Cash Rent by State › North Carolina
North Carolina Cash Rent by County, 2026
Every USDA-published county cash rental rate in North Carolina, from the NASS Cash Rents Survey. 86 North Carolina counties with a published 2026 non-irrigated cropland rent · median $81.25/acre · +0.6% vs 2025 (matched counties) · data refreshed 2026-10-06
Part of the Farmland Atlas: land values, rent and risk for every county.
Choosing ARC or PLC for 2026 or 2027? See North Carolina ARC or PLC by county.
Insuring pasture or hay ground? See PRF rainfall insurance in North Carolina: county values, what each pair of months costs, and every year since 1951.
Rent for your ground, not the county average
The county number doesn’t know your ground. This scales the county’s 2026 rent by your own corn yield.
Pick a county and type your yield.
Derived by AGSIST, not a NASS number: the county’s 2026 NASS dryland rent divided by its 2026 corn trend yield (our 14-yr trend, same practice as the rent), times your yield. It assumes rent moves in step with yield, which real leases only roughly do. Use your APH or a typical year, not your best one. 34 of 86 North Carolina counties have both numbers; for the rest the Corn trend column below says why there is none.
Two more ways to figure a fair rent
Share of gross. Your bushels times a price, and the share of that the rent takes. The share starts at the county’s own: its 2026 rent as a share of its trend-yield gross at this price.
Default: North Carolina’s 2025 average price received for corn (USDA NASS, preliminary).
Return on land value. What the land is worth times the return an owner wants on it.
Cost-based. What is left of your gross after your own costs and pay for your work. That needs your budget, so this page doesn’t guess one.
For rent as a share of gross year by year since 2008, open the Farmland Atlas and its rent share calculator.
Every published county, 2026
Tap a column heading to sort. Greyed values are the county’s most recent published year where 2026 wasn’t published. Columns cover non-irrigated cropland, irrigated cropland, permanent pasture; state stats above use non-irrigated cropland, the rent this site means by “rent”. Each county name opens its Farmland Atlas record (land value, yield, insurance and drought). Corn trend is the county’s 14-yr trend yield (projected 2026) from NASS county estimates, fitted on the same practice as the rent: the figure the Atlas county page divides rent by for rent per bushel, and the one its rent share calculator starts from.
Swipe the table sideways for every column.
| County | Non-irrigated 2026 | Irrigated 2026 | Pasture 2026 | YoY | Corn trend 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alamance | $52.50 | $100 (2022) | $29 | +14.1% | mixed |
| Alexander | $55.50 | n/a | $49 | +2.8% | 107 bu |
| Alleghany | $99 | n/a | $49 | -9.2% | n/a |
| Anson | $72 | n/a | $51 | -11.1% | 123 bu |
| Ashe | $91.50 | $235 (2023) | $32.50 | -6.6% | mixed |
| Avery | $80 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Beaufort | $130 | n/a | n/a | -2.3% | 135 bu |
| Bertie | $133 | $81.50 (2010) | n/a | +8.1% | 135 bu |
| Bladen | $82.50 | $136 | $22 (2010) | -1.2% | mixed |
| Brunswick | $78 | n/a | $39.50 (2013) | -5.5% | 129 bu |
| Buncombe | $46 | $210 (2023) | $30 | -9.8% | mixed |
| Burke | $43 | $220 (2023) | $20 (2025) | +10.3% | mixed |
| Cabarrus | $70 | n/a | $23 | -11.4% | 124 bu |
| Caldwell | $43 (2024) | n/a | $29 | n/a | 180 bu |
| Camden | $120 (2025) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 164 bu |
| Carteret | $88 | n/a | n/a | -1.1% | n/a |
| Caswell | $42 | $92 | $21.50 | +16.7% | mixed |
| Catawba | $46.50 | $150 (2016) | $35 | +20.8% | mixed |
| Chatham | $41 | $110 (2021) | $40 | -7.9% | 111 bu |
| Cherokee | $74 | n/a | $21.50 (2024) | +14.7% | 186 bu |
| Chowan | $99 | $100 (2020) | n/a | -7.5% | mixed |
| Clay | $65 (2024) | n/a | $28.50 (2021) | n/a | n/a |
| Cleveland | $42.50 | n/a | $34.50 | +6.2% | 108 bu |
| Columbus | $85.50 | $80 (2017) | $47 | -0.6% | 112 bu |
| Craven | $92.50 | $115 (2016) | $35.50 (2025) | -2.6% | mixed |
| Cumberland | $105 | $100 (2017) | $43 (2025) | +11.1% | mixed |
| Currituck | $97.50 | n/a | n/a | -2.0% | 165 bu |
| Davidson | $50 | n/a | $22.50 | -13.0% | 115 bu |
| Davie | $67 | n/a | $33 | +1.5% | 147 bu |
| Duplin | $88.50 | $131 | $51 | -1.1% | mixed |
| Durham | $47 | n/a | n/a | +8.0% | 76 bu |
| Edgecombe | $122 | $110 (2014) | $40 (2021) | +4.3% | mixed |
| Forsyth | $71.50 | $103 | $20 (2022) | +15.3% | mixed |
| Franklin | $66 | $90 | $32.50 | -5.0% | mixed |
| Gaston | $35 | n/a | $20 | -5.4% | n/a |
| Gates | $112 | $71.50 (2011) | n/a | +9.8% | 144 bu |
| Granville | $66 | $81 (2023) | $26 (2019) | -12.6% | mixed |
| Greene | $136 | $115 (2021) | $56.50 | +8.8% | mixed |
| Guilford | $44 | $59 (2021) | $28.50 | +12.8% | mixed |
| Halifax | $121 | $140 (2014) | $47 | -1.6% | mixed |
| Harnett | $121 | $200 (2023) | $48.50 | +9.0% | mixed |
| Haywood | $68.50 | $240 (2024) | $23 (2025) | +15.1% | mixed |
| Henderson | $117 | $190 | $23 (2020) | n/a | mixed |
| Hertford | $115 | $105 (2017) | n/a | -5.7% | mixed |
| Hoke | $61 (2025) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Hyde | $182 | n/a | n/a | -3.2% | 149 bu |
| Iredell | $85.50 | $100 (2019) | $44 | +13.2% | mixed |
| Jackson | $58.50 (2025) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Johnston | $114 | $100 (2017) | $32 | -0.9% | mixed |
| Jones | $91 (2025) | n/a | $52 | n/a | 114 bu |
| Lee | $79.50 | $95 (2016) | $32 | -10.2% | mixed |
| Lenoir | $126 | $144 (2014) | $42.50 (2017) | +5.0% | mixed |
| Lincoln | $48.50 | n/a | $41 | +10.2% | ends 2022 |
| Macon | $53.50 (2025) | n/a | $22.50 (2025) | n/a | n/a |
| Madison | $74 | n/a | $25 | +1.4% | n/a |
| Martin | $116 | n/a | n/a | -1.7% | 106 bu |
| McDowell | $67 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Mecklenburg | n/a | n/a | $37.50 | n/a | n/a |
| Mitchell | $56 | n/a | $35 | n/a | n/a |
| Montgomery | $45.50 | n/a | $35 (2013) | +18.2% | n/a |
| Moore | $58.50 | $125 (2023) | $28 | +7.3% | mixed |
| Nash | $126 | $135 (2023) | $34.50 | +9.6% | mixed |
| Northampton | $116 | $130 (2017) | $30 (2011) | +2.7% | mixed |
| Onslow | $109 | n/a | $40 (2011) | -0.9% | 87 bu |
| Orange | $44.50 | $75 (2020) | $35 | +11.2% | mixed |
| Pamlico | $98.50 | n/a | n/a | -1.0% | 145 bu |
| Pasquotank | $135 | n/a | n/a | +8.9% | 181 bu |
| Pender | $93 | $150 (2021) | $32 (2021) | +12.0% | 149 bu |
| Perquimans | $112 | n/a | $60 (2013) | +9.8% | 148 bu |
| Person | $67.50 | $115 | $42 | +15.4% | mixed |
| Pitt | $123 | $56 (2010) | $25 (2014) | +8.8% | 96 bu |
| Polk | $33 | n/a | n/a | -2.9% | n/a |
| Randolph | $68 | $67.50 (2013) | $36 | -5.6% | mixed |
| Richmond | $48.50 (2025) | $58.50 (2011) | $16.50 (2012) | n/a | n/a |
| Robeson | $75 | $90 (2019) | $46 (2024) | -3.2% | mixed |
| Rockingham | $48.50 | $90 (2024) | $15 | -14.2% | mixed |
| Rowan | $74 | n/a | $30.50 | +5.7% | 119 bu |
| Rutherford | $44 | n/a | $24 | -7.4% | 105 bu |
| Sampson | $120 | $125 | $50 | +9.1% | mixed |
| Scotland | $70.50 | n/a | n/a | -0.7% | 112 bu |
| Stanly | $83 | n/a | $31 | -1.2% | 116 bu |
| Stokes | $49.50 | $98 (2014) | $25 | -10.8% | 140 bu |
| Surry | $92 | $110 (2022) | $34.50 | +12.2% | mixed |
| Swain | n/a | n/a | $15 | n/a | n/a |
| Transylvania | $100 | n/a | n/a | +13.6% | 198 bu |
| Tyrrell | $181 | n/a | n/a | +5.8% | 168 bu |
| Union | $105 | n/a | $54.50 | +12.9% | 118 bu |
| Vance | $46.50 (2025) | $67 (2023) | $35 (2021) | n/a | mixed |
| Wake | $83 | $91 (2023) | $48 | +13.7% | mixed |
| Warren | $47.50 | $55 (2017) | $30 | -1.0% | mixed |
| Washington | $136 | n/a | n/a | -2.2% | 154 bu |
| Watauga | $62 | n/a | $36 | -6.1% | n/a |
| Wayne | $134 | $110 (2020) | $58.50 | -0.7% | mixed |
| Wilkes | $62 | n/a | $42 | -9.5% | 158 bu |
| Wilson | $154 | $150 (2022) | $48 (2009) | -0.6% | mixed |
| Yadkin | $91 | n/a | $57.50 | +8.3% | 139 bu |
| Yancey | $44.50 | n/a | $17.50 | +25.4% | n/a |
Corn trend: mixed: NASS publishes only an all-practice corn yield for the county, and the county also irrigates, so that yield is withheld rather than set beside dryland rent; ends: the county’s yield series stopped that year, too long ago to project; n/a: too few years of county yield on record.
North Carolina median county rent by year
Median of counties published each year (non-irrigated cropland). Years with no survey are left blank.
Questions
What is the average cash rent per acre in North Carolina for 2026?
The middle North Carolina county pays $81.25 per acre for non-irrigated cropland: half of the 86 counties with a published 2026 USDA NASS rate are above it and half below. NASS also puts out its own statewide average, a separate figure that is not shown here. Rents vary widely by county: highest Hyde ($182), Tyrrell ($181), Wilson ($154); lowest Polk ($33), Gaston ($35), Chatham ($41). The county mean is a survey reference point, not a rate card.
How much does pasture rent for per acre in North Carolina?
The median USDA NASS county cash rent for permanent pasture in North Carolina is $34.50 per acre across the 51 counties with a published 2026 pasture rate. Highest Wayne ($58.50), Yadkin ($57.50), Greene ($56.50); lowest Rockingham ($15), Swain ($15), Yancey ($17.50). Each county's pasture rate is in its own column in the county table below.
How much did North Carolina cash rent change from 2025 to 2026?
Comparing the same 82 counties published in both years, the median non-irrigated cropland rent moved +0.6% year over year.
Why is my North Carolina county not listed?
USDA NASS publishes a county rate only where enough Cash Rents Survey responses came back (and the county has at least 20,000 acres of cropland plus pasture). If your county is missing, NASS did not publish a rate for it.
When is county cash rent data released?
USDA NASS releases county cash rent estimates each August for the current crop year. This page rebuilds automatically when new data lands.
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Source: USDA NASS Quick Stats, Cash Rents Survey county estimates (released each August) and county yield estimates. Page rebuilt automatically from data refreshed 2026-10-06.