Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Lancaster County, PA: non-irrigated cash rent $289 an acre (2026); land and buildings $21,633 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 179.8 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 42071. Figures as of 2026-09-20.
Non-irrigated cash rent in Lancaster County is $289 per acre in 2026, up 29 percent from 2016. Census land value stands at $21,633 per acre, with an 18.3 percent gain from 2017 to 2022. Irrigation is a small factor here, covering 2 percent of harvested cropland, and the corn yield trend runs 2 bushels per acre a year on a median of 179.8 bushels per acre over 2008-2025. Heat and drought drove 71 percent of crop insurance indemnities from 1989-2025, though that share has moved differently across periods: 87 percent in 1989-1999, 82 percent in 2000-2009, 58 percent in 2010-2019, and 68 percent in 2020-2025. The loss ratio over 2016-2025 was 0.51, against 0.44 for the full 1989-2025 record.
PA median $68 · highest of 60
PA median $7,064 · highest of 63
PA median 135.7 · highest of 45
PA median $8.42 · 2nd lowest of 52
PA median 30% · 29th highest of 63
Cash rent
Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey; nothing is drawn across it.
Land value
Corn yield
Bushels per acre, USDA NASS county yields, all practices. The dashed line is the median of the published years.
Crop insurance record
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.
Drought and weather
Weeks per year, U.S. Drought Monitor, with half the county or more in D2 (severe) drought or worse.
Land, water and programs
Acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, USDA FSA, by fiscal year.
Next door
| County | Dry rent | Irr. rent | Land value | Corn yield | Claims per $100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lancaster County | $289 | $523 | $21,633 | 179.8 | $2.98 |
| Cecil County, MD | $131 | — | $10,443 | 163.9 | $2.24 |
| Harford County, MD | $171 | — | $11,928 | 165.9 | $1.47 |
| Berks County | $155 | — | $13,449 | 162.3 | $6.07 |
| Chester County | $199 | $269 | $13,004 | 172.8 | $1.89 |
| Dauphin County | $88 | $70 2024 | $10,895 | 130.9 | $4.60 |
| Lebanon County | $206 | — | $16,709 | 173.0 | $3.28 |
| York County | $166 | $324 2024 | $9,224 | 156.1 | $3.52 |
| Median next door | $166 | $269 1 co. | $11,928 | 163.9 | $3.28 |
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. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. 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/pennsylvania/lancaster-countyEvery 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.