Illinois farmland sale index
Sales through Sep 30, 2026. Built from the state's file of Oct 18, 2026.
Illinois farm ground that sold from July 2025 to June 2026 brought about the same as a year earlier. The index stood at 152.4, 0.5% lower than in the 12 months before (90% range: 3.7% lower to 2.6% higher). 2018 = 100, so sale prices ran about 52% above 2018.
First look, still filling in: the 12 months through September 2026 read 151.5, 1.7% lower than a year earlier (90% range 4.6% lower to 1.4% higher), with 276 sales so far in July to September 2026.
152.4index, July 2025 to June 2026 (2018 = 100)
-0.5%vs the 12 months before (range -3.7% to +2.6%)
1,463sales in those 12 months, 101 counties in the whole series
$10,200USDA NASS Illinois cropland value, 2026 (its own survey, not a sale)
- Sale index by quarter
- 90% range
- USDA NASS cropland value, once a year
By year, beside USDA
| Year | Sale index (90% range) | NASS cropland value |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 100.0 (the base year) | 100.0 ($7,280 an acre) |
| 2019 | 99.5 (96.5 to 102.9) | 100.3 ($7,300 an acre) |
| 2020 | 98.9 (96.1 to 102.2) | 100.3 ($7,300 an acre) |
| 2021 | 108.3 (105.5 to 111.2) | 107.1 ($7,800 an acre) |
| 2022 | 131.2 (126.6 to 135.9) | 119.5 ($8,700 an acre) |
| 2023 | 143.6 (138.8 to 148.1) | 127.1 ($9,250 an acre) |
| 2024 | 148.3 (143.9 to 152.1) | 131.2 ($9,550 an acre) |
| 2025 | 154.3 (149.7 to 158.9) | 135.3 ($9,850 an acre) |
| 2026 | not a full settled year yet | 140.1 ($10,200 an acre) |
Since 2018 the sales have risen faster than the NASS survey value. The survey asks what ground is worth; the index is what sold, and buyers of bare ground that comes up for sale are not a sample of all cropland.
By county
Median price an acre of the same sales, by calendar year, with the number of sales. Under 5 sales, no median. Price to rent is the median sale price over the county's USDA NASS non-irrigated cash rent for the same year.
Loading the county table from the data file.
Who bought
Share of the index sales by the kind of buyer on the deed. "Companies" includes a family's own farm LLC or corporation, so a rising share is not the same as outside money.
| Year | Sales | Individuals | Trusts, estates | Companies | Public, other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 1,465 | 70.2% | 10.2% | 19.0% | 0.5% |
| 2019 | 1,367 | 72.0% | 10.2% | 17.3% | 0.4% |
| 2020 | 1,547 | 67.7% | 11.2% | 20.8% | 0.3% |
| 2021 | 2,008 | 66.9% | 11.6% | 21.1% | 0.4% |
| 2022 | 1,763 | 65.3% | 10.8% | 23.5% | 0.5% |
| 2023 | 1,468 | 63.4% | 12.5% | 23.7% | 0.3% |
| 2024 | 1,432 | 60.3% | 13.1% | 26.3% | 0.3% |
| 2025 | 1,445 | 57.8% | 15.2% | 26.6% | 0.4% |
| 2026 through Sep 30, 2026 | 1,087 | 62.1% | 13.4% | 24.1% | 0.4% |
Every quarter
Show the 35 quarters
| Quarter | Sales | Index | 90% range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul to Sep 2026 provisional | 276 | 152.5 | 145.6 to 160.3 |
| Apr to Jun 2026 | 322 | 144.0 | 131.3 to 155.3 |
| Jan to Mar 2026 | 489 | 158.8 | 153.7 to 164.7 |
| Oct to Dec 2025 | 415 | 150.7 | 144.9 to 156.2 |
| Jul to Sep 2025 | 237 | 156.3 | 146.0 to 165.8 |
| Apr to Jun 2025 | 334 | 159.3 | 152.9 to 166.5 |
| Jan to Mar 2025 | 459 | 150.8 | 145.6 to 156.5 |
| Oct to Dec 2024 | 448 | 149.9 | 144.5 to 155.8 |
| Jul to Sep 2024 | 232 | 152.9 | 147.0 to 159.3 |
| Apr to Jun 2024 | 345 | 144.5 | 137.7 to 151.6 |
| Jan to Mar 2024 | 407 | 145.9 | 138.9 to 152.3 |
| Oct to Dec 2023 | 452 | 148.0 | 141.2 to 154.6 |
| Jul to Sep 2023 | 264 | 138.5 | 131.1 to 146.9 |
| Apr to Jun 2023 | 304 | 141.2 | 134.2 to 147.2 |
| Jan to Mar 2023 | 448 | 146.7 | 140.1 to 153.4 |
| Oct to Dec 2022 | 491 | 140.3 | 134.2 to 147.2 |
| Jul to Sep 2022 | 315 | 133.5 | 127.1 to 139.8 |
| Apr to Jun 2022 | 422 | 128.0 | 122.2 to 135.0 |
| Jan to Mar 2022 | 535 | 122.8 | 117.8 to 128.4 |
| Oct to Dec 2021 | 673 | 122.5 | 118.2 to 126.9 |
| Jul to Sep 2021 | 319 | 108.1 | 103.7 to 112.5 |
| Apr to Jun 2021 | 436 | 99.4 | 95.3 to 103.8 |
| Jan to Mar 2021 | 580 | 103.2 | 100.1 to 106.4 |
| Oct to Dec 2020 | 558 | 102.2 | 97.9 to 107.0 |
| Jul to Sep 2020 | 244 | 95.1 | 89.9 to 100.6 |
| Apr to Jun 2020 | 295 | 96.2 | 92.0 to 100.7 |
| Jan to Mar 2020 | 450 | 102.3 | 97.9 to 107.3 |
| Oct to Dec 2019 | 395 | 100.4 | 96.9 to 104.5 |
| Jul to Sep 2019 | 218 | 97.5 | 92.6 to 103.1 |
| Apr to Jun 2019 | 335 | 98.0 | 93.8 to 102.2 |
| Jan to Mar 2019 | 419 | 102.1 | 98.4 to 106.5 |
| Oct to Dec 2018 | 408 | 103.2 | 99.9 to 106.4 |
| Jul to Sep 2018 | 244 | 93.9 | 90.3 to 98.2 |
| Apr to Jun 2018 | 400 | 97.7 | 94.4 to 101.0 |
| Jan to Mar 2018 | 414 | 105.2 | 102.1 to 108.0 |
How it is built, and its limits
- Which sales. Every Illinois transfer declaration for farm parcels that passes the same market-sale rule the Farmland Atlas uses: a deed type that normally carries a market price (no quit claims, gifts, court or sheriff deeds, trades), a whole interest, not between related parties, not exempt. Then: one parcel on the return, known acres, 20 acres or more, no "with buildings" flag, and $1,000 to $40,000 an acre. 13,583 sales from 2018 through Sep 30, 2026.
- Why one parcel. Since about October 2025 the state's open data stopped giving acres for returns that cover several parcels, so including them would change what the index measures partway through. Every quarter uses one-parcel sales alike.
- County mix held fixed. The index comes from a model of each sale's log price an acre with a county effect, a quarter effect and a tract-size band (20 to 40, 40 to 80, 80 to 160, 160+ acres). The quarter effects are the index. A county that sells more often in one quarter does not move it.
- Ranges. The index is re-run 400 times on counties drawn at random with replacement; the 90% range is the middle 90% of those runs. Quarters with fewer than 100 sales are withheld.
- Filing lag. Deeds are filed after the sale. Market sales on file for the last four quarters against the same quarter a year earlier: Oct to Dec 2025: 1,006 on file vs 1,077 a year earlier (93%); Jan to Mar 2026: 1,154 on file vs 1,056 a year earlier (109%); Apr to Jun 2026: 858 on file vs 869 a year earlier (99%); Jul to Sep 2026: 672 on file vs 631 a year earlier (106%). The latest quarter is always provisional, and so is any recent quarter under 85% of its year-earlier count.
- What it is not. Not an appraisal of any farm. Quality of the ground (soil productivity, drainage, tillable share) is not in the record, so a quarter when better ground sold reads higher. Auctions, listed and private sales all count alike.
- Other states.
- Indiana (sales from 2022, 4,828 sales in 92 counties): held back because the typical 90% range is 15.1 points wide, more than 12; the latest settled quarter is 2025Q4; later quarters are still filling in.
- Wisconsin (sales from 2021, 3,867 sales in 71 counties): held back because the typical 90% range is 20.8 points wide, more than 12.
Questions
- What does the farmland sale index measure?
- What Illinois farm ground has sold for, quarter by quarter, from the state's own record of every sale (the PTAX-203 transfer declarations on Illinois' open data portal). It counts arm's-length sales of bare land, 20 acres or more, one parcel per sale, and compares each county with itself, so a quarter when more of the sales came from high-priced counties does not read as a price rise. The four quarters of 2018 average 100.
- Why not just use the median sale price?
- Because the median moves with which counties happened to sell. From 2018 to 2025 the plain median of these sales went from $7,368 to $10,932 an acre (+48.4%), while the index, which holds the county mix and tract size fixed, went from 100.0 to 154.3 (+54.3%).
- How is this different from the USDA number?
- USDA NASS publishes one survey value a year for all Illinois cropland ($10,200 an acre in 2026), from what farmers and landowners report their ground is worth, sold or not. This index comes from sales that actually closed. The two are shown on the same base, side by side, and never mixed. Illinois' farm managers and appraisers (ISPFMRA) run a third, survey-based report; its numbers are not on this page.
- Why is the latest quarter marked provisional?
- Deeds are filed after the sale, so the newest months fill in late. For July to September 2026, 672 market sales are on file so far, against 631 for the same months a year earlier (106%). Until a quarter's count of sales catches up to the same quarter a year earlier (85% or more), and always for the latest quarter, the number is marked provisional and can change.
- How sure is the number?
- Each quarter carries a 90% range from re-running the index on counties drawn at random, with replacement, 400 times. The typical quarter's range is 10.9 points wide, so a move of a few points from one quarter to the next is mostly noise. The headline uses four quarters together for that reason; its range for the latest 12 months is 3.7% lower to 2.6% higher.
- Why are Indiana and Wisconsin not shown?
- Each state has to hold up on its own before it gets an index: enough sales every quarter, a range no wider than 12 points in the typical quarter, and recent quarters on file. Held back this run: Indiana: the typical 90% range is 15.1 points wide, more than 12; the latest settled quarter is 2025Q4; later quarters are still filling in; Wisconsin: the typical 90% range is 20.8 points wide, more than 12.
- Are buyer or seller names on this page?
- No. The public record carries names, but this page and its data file hold only counts, prices and acres. Buyer type (individual, trust or estate, company, public or other) comes from a word pattern on the buyer field, read in memory; no name is written anywhere.
Sources
- Illinois Department of Revenue, MyDec real estate transfer declarations (Form PTAX-203), Illinois open data portal.
- USDA NASS, Land Values (state cropland value per acre) and Cash Rents (county non-irrigated rent), Quick Stats.
- Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, ISPFMRA, for its own land value survey (not used in these numbers).
- Built by
scripts/build_land_index.py. Recorded sales for one county: the Farmland Atlas county pages. Questions or corrections: sig@farmers1st.com.