How Much An Acre Of Land Costs In Each State

Homeownership is a cornerstone of the American Dream.

However, as of 2020, the United States had a supply shortage of 3.8 million homes making home ownership simply out of reach for many.

This home shortage, combined with low-interest rates and workers having more flexibility in housing location, has led to a boom in homebuilding. In fact, new home construction is at the highest levels since 2006.

However, just like home prices vary by state, so too does the price of land. We analyzed the data to find the states with the most (and least) affordable land by acre.

The results? Some states have land costly enough to buy a simple starter in other parts of the country.

10 Most Expensive States To Buy Land

1. New Jersey
2. Rhode Island
3. Connecticut
4. Massachusetts
5. Maryland
6. Delaware
7. New York
8. California
9. Ohio
10. Pennsylvania

Land prices in the Northeast are the most expensive. Tiny, densely packed New Jersey will set buyers back the most at a sky-high $196,410. Where should buyers look for more affordable land?

10 Cheapest States To Buy Land

1. Wyoming
2. New Mexico
3. Nevada
4. South Dakota
5. Montana
6. North Dakota
7. Nebraska
8. Idaho
9. Kansas
10. Arizona

They should go west (but not too far west.) In fact, the overlap between states with more cows than people and states with the cheapest land is strong. These states could tempt some newly remote workers to head west and start saying “ya’ll.” Of course, before they start packing up the Tesla they might want to make sure their new home has speedy fast internet for that job that pays for it.

HOW WE DETERMINED THIS

This one was fairly simple. To find out how much an acre of land costs in each state, we reviewed the estimated average land value for each state from an April 2015 working paper by William Larson for the Bureau of Economic Analysis, “New Estimates of Value of Land of the United States.”

In this Larson presents a range of land value models for estimating land prices in 2009. This looks at a combination of urban and rural land throughout the state to produce the average cost. It looks at both commercial and residential values.

Unfortunately, Alabama, Alaska, and Hawaii were excluded from this study.

Don’t Get Too Excited

While the low sticker price may have you ready to build your own McMansion, don’t get too excited just yet.

For one thing, these are average prices. So the price for that sweet plot of land a reasonable commute from your work, with easy access to all the places you want to go may run you a lot more.

For another, while land may be cheap, odds are good you aren’t envisioning a tent and you’ll want to put a house on that land– Which comes with a lot of expensive needs like plumbing, electricity, and walls.

And even if the land is affordable, the rest of the house may or may not be in your budget. Or the land you can afford may not have the broadband access you need for your remote job.

Average Cost Per Acre

Author

Kathy Morris

Kathy is the head of content at Zippia with a knack for engaging audiences. Prior to joining Zippia, Kathy worked at Gateway Blend growing audiences across diverse brands. She graduated from Troy University with a degree in Social Science Education.