Farmland Atlas · county record

Will County, Illinois

Will County, IL: non-irrigated cash rent $231 an acre (2026); land and buildings $10,259 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 177.8 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 17197. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent in Will County averages $231 per acre in 2026, up 22.9 percent from 2016. Census land and buildings value stood at $10,259 per acre in 2022, and the 2022 rent-to-value figure was 1.99 percent. Corn yields carry a fitted trend of 3 bushels per acre a year on published years 2008-2025, with a median of 177.8 bushels per acre and a worst year of 126 in 2012. Crop insurance history shows $95.5 million paid out over 1989-2025, closed crop years, led by excess moisture and flood at 43 percent; heat and drought's share moved 47 percent, 39 percent, 30 percent, 47 percent across 1989-1999, 2000-2009, 2010-2019, and 2020-2025. Drought weeks were 42 of 1357 since 2000, with 7 of those in 2021-2025.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$231/ac
2026 county average
IL median $254 · 31st lowest of 86
Land and buildings
$10,259/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
IL median $8,638 · 17th highest of 91
Rent as % of land value
1.99%
$204 dry rent ÷ $10,259 land and buildings, both 2022
Corn yield, 2008–2025 median
177.8 bu/ac
recent level 2021–2025: 199.1
IL median 190.2 · 26th lowest of 82
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$3.38
2016–2025, closed crop years
IL median $2.04 · 32nd highest of 101
Farmland rented
71%
2022 census, rented from others
IL median 55% · 8th highest of 101

Cash rent

$0$50$100$150$200$2502010201520202025$142$231 dry

Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey; nothing is drawn across it.

Non-irrigated, 2026$231/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+22.9%nominal, $188 to $231
Dry rent per bushel of corn$1.16$231 ÷ 199.1 bu, county yield 2021–2025

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$10,259/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$7,832/ac
Census 2017$8,888/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+15.4%+2.9% a year, nominal
Dry cropland rent ÷ census value, 20221.99%$204 ÷ $10,259; cropland 95% of land in farms

Corn yield

200820102012201420162018202020222024177.0208.8median 177.8

Bushels per acre, USDA NASS county yields, all practices. The dashed line is the median of the published years.

Median, 2008–2025177.8 bu/ac16 published years
Recent level, 2021–2025199.1 bu/ac5 published years, high and low dropped
Lowest published year2012: 126.0 bu/ac71% of median
Trend, 2008–2025+3.0 bu/ac a year±1.5 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

19952000200520102015202020251.543.370.081.00: claims equal premium

Claims paid divided by total premium (the farmer share plus the federal subsidy), each closed crop year since 1989. Above the dashed line, the county's insurance book paid out more than it took in. 2026, still open, is left out.

Claims paid per $100 of coverage, 2016–2025$3.38
Loss ratio, 2016–20250.51claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20250.64$95.5 million paid
Years claims exceeded premium6 of 31
Worst year2019ratio 3.37
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025excess moisture 43% · heat and drought 35% · price decline (revenue policies) 14%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020252123

Weeks per year, U.S. Drought Monitor, with half the county or more in D2 (severe) drought or worse.

D2 or worse for half the county, 2000–202542 of 1,357 weeks3% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200612 weeks
Last five years, 2021–20257 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202664.4 °F1991–2020 normal 63.8 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.12 °F a decadeno clear direction
Rain, April to September24.7 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 94% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger3.1 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 2022— NASS suppressed the irrigated acres to protect individual farms
Drained by tile, 202262% of cropland141,812 ac
Farmed no-till, 202248% of cropland108,793 ac
Cover crops, 20224% of cropland9,389 ac
198619911996200120062011201620213653,272555

Acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, USDA FSA, by fiscal year.

CRP enrolled, 2025555 ac0.2% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028134 ac24% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$206/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Solar and wind operating, 202547.8 MW solar · 0 MW windnameplate, EIA Form 860
Cattle and calves, 20221,117−56.9% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202271%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentIrr. rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Will County$231—$10,259177.8$3.38
Cook County$136—$18,054—$11.96
DuPage County$150 2024—$57,683—$4.72
Grundy County$291—$10,311188.0$2.09
Kankakee County$250$290$6,734174.3$2.24
Kendall County$297—$11,745—$2.54
Lake County, IN$186—$7,916167.4$2.73
Median next door$250$290 1 co.$11,028174.3$2.64

Counties that share a stretch of boundary. An older rent carries its year and stays out of the median.

Cite this page

AGSIST Farmland Atlas. Will County, Illinois. Figures as of 2026-09-20, from USDA NASS, USDA RMA, USDA FSA, the U.S. Drought Monitor and NOAA. https://agsist.com/farmland-atlas/illinois/will-county
Every figure is a county average from the sources named below. Ranks count counties with 10,000 acres or more in farms, in the same survey year for rent, within the state. Methods: how each figure is built. Downloads: all counties, CSV.
Sources, dates and arithmetic

"Figures as of" is the date this page's numbers last changed; it moves only when a figure on the page does. Source files and their retrieval dates are listed on the data page.

Rent: USDA NASS Cash Rents Survey, county. Land value: Census of Agriculture, operators' estimate of land and buildings. Yield: NASS county corn yields, trend fitted here over every published year since 2008. Loss ratio: claims (indemnity) divided by total premium, USDA RMA Summary of Business, 1989 on, open crop year left out. Drought: U.S. Drought Monitor, weeks with half the county or more in D2 or worse. July lows: NOAA nClimDiv county monthly minimum temperature. A dash means the record does not carry the figure or the source withheld it; the reason is printed beside it.