Obviously it depends on where you look. We picked four cities: Bloomington, Indiana; Columbia, South Carolina; Portland, Oregon; and Arlington, Virginia to see what you can get for the money.

Bloomington is definitely a college town, being home to Indiana University, and also modestly sized with a metro area around 175-thousand people. You’d expect to get a fair bit for our asking price and you do. On average 170-thousand dollars will buy you a three to four bedroom house with two baths, and between 15-hundred and two thousand square feet. Most of the homes come with full basements, too! Also, most of the homes we found in this price range were exclusively single family dwellings, with only a sprinkling of condos.

Columbia is the state capital of South Carolina, and one of the oldest cities we’re looking at today, being founded in 1786! It was recently named one of America’s 30 Most Livable Communities, and has also been recognized for being a great city to retire to by Where to Retire Magazine. It’s known for its affordability, and it doesn’t disappoint.

For our 170-thousand dollars, we found out you get can get a whole lot of house. On average, three-to-four bedrooms, and from two to three thousand square feet! If you’re looking for a condo instead of a single-family home, you can find everything from three bedroom townhomes, to a two bedroom in a high rise building over-looking the city.

Portland is fast developing a reputation as a green city, and is also home to two corporate giants, Nike and Intel. And while 170-thousand dollars doesn’t go quite as far in Portland as in our other cities, budget shoppers can take heart. You can still find some decent digs for the money.

On average that money will get you an older single family home, ranging from one thousand up to about 15-hundred square feet, with two to three bedrooms. If you’re looking for a condo, you’ll have more properties to choose from at this price level. And you’ll find the sizes about the same as the single family homes, but with newer construction: again, usually two bedrooms, and two bathrooms in a high rise, three bedrooms in a town house.

Can you actually find anything on the east coast under 200-grand? Well, the answer is yes, as long as you’re not looking to house a family of four.

We checked the listings in Arlington, Virginia, and we found exactly seven listings in our price range, just below and just above 170-thousand dollars. They were all condos. All but one were a thousand square feet or less, and all had two or fewer bedrooms, which is just fine if you’re living on your own or as part of a couple. Keep in mind, Arlington has a lot to offer, too. It was recently named by CNN Money as the most educated city in America, and has also been called the most walkable city in the country by the American Podiatric Medical Association. It’s also ranked high among the twenty U.S. counties with the highest median household income, as well, so no surprise that home prices might be a bit higher here.

So, there you have it. Four cities, one price, and four different ways to find out what you get for the money.

We researched all of our listing on the website of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. If you want to find out how much you can get for $170,000 in your area, go to www.realtor.org to find out!