3-time Bulldog buyer here! My overall answer answer to your question is that for an English Bulldog you are looking at a minimum of $2000. Paying top dollar for a good bloodline isn't a matter of social status but rather for quality of health of the dog, and this is simply the asking price for this breed if you want a good probability of having a healthy dog. When my family bought our first Bulldog we didn't know what we were getting in to, and we ended up with a dog with a low quality of life. While Tank was a great dog and my childhood buddy, he inherited Hip Dysplasia (which isn't uncommon with Bulldogs) from his mom. He also had Meningitis as a puppy, and had his tail and Tonsils removed later in life. He passed at the age of 7 from complications from a tumor on his leg. I am certainly not saying all of this can be traced back to Tank's genetics, but it was probably a significant component in my opinion when you looked at all the major health problems he had. This cost our family several grand in vet bills, and he was always on some kind of medication. When we bought our 2 current dogs 3 years later we did exhaustive research to find a breeder that had a great reputation for putting out healthy bulldogs. This breeder was Budacious Bulldogs and they have been doing bulldogs for at least a decade. They are an hour South of Kansas City, which sounds like might be on the outside of your range for travel to get a Bulldog. Our two Bulldogs, Jack (8 months) and Bella (5 months) are to this point very healthy and happy dogs. We paid around $2500 for each of them. Bulldogs are a significant financial commitment because of their propensity for health issues and their high-maintanance personalities, but they are so much fun and I miss my bulldogs when I am away at college! Sorry this post was so long, but I would want people to know what we didn't about the intricacies of this breed because it's important to having a healthy Bulldog!