. No matter if your smart fridge is acting up or your smart dishwasher isn’t cleaning like it used to, Mr. Appliance is here to get your smart home back to a high IQ. Make the smart decision and schedule a service with us today.

Methodology

To find out more about the smart home real estate market across the country, we scraped data of over 2,000 smart home listings from Redfin in April 2024 from 100* of America's largest cities. Then, we analyzed the prices, square footage, and total availability of the smart homes in each city to determine which ones have the best smart home markets. *Of the top 100 cities, 18 were without smart homes listed for sale and were omitted from our research.