Price Per Acre in Texas: What Rural Land Actually Costs by Region
The statewide "average" price per acre in Texas is nearly meaningless for anyone buying rural land. A hunting ranch in McMullen County and a timber tract in Nacogdoches are both Texas land — they trade at completely different prices for completely different reasons. Here's how to think about price by region, and what the data can and can't tell you.
Texas is a non-disclosure state. Sale prices are not recorded on deeds and are not publicly reported. There is no MLS database of rural land transactions that anyone — broker, appraiser, or website — can access directly.
The price ranges below are drawn from the Texas A&M Real Estate Center's annual land market survey, Texas Farm Credit and Capital Farm Credit lender market reports, and the USDA NASS Land Values Summary — all of which are based on voluntary broker and lender surveys, not recorded transactions. Any source claiming precise county averages is working from the same survey-based estimates. Use these ranges for calibration, not valuation.
Deep South Texas — Brush Country
Webb, Zapata, Jim Hogg, Brooks, Starr, Duval, La Salle, McMullen, Zavala counties
$1,500 – $4,000 / acre- ·Lowest price per acre for hunting land in Texas
- ·World-class white-tailed deer — hunting premium is significant on marketed ranches
- ·Limited water infrastructure; well depth and quality vary by area
- ·Far from major metros — long drives to services
- ·McMullen and La Salle counties command the highest premiums in this region
Bottom line: This is where you get the most acres for your money in Texas. The tradeoff is remoteness, limited infrastructure, and hot, dry summers. Anything marketed as a hunting ranch in McMullen, La Salle, or Webb county will carry a significant wildlife premium on top of base land value. Agricultural land without a hunting reputation trades lower.
South-Central Texas
Live Oak, Bee, San Patricio, Goliad, Karnes, DeWitt, Wilson counties
$2,500 – $6,000 / acre- ·Better water availability than deep south — more reliable wells, more surface water
- ·Accessible from San Antonio and Corpus Christi
- ·Wilson County influenced heavily by San Antonio metro expansion
- ·Karnes County: Eagle Ford Shale activity means minerals are frequently severed — verify before buying
- ·Good all-around ranching land: cattle, deer, turkey, some quail
Bottom line: This is the transition zone between deep south brush country and the metro-influenced Hill Country. Live Oak County (where I own land) hits a sweet spot — decent water, wildlife exemption–friendly, accessible from San Antonio, and still priced based on what the land can produce rather than a lifestyle premium.
Texas Hill Country
Gillespie, Kerr, Bandera, Edwards, Kimble, Mason, Real, Llano, Blanco, Medina counties
$4,000 – $12,000+ / acre- ·Widest price range in Texas — location, water, and improvements drive huge variation
- ·Fredericksburg and Kerrville area: tourism, wineries, and urban buyers have pushed prices far beyond agricultural value
- ·Edwards and Kimble counties: more remote, better value within the Hill Country
- ·River frontage (Frio, Guadalupe, Llano, Pedernales) commands major premium
- ·Strong demand from Austin and San Antonio buyers — weekend/lifestyle properties compete with working ranches
Bottom line: The Hill Country has seen the most dramatic appreciation of any Texas rural region in the past decade. You're often paying for scenery, proximity to Austin, and weekend lifestyle — not for what the land produces agriculturally. If the math needs to work on a per-acre basis, look elsewhere. If you want something within 2 hours of a major city with cedar canyons and a creek, this is where to look.
East Texas — Piney Woods & Post Oak Belt
Nacogdoches, Angelina, Sabine, San Augustine, Polk, Tyler, Jasper, Newton, Cherokee counties
$2,000 – $5,000 / acre- ·Timber production drives much of the land value — managed pine plantations command premium
- ·Higher rainfall than anywhere else in Texas — reliable water, ponds build easily
- ·Recreational hunting (deer, hogs, ducks along river bottoms) adds value on wooded tracts
- ·Closer to Houston and DFW than prices suggest
- ·Bottomland hardwoods along river systems are the premium product
Bottom line: East Texas is overlooked by most buyers focused on brush country or Hill Country. The land is productive, water is plentiful, and prices are reasonable given proximity to major metros. Timber income can offset carrying costs on larger tracts. If you're a duck or hog hunter, East Texas bottomland punches above its price.
West Texas / Trans-Pecos
Pecos, Terrell, Brewster, Presidio, Jeff Davis, Culberson, Hudspeth counties
$500 – $2,500 / acre- ·Lowest base price per acre in Texas — large tracts available
- ·Jeff Davis and Brewster counties: Marfa/Alpine/Big Bend lifestyle buyers pushing prices up on scenic land
- ·Extreme remoteness — services may be an hour or more away
- ·Water is scarce and expensive to develop
- ·Thin buyer pool: can be difficult to sell when you want out
Bottom line: You get the most acres here by far. The tradeoffs are real: limited water, extreme heat, long drives to everything, and a very thin resale market. Good for large-scale hunting operations, off-grid buyers, or those who genuinely want to disappear. The Marfa effect has created a sub-market around Jeff Davis County that trades at a lifestyle premium disconnected from agricultural value.
Texas Panhandle & Rolling Plains
Randall, Potter, Armstrong, Swisher, Floyd, Crosby, Dickens, King, Knox counties
$1,000 – $3,500 / acre- ·Dryland and irrigated crop farmland drives most of the value here
- ·Irrigated Ogallala Aquifer land trades at a premium — but aquifer depletion is a real long-term concern
- ·Hunting (mule deer, pronghorn, pheasant, dove) adds recreational premium on some tracts
- ·Palo Duro Canyon area: scenic land commands premium over flat agricultural ground
- ·Far from the major Texas metros — primarily agricultural buyers
Bottom line: The Panhandle is agricultural land first and recreational land second. Irrigated cropland is the most valuable product; dryland farming ground and native pasture trade lower. If you're buying for hunting or recreation, you're getting land that primarily serves another purpose — which means your price per acre goes further.
What actually drives price per acre
Price per acre is an output. These are the inputs.
Reliable water is the single biggest value driver on rural Texas land. A producing well, surface water, or a stocked tank can add hundreds of dollars per acre over comparable dry land. In South and West Texas, water scarcity makes this especially true.
Texas hunting is a multi-billion dollar industry and it's priced into the land. Properties marketed as hunting ranches — especially in McMullen, La Salle, Webb, and the Hill Country — carry a wildlife premium of 20–50% over comparable agricultural ground without hunting value.
Paved road frontage adds value. Direct county road access is standard. Landlocked tracts — those requiring an easement across a neighbor's land — sell at a discount and can be hard to finance. Always verify legal access before making an offer.
The closer you are to San Antonio, Austin, Houston, or Dallas-Fort Worth, the more lifestyle buyers compete with agricultural buyers. Wilson County trades like Hill Country now. Montgomery County north of Houston is not cheap. Distance from cities is the single best predictor of value for agricultural buyers.
Whether minerals convey affects price significantly in active production areas (Eagle Ford Shale in Karnes/DeWitt/Webb/La Salle, Permian Basin in West Texas). Ask explicitly what minerals convey and get a mineral ownership search through your title company.
A working well, perimeter fence, cabin, and road system add value — but rarely dollar for dollar. Over-improved properties in thin markets rarely recover improvement costs. Buy the land at the right price and improve it yourself.
How to actually find out what land is worth in a non-disclosure state
Talk to local lenders
Capital Farm Credit and Texas Farm Credit appraise rural land constantly. Call your regional office and ask what they're seeing in the area. They won't give you specifics on other loans, but they'll tell you where the market is.
Talk to active land brokers
Brokers know what things sold for even if they can't publish it. A broker who has closed deals in the county you're targeting is worth a conversation — even if you're not using them as a buyer's agent.
Watch active listings over time
LandsOfTexas and Land.com show asking prices. If a property sits for 12+ months and drops in price, that tells you something about where the market actually is vs. where sellers think it is.
Pull comparable CAD records
County appraisal districts set productivity values for exemptions, which aren't market value — but they can show you acreage, improvement values, and sometimes clues about how the market is moving.
Next steps
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