States with the cheapest land in the United States

Some consider buying land to be the original American dream. Shopping for land for sale is exciting and loaded with potential. After all, unlike buying a home, land is a blank canvas waiting for your creative ideas — the sky’s the limit.

You may be thinking… “I’d love to buy land, but I’m not even close to being wealthy. It’s just not in the cards.” Unfortunately, many stop here, assuming they can’t afford land. But that may not be the case since there’s cheap land for sale throughout the country, you just have to know where to look.

The price of land is dependent on several factors. 1,000 acres of timberland in the Southeast, predominantly pine, may be significantly cheaper than 1,000 acres of Douglas fir in the Pacific Northwest. A half-acre residential lot a mile inland will be cheaper than the same property beachfront. Check out our article discussing how big is an acre of land to learn more about the size of an acre.

Saying buying land in certain states is cheaper than in other states can be somewhat misleading because it depends on the specific location within the state. There are counties where the average price per acre on the western side is 2 times cheaper than land on the eastern side and vice versa. Land that generates income will likely be more expensive than land that doesn't. You get the point. To learn more about land use, read our article on land use and land types.

Typically the cheapest acreage in the United States tends to be desert land with no utilities. This is land where the uses are pretty limited. Other examples of budget-friendly real estate are tracts with no legal access like land-locked properties, extremely remote, off-the-grid land, where any timber is unharvestable, and other non-buildable lots.

Using values from our price per acre data, we took a look at land prices throughout the country to find out where you can buy cheap land.

Here are the states where you can buy the cheapest land in the U.S. Keep in mind, we’re only referring to portions of each state.

Although New Mexico’s geography is surprisingly diverse and includes forested mountains, green valleys, and grasslands, much of the state is desert. This results in New Mexico being one of the cheapest states to buy land. The Chihuahuan Desert runs through the southern part of the state and you can buy affordable land for sale in Deming as low as $200 per acre.

In the central part of the state, where there’s remote desert, you can also find cheap land for sale in New Mexico. For example, outside Bosque, you may come across land under $100 per acre.

Nevada is one of the cheapest places to buy land, because it’s home to a large amount of remote desert. Northern Nevada is located in the Great Basin. This is a desert area with hot summer temperatures and cold winter temperatures. In areas outside of cities like Wells, Lovelock, and Winnemucca, you can buy cheap land for sale in Nevada in the $100-$200 per acre range.

Another place to buy cheap land is in Arizona. Although parts of Arizona are home to forests, canyons, and even ski resorts, much of southern and western Arizona is arid desert land. It’s known for having extremely hot summers, and mild winters, and is home to plants such as the cactus.

Although you can buy cheap land for sale in Arizona throughout the state, you’ll have the most success by looking west and south. Near cities like Wikieup, Kingman, Meadview, and Bullhead City in western Arizona you can often find low-cost land for sale in the $250-$500 per acre range. And in southern areas around Douglas, Hereford, Bisbee, and McNeal, you can buy $400-$600 per acre properties.

Maine is also home to some of America's cheapest land. While it’s certainly not desert land, it’s located in a part of New England known for its jagged coastline and heavily forested timberland. It’s the most northeastern U.S. state and one of the least densely populated.

There’s a lot of unorganized state territory consisting of over 420 townships. As a result, much of the land in Maine is extremely secluded and remote, with no signs of civilization in sight. Also, land in Maine tends to come in large parcels, which can lower the average price per acre.

If you’re looking for cheap land for sale in Maine, the eastern portion of the state is a good place to start, specifically the Northeast. In northeastern towns like Van Buren, Connor Township, and Castle Hill you can buy remote properties sometimes as low as $450-$800 per acre. In certain eastern towns like Amity, Cary, Dyer Brook, and Linneus you can buy tracts for $400-700 per acre.

There’s also some very affordable land further south in places like Perkins Township, Franklin, and Hermon for $575-$800 per acre.

Michigan is home to some cheap land for the same reason as Maine. It’s essentially 2 large peninsulas—the Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula. Even though the state has a large population, there are very remote and sparsely-populated regions, especially the Upper Peninsula. There you can buy large tracts of hunting land, cabin properties, and other recreational acreage.

You’ll even see land with water features come on the market for affordable prices. This is due to the remote, off-the-grid nature of the geography. The peninsula is in the extreme North and surrounded by Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and Lake Huron.

If you’re searching for cheap land for sale in Michigan, check out the Upper Peninsula. You’ll see land prices as low as $250-$600 per acre.

Colorado is one of the cheapest states to buy land. This comes as a surprise to a lot of people, but not so much to people who live there. While it has some very expensive real estate in places like Aspen and Steamboat Springs, it’s also home to desert and inhospitable mountain land. It also tends to sell in large parcels. Surprisingly, you can buy cheap land for sale in Colorado throughout the state, but it’s more common outside the central mountains.

In the eastern plains and especially the Southeast around cities like Kim, Campo, Eads, and Hasty, you can buy land for sale for $680-$1,000 per acre. In the West, you’ll find some desert-like conditions mixed with mountainous terrain. Here you can find land on the market for $500-900 per acre.

Down South in places such as Walsenburg, Del Norte, and Moffat, prices can be as low as $750-$1,000 per acre. Even in the central part of the state, in sites like Yoder, you can buy parcels for under $1,000 per acre.

Many people think of desert land when they think of Texas. But actually, less than 10% of land in Texas is considered desert. It’s home to a variety of landscapes including coastline, forests, and grasslands. Since Texas is so large, around 10% is still over 17 million desert acres which means it has some of the cheapest land in the United States.

If you’re shopping for cheap land for sale in Texas, almost the entire western portion of Texas along the western New Mexico and southern Mexican border is desert. For example, in western areas like Sierra Blanca and Monahans, you can find land as cheap as $350-$600 per acre. Towards the Mexican border, around cities such as Dryden and Sanderson, you can buy land as low as $350-$500 per acre.

Oregon is one of the United States’ most geographically diverse states. You’ll find everything from dense forests and volcanoes to crystal-clear lakes, mountains, and the Pacific coastline. In addition to that, it’s also home to desert and shrubland, which is where you can buy cheap land for sale. If you’re looking for cheap land for sale in Oregon, the western and southern parts of the state are good places to start your search.

Around cities like Adel, Plush, and Bonanza, you can buy land in the $250-$650 per acre range. As you move north to areas around Christmas Valley, Summer Lake, Brothers, and then Service Creek, you’ll find land prices as low as $300-$700 per acre.

Similar to Oregon and a few other states mentioned, Utah has diverse geography. Most of the population is found in the Wasatch Front running down the center of the state. A large amount of the state is made up of rugged terrain, arid desert, and other challenging landscapes. Because of this, you can buy cheap land for sale in Utah across much of the state, especially the extremes.

In the Northwest areas like Grouse Creek, you can sometimes find parcels for sale for as low as $150 per acre. At times, in central Oregon, parcels come on the market for $350-$750 per acre outside cities such as Delta and Fillmore. And in the South, you can buy land in areas around Beryl for $375-$600 per acre.

As mentioned, the average price of land in the U.S. varies significantly depending on factors such as income-generating potential, location, desirability, use, demand, and more. According to our data, the average asking price per acre of land in the U.S. in 2024 is $16,437.

Take a look at our step-by-step guide detailing how to buy land and check out our acreage pricing data to see how much land you can afford in each state.

LandSearch is a great resource to help you find affordable land throughout the United States. In addition to our pre-filtered cheap land for sale, you can search nearby land for sale sorted by price to find the cheapest land near you.

Cheap land is inexpensive for a reason. It’s important to do research and answer these questions before you purchase land. You want to make a good investment and ensure you can use the property the way you intend.

There are plenty of places to buy cheap land in the United States. Our list isn’t comprehensive, but if you’re looking to buy the cheapest land in the country, it can hopefully point you in the right direction.