How Much Is an Acre of Land in Texas? š¤ Well… it depends! Doesn't it always?
Texas covers over 265,000 square miles and is second only to Alaska in land area. Texas is the second most populated state and the second largest economy in the country, just behind California; it's the 8th largest economy in the world.
Its two largest cities, Dallas-Fort Worth and Greater Houston, are 4th and 5th largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) in the US, rapidly gaining ground on Chicago.
And Texas is broken down into ten ecoregions from the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico to the rocky 8,749 feet Guadalupe Peak of Far West Texas.
It's safe to stay that there are many options in Texas for a land buyer, but as with all real estate… location, location, location!
Rural Land Regions in Texas
Texas A&M University's Texas Real Estate Research Center divides the State of Texas into seven real restate regions:
- Panhandle and South Plains
- Far West Texas
- West Texas
- Northeast Texas
- Gulf Coast-Brazos Bottom
- South Texas
- Austin-Waco-Hill Country
With such a large, regionally diverse state, this division can be arbitrary at the extremes. Still, it's a helpful framework for evaluating trends and analyzing the 254 counties in Texas on a regional basis.
Rural Land Prices for Texas
Rural land prices in Texas are significantly lower than urban land prices. And given the sheer size of the state and clusters of densely populated, major metropolitan areas, such as Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio, land prices vary wildly by city and county.
It's simply a case of supply and demand. Scarcity drives prices far more than the utility.
In our modern economy, most people work in major cities and must live reasonably close to their employer or place of work. This encourages higher city population densities and increases urban and suburban land prices. Prices start falling off as the commuting distances increase and infrastructure availability decreases.
“Work from Home” (WFH) may moderate this trend. However, most people still want or need the conveniences and infrastructure of the typical modern American city, including public schools, big-box retailers, entertainment venues, restaurants, and high-speed internet.
Looking at 2021 transaction data, Texas A&M's Texas Real Estate Research Center estimated the price of rural land per acre by region as follows:
- Panhandle and South Plains – $1228 per acre
- Far West Texas – $1608 per acre
- West Texas – $1852 per acre
- Northeast Texas – $6201 per acre
- Gulf Coast-Brazos Bottom – $7724 per acre
- South Texas – $4430 per acre
- Austin-Waco-Hill Country – $5174 per acre
Using this regional data alone, the Gulf Coast-Brazos Bottom region, which includes Greater Houston, is over six times more expensive than the Panhandle and South Plains region, which includes Amarillo and Lubbock. In reality, you'd be hard pressed to find one acre of land in Houston for less than $100,000 per acre; the most valuable land in Houston sells for more than $1,000,000 per acre.
Where Is the Cheapest Land in Texas?
Far West Texas provides the most affordable land in Texas. Larger than the state of South Carolina, this sparsely populated area possesses the most varied, distinctive, and spectacular scenery in Texas, including the Chihuahuan Desert Ecoregion, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Big Bend National Park, and Big Bend Ranch State Park.
It may be cheap land, but you'll be in rich company. Jeff Bezos's spaceport, Launch Space One, is located on his 165,000-acre Corn Ranch near Van Horn, Texas. Bill Gates, Dan Hughes, Malone Mitchell, and Brad Kelley, among other billionaires, all have large land holdings in the area too. Plus, there's a cadre of legendary Texas cattle ranching families, including the Reynolds and the Lydas.
Cheap land abounds in Far West Texas due to its arid climate, relative lack of infrastructure, and distance from major metropolitan areas. For example, it's over 500 miles from Dallas to Marfa. Nonetheless, the area is perfect for cattle ranching, hunting, and outdoor pursuits.
After backing out a few larger cities in the area, like El Paso and Odessa, land can be purchased for less than $1,000 per acre in most of Far West Texas.
How Much Is an Acre of Land in Texas?
Similar to our post “How Much Is 40 Acres of Land Worth in Texas,” using filtering tools and data provided by PRYCD, we queried 1.0-acre to 1.5-acre undeveloped properties in all 254 counties in Texas, which resulted in 468,244 properties.
PRYCD's proprietary pricing algorithm determined the “Market Price/Acre.” To be clear, with some counties, particularly rural, sparsely-populated ones, the modeled price is inaccurate or non-existent due to a low number of 1) owner records and/or 2) market comps. This is a limitation in the data.
Being a non-disclosure state, it's difficult to determine pricing, volumes, and velocity accurately.
There's simply not enough data in this study, particularly on the comp side, to calculate a market price without further research and local market knowledge.
Nonetheless, this data can identify some trends and give a land buyer a basic lay of the land, as they say, to determine specific counties and regions of interest and opportunity.
Once an area of interest is identified, then the real work begins. Good luck! š
| Texas County | Owner Records | Total Comps | Market Price/Acre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glasscock County, TX | 53 | - | $431,510 |
| Hidalgo County, TX | 9,764 | 297 | $244,405 |
| Hays County, TX | 2,617 | 56 | $243,382 |
| Travis County, TX | 6,445 | 199 | $241,786 |
| Gray County, TX | 679 | 1 | $233,936 |
| Collin County, TX | 4,037 | 232 | $218,221 |
| Lamb County, TX | 643 | 1 | $214,710 |
| King County, TX | 159 | - | $213,052 |
| Fort Bend County, TX | 5,244 | 203 | $212,079 |
| Kendall County, TX | 975 | 51 | $211,914 |
| Deaf Smith County, TX | 219 | - | $203,669 |
| Blanco County, TX | 540 | 42 | $199,825 |
| Chambers County, TX | 3,297 | 46 | $195,387 |
| Zapata County, TX | 690 | 4 | $191,768 |
| Harris County, TX | 16,054 | 737 | $190,929 |
| Starr County, TX | 4,658 | 44 | $189,393 |
| Dallas County, TX | 8,530 | 365 | $186,819 |
| Tarrant County, TX | 9,005 | 387 | $184,995 |
| Bell County, TX | 5,217 | 165 | $183,729 |
| Williamson County, TX | 4,465 | 103 | $178,150 |
| Cameron County, TX | 7,342 | 167 | $170,220 |
| Galveston County, TX | 4,867 | 270 | $168,018 |
| Denton County, TX | 5,955 | 199 | $163,339 |
| Ellis County, TX | 2,361 | 181 | $162,474 |
| Brazos County, TX | 1,794 | 129 | $159,150 |
| Bexar County, TX | 11,720 | 353 | $157,193 |
| Moore County, TX | 290 | 4 | $151,653 |
| Guadalupe County, TX | 4,311 | 64 | $149,791 |
| Bastrop County, TX | 3,423 | 88 | $147,699 |
| Kimble County, TX | 590 | 2 | $145,131 |
| Gillespie County, TX | 1,416 | 38 | $142,525 |
| Nueces County, TX | 2,948 | 118 | $141,616 |
| Llano County, TX | 1,480 | 217 | $138,476 |
| Rockwall County, TX | 1,066 | 118 | $137,493 |
| Webb County, TX | 959 | 16 | $134,422 |
| Comal County, TX | 8,114 | 688 | $134,323 |
| Montgomery County, TX | 13,459 | 764 | $129,270 |
| Presidio County, TX | 1,389 | 8 | $128,856 |
| Karnes County, TX | 799 | 3 | $127,396 |
| Austin County, TX | 1,062 | 88 | $126,680 |
| Crane County, TX | 499 | 1 | $119,643 |
| Kaufman County, TX | 3,647 | 158 | $118,557 |
| Oldham County, TX | 61 | - | $113,061 |
| Cooke County, TX | 1,831 | 41 | $109,556 |
| La Salle County, TX | 971 | 1 | $109,098 |
| Schleicher County, TX | 184 | - | $109,051 |
| Martin County, TX | 540 | 31 | $106,505 |
| Caldwell County, TX | 992 | 51 | $106,480 |
| Medina County, TX | 2,918 | 79 | $105,511 |
| Hood County, TX | 1,831 | 251 | $105,407 |
| Grayson County, TX | 2,381 | 329 | $104,749 |
| Jack County, TX | 590 | 24 | $104,297 |
| Walker County, TX | 2,159 | 168 | $103,226 |
| Johnson County, TX | 8,109 | 359 | $102,432 |
| Aransas County, TX | 1,414 | 114 | $102,016 |
| Mason County, TX | 824 | 10 | $101,869 |
| Armstrong County, TX | 134 | 4 | $101,821 |
| Burnet County, TX | 2,034 | 192 | $100,592 |
| McLennan County, TX | 3,030 | 83 | $100,365 |
| Refugio County, TX | 547 | 8 | $99,790 |
| Parker County, TX | 7,994 | 177 | $98,510 |
| Kerr County, TX | 1,726 | 136 | $97,146 |
| Franklin County, TX | 1,298 | 42 | $96,479 |
| Lampasas County, TX | 1,188 | 74 | $94,551 |
| Fayette County, TX | 813 | 40 | $93,642 |
| Lubbock County, TX | 3,014 | 39 | $91,543 |
| Lynn County, TX | 238 | 2 | $90,471 |
| Hunt County, TX | 2,164 | 259 | $90,288 |
| Colorado County, TX | 727 | 37 | $88,436 |
| Victoria County, TX | 2,053 | 36 | $87,567 |
| Smith County, TX | 6,770 | 402 | $87,305 |
| Liberty County, TX | 9,631 | 482 | $86,832 |
| Bosque County, TX | 1,619 | 61 | $86,094 |
| Mitchell County, TX | 514 | 15 | $86,074 |
| Taylor County, TX | 1,807 | 75 | $84,758 |
| Montague County, TX | 1,293 | 49 | $83,693 |
| Wise County, TX | 2,045 | 160 | $82,695 |
| Waller County, TX | 2,085 | 159 | $82,455 |
| Jefferson County, TX | 3,916 | 147 | $80,900 |
| Hamilton County, TX | 924 | 34 | $80,298 |
| Brazoria County, TX | 9,314 | 622 | $80,063 |
| Washington County, TX | 503 | 113 | $79,999 |
| Hardin County, TX | 3,320 | 49 | $79,850 |
| Wichita County, TX | 878 | 52 | $79,687 |
| Dimmit County, TX | 1,073 | 1 | $79,637 |
| Young County, TX | 497 | 21 | $78,785 |
| Coryell County, TX | 859 | 96 | $77,109 |
| Somervell County, TX | 368 | 46 | $76,555 |
| Tom Green County, TX | 1,818 | 80 | $75,651 |
| Maverick County, TX | 992 | 55 | $75,320 |
| Fannin County, TX | 1,098 | 97 | $74,786 |
| Angelina County, TX | 3,725 | 67 | $74,157 |
| San Augustine County, TX | 1,091 | 25 | $72,794 |
| Uvalde County, TX | 1,324 | 110 | $72,645 |
| Ward County, TX | 1,085 | 3 | $72,178 |
| Real County, TX | 730 | 91 | $71,891 |
| Wilson County, TX | 1,664 | 103 | $71,304 |
| Matagorda County, TX | 3,463 | 205 | $70,986 |
| Hopkins County, TX | 769 | 42 | $70,864 |
| Sterling County, TX | 66 | 16 | $70,643 |
| Midland County, TX | 3,217 | 105 | $70,501 |
| San Patricio County, TX | 1,791 | 90 | $70,145 |
| Bandera County, TX | 4,110 | 287 | $69,946 |
| Gonzales County, TX | 1,418 | 30 | $69,374 |
| Callahan County, TX | 691 | 9 | $69,087 |
| Kleberg County, TX | 806 | 15 | $68,899 |
| Howard County, TX | 1,150 | 8 | $68,870 |
| Falls County, TX | 1,253 | 13 | $67,715 |
| Jackson County, TX | 1,303 | 44 | $67,001 |
| Robertson County, TX | 898 | 45 | $66,915 |
| Atascosa County, TX | 2,089 | 100 | $66,218 |
| Frio County, TX | 1,231 | 23 | $65,246 |
| Van Zandt County, TX | 2,183 | 127 | $65,181 |
| Lavaca County, TX | 778 | 46 | $64,823 |
| Rains County, TX | 459 | 81 | $64,134 |
| Burleson County, TX | 2,320 | 160 | $63,910 |
| Milam County, TX | 1,039 | 18 | $63,371 |
| Grimes County, TX | 2,429 | 117 | $63,321 |
| Erath County, TX | 1,025 | 81 | $62,903 |
| Eastland County, TX | 1,593 | 50 | $62,740 |
| Goliad County, TX | 951 | 9 | $62,736 |
| San Jacinto County, TX | 2,006 | 178 | $62,489 |
| Orange County, TX | 2,413 | 128 | $62,405 |
| Hill County, TX | 2,444 | 232 | $62,096 |
| Wharton County, TX | 1,648 | 65 | $61,391 |
| Titus County, TX | 1,530 | 64 | $61,140 |
| Gaines County, TX | 1,051 | 23 | $61,023 |
| McMullen County, TX | 165 | 3 | $60,977 |
| Andrews County, TX | 334 | 64 | $60,840 |
| McCulloch County, TX | 959 | 9 | $60,681 |
| Randall County, TX | 2,769 | 189 | $59,261 |
| Calhoun County, TX | 1,889 | 140 | $58,311 |
| Navarro County, TX | 2,648 | 408 | $57,714 |
| Castro County, TX | 359 | - | $57,363 |
| Lee County, TX | 870 | 29 | $57,076 |
| San Saba County, TX | 1,309 | 15 | $56,800 |
| Polk County, TX | 7,344 | 265 | $56,265 |
| Brooks County, TX | 321 | 5 | $56,102 |
| Morris County, TX | 1,010 | 20 | $55,701 |
| Brown County, TX | 2,316 | 201 | $53,989 |
| Willacy County, TX | 714 | 7 | $53,763 |
| Gregg County, TX | 2,349 | 99 | $53,656 |
| Pecos County, TX | 604 | 7 | $53,569 |
| Henderson County, TX | 4,329 | 437 | $53,299 |
| Trinity County, TX | 2,924 | 61 | $53,141 |
| Palo Pinto County, TX | 2,414 | 344 | $52,417 |
| Bee County, TX | 1,317 | 23 | $51,905 |
| Upshur County, TX | 1,780 | 140 | $51,835 |
| Camp County, TX | 1,410 | 135 | $51,607 |
| Lamar County, TX | 1,731 | 93 | $50,883 |
| Nolan County, TX | 598 | 4 | $50,809 |
| Jasper County, TX | 2,190 | 181 | $50,659 |
| Jim Wells County, TX | 2,425 | 65 | $50,324 |
| Dickens County, TX | 241 | - | $48,443 |
| Zavala County, TX | 372 | - | $48,180 |
| Donley County, TX | 550 | 7 | $47,607 |
| Hockley County, TX | 454 | 40 | $46,928 |
| Harrison County, TX | 1,281 | 104 | $46,507 |
| Wood County, TX | 3,720 | 196 | $46,260 |
| Potter County, TX | 1,701 | 43 | $45,455 |
| Limestone County, TX | 901 | 110 | $45,121 |
| Irion County, TX | 187 | 1 | $44,156 |
| Delta County, TX | 264 | 6 | $43,211 |
| Clay County, TX | 551 | 2 | $43,132 |
| Scurry County, TX | 339 | 11 | $42,951 |
| Ector County, TX | 5,399 | 243 | $42,826 |
| Houston County, TX | 1,346 | 89 | $42,764 |
| Sabine County, TX | 1,649 | 135 | $42,689 |
| Garza County, TX | 355 | 38 | $42,126 |
| Tyler County, TX | 1,351 | 47 | $41,851 |
| Madison County, TX | 403 | 33 | $41,581 |
| Leon County, TX | 1,252 | 99 | $41,461 |
| Nacogdoches County, TX | 1,450 | 54 | $40,895 |
| Coleman County, TX | 346 | 13 | $40,602 |
| Collingsworth County, TX | 185 | - | $40,531 |
| El Paso County, TX | 22,088 | 694 | $40,392 |
| Mills County, TX | 283 | 10 | $40,251 |
| DeWitt County, TX | 914 | 19 | $39,936 |
| Freestone County, TX | 2,101 | 132 | $39,324 |
| Panola County, TX | 1,297 | 14 | $38,877 |
| Hale County, TX | 554 | 37 | $38,226 |
| Throckmorton County, TX | 195 | - | $37,378 |
| Live Oak County, TX | 1,472 | 52 | $37,280 |
| Kent County, TX | 324 | - | $35,771 |
| Concho County, TX | 648 | 39 | $35,623 |
| Anderson County, TX | 1,766 | 72 | $35,597 |
| Baylor County, TX | 245 | - | $35,316 |
| Terry County, TX | 307 | 1 | $35,077 |
| Cherokee County, TX | 3,306 | 92 | $33,748 |
| Brewster County, TX | 1,390 | 16 | $33,699 |
| Comanche County, TX | 844 | 29 | $33,391 |
| Jones County, TX | 759 | 10 | $32,310 |
| Bailey County, TX | 330 | - | $32,099 |
| Stephens County, TX | 414 | 25 | $31,930 |
| Shelby County, TX | 1,076 | 23 | $31,401 |
| Marion County, TX | 887 | 35 | $31,305 |
| Rusk County, TX | 1,923 | 77 | $31,168 |
| Duval County, TX | 1,465 | 2 | $30,974 |
| Stonewall County, TX | 335 | - | $30,436 |
| Newton County, TX | 1,245 | 9 | $27,667 |
| Coke County, TX | 450 | 1 | $27,167 |
| Crockett County, TX | 211 | - | $25,806 |
| Childress County, TX | 103 | 3 | $25,405 |
| Bowie County, TX | 3,350 | 55 | $25,160 |
| Jeff Davis County, TX | 155 | 4 | $24,940 |
| Edwards County, TX | 142 | 2 | $23,622 |
| Val Verde County, TX | 1,284 | 33 | $22,428 |
| Kinney County, TX | 216 | 1 | $20,912 |
| Runnels County, TX | 435 | 1 | $20,886 |
| Wilbarger County, TX | 377 | - | $20,169 |
| Hall County, TX | 382 | - | $19,514 |
| Wheeler County, TX | 297 | 3 | $17,583 |
| Archer County, TX | 214 | 1 | $17,078 |
| Foard County, TX | 379 | - | $16,147 |
| Cass County, TX | 1,597 | 58 | $14,815 |
| Haskell County, TX | 393 | 13 | $14,611 |
| Terrell County, TX | 143 | 2 | $14,356 |
| Reagan County, TX | 69 | 3 | $13,771 |
| Sutton County, TX | 563 | 4 | $11,660 |
| Red River County, TX | 729 | 9 | $11,357 |
| Motley County, TX | 158 | - | $10,552 |
| Menard County, TX | 346 | - | $5,806 |
| Shackelford County, TX | 330 | 1 | $4,846 |
| Hudspeth County, TX | 5,302 | 5 | $3,217 |
| Cochran County, TX | 1,135 | 18 | $23 |
| Jim Hogg County, TX | 191 | 2 | $- |
| Cottle County, TX | 247 | - | $- |
| Hardeman County, TX | 418 | 1 | $- |
| Dallam County, TX | 158 | - | $- |
| Dawson County, TX | 359 | 3 | $- |
| Hansford County, TX | 226 | 1 | $- |
| Hartley County, TX | 75 | - | $- |
| Carson County, TX | 210 | 2 | $- |
| Floyd County, TX | 291 | - | $- |
| Hemphill County, TX | 134 | - | $- |
| Briscoe County, TX | 82 | - | $- |
| Crosby County, TX | 248 | - | $- |
| Borden County, TX | 124 | - | $- |
| Culberson County, TX | 361 | - | $- |
| Fisher County, TX | 463 | 2 | $- |
| Hutchinson County, TX | 992 | 6 | $- |
| Sherman County, TX | 106 | 1 | $- |
| Lipscomb County, TX | 97 | - | $- |
| Roberts County, TX | 76 | - | $- |
| Yoakum County, TX | 152 | 2 | $- |
| Swisher County, TX | 240 | 1 | $- |
| Ochiltree County, TX | 78 | - | $- |
| Parmer County, TX | 208 | - | $- |
| Winkler County, TX | 214 | 2 | $- |
| Loving County, TX | 13 | - | $- |
| Reeves County, TX | 1,360 | - | $- |
| Kenedy County, TX | 16 | - | $- |
| Knox County, TX | 408 | 2 | $- |
| Upton County, TX | 780 | 10 | $- |
Notes: This data was obtained from PRYCD. The number of “Owner Records” is based on DataTree's proprietary parcel database. “Total Comps” reflects Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin, Lands of America, and LandFlip comps identified by PRYCD. “Market Price/Acre” is PRYCD's proprietary pricing algorithm.