Price per Square Foot Calculator
Price divided by area both ways, in square feet and square metres, with two listings side by side and a rate-times-area check.
A price divided by an area, both ways, in square feet and square metres — and two listings side by side, because the number only means something against another one.
Quick answer: price per square foot and per square metre
| Per sq ft | Per m² | 1,800 sq ft home |
|---|---|---|
| $100 | $1,076 | $180,000 |
| $150 | $1,615 | $270,000 |
| $200 | $2,153 | $360,000 |
| $250 | $2,691 | $450,000 |
| $300 | $3,229 | $540,000 |
| $500 | $5,382 | $900,000 |
1 m² = 10.7639 sq ft, so price per m² is price per sq ft times 10.7639. Compare two prices only when both use the same area: finished living area, gross, or lot.
| Listing A | — |
|---|---|
| Listing B | — |
| Difference | — |
| Rate × area | — |
Which square feet? A listing’s area might be living area, gross area, or the assessor’s figure, and they differ by a garage. Two listings compared on different definitions are not compared. Check that A and B were measured the same way before you divide, and if the listing does not say which, ask.
Square feet to square metres is a factor of 10.76, so the rate goes up by that. $250 a square foot is $2,691 a square metre. The price has not changed, only the denominator. The Korean twin of this page prices by the 평 and by the m², and the same question about which area, 전용 or 공급, matters more there than it does here.
Rate times area is a sanity check, not a valuation. A neighbourhood’s typical $/ft² times a house’s area gives a ballpark; the lot, the condition and the year do the rest. Use it to spot a listing that sits far off the block’s number. Do not use it for anything finer than that.
The square foot in a listing and the square foot in an appraisal are not always the same square foot. Since April 1, 2022, Fannie Mae has required appraisers on the loans it buys to measure gross living area by ANSI Z765-2021, and its own fact sheet warns that the figures in MLS systems and assessor records may not be ANSI-compliant. A rate is only as comparable as the area under it: divide one sale price by the listing's figure and by the appraisal's, and one house has two prices per square foot.
What the standard leaves out is mostly what a listing leaves in. Any level that is even partly below grade is basement, however well it is finished. The open space over a two-storey foyer is not floor on the upper level. Finished area needs a ceiling of at least 7 ft; in a room under a sloping ceiling at least half the finished floor has to reach 7 ft, and nothing under 5 ft counts. Measurements are taken to the nearest inch or tenth of a foot and the total is reported to the nearest whole square foot.
One foyer moves the rate. A $600,000 house listed at 2,400 ft² is $250.00/ft². If 168 ft² of that listing is the void over a 12 × 14 ft two-storey foyer, the measured figure is 2,232 ft² and the same price is $268.82/ft², 7.5% higher. Neither number is a mistake; they answer different questions. Compare rates measured the same way, and when a listing gives one area, ask how it was measured. ANSI Z765 is a United States standard for single-family houses; other countries measure by their own rules.
What I check on a job
Check the area before the rate. Before I trust a rate, I check the area it was divided by, because the price is usually the firm number and the area is the soft one. A listed 1,800 square feet might be 1,760 rounded up, and that alone moves $250 a square foot by about $6. If there is a floor plan, I add up the rooms roughly and see whether the listing's figure is even plausible. The rooms will always come in under the listed area once I allow for walls and halls, so a modest gap is normal and not a warning. A listed total far above the rooms is different; it usually means something like the garage went into it. When A and B differ by a few percent, I read that as a tie, not a finding.
Rate = price ÷ area. 1 ft² = 0.09290304 m² (exact), so $/m² = $/ft² ÷ 0.09290304. The comparison is the two rates and their difference in dollars and percent.
Worked example
$450,000 for 1,800 ft² against $380,000 for 1,400 ft²: which is dearer per square foot?
- A: 450,000 ÷ 1,800 = $250.00/ft² ($2,691/m²).
- B: 380,000 ÷ 1,400 = $271.43/ft² — $21.43 (8.6%) more.
- A block rate of $260/ft² on a 2,000 ft² house is $520,000 — a ballpark, not a valuation.
B is the dearer listing per square foot, if both areas were measured the same way — living area against gross area is not a comparison.
11 values on this page were driven in a browser and compared with independently derived figures on 2026-10-29 (2808 values across 228 calculators site-wide).
Questions
How do you calculate price per square foot?
Divide the price by the area: $450,000 ÷ 1,800 ft² = $250/ft². Per square metre it is $2,691, the same price over a bigger unit.
Why do two listings' price per square foot not compare?
Because their areas may be measured differently — living area, gross area, or the assessor's figure differ by a garage. Compare only when both were measured the same way.
How do I compare a price per square foot with a price per square metre?
Divide the per-square-foot figure by 0.09290304. $250/ft² is $2,691/m²: the same price over a larger unit, not a higher price.
Is price per square foot the same as an appraisal?
No. Multiplying a neighbourhood's typical rate by a home's area gives an order of magnitude, which is what the rate × area line is for. Lot, condition and year do the rest; use it to spot a quote outside the local range, not to value the property.