USDA's Top 10 Cash Rent States in 2026

LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service on Friday released data on farm cash rents in all 50 states for 2026, showing that California had the highest average per-acre values for the second consecutive year.

In 2025, California overtook Arizona as the highest average per-acre value. In 2026, however, the USDA data release contained no overall data for Arizona.

One note of interest: although California maintained the top spot on these cash rents, the state saw a $15 per-acre drop on overall cropland rents and a $13 per-acre drop on cash rents for irrigated cropland.

The average cash rent for cropland was $160 per acre nationally, which is $1 an acre lower than 2025. The average irrigated cropland cash rent came in at $244 an acre, which was unchanged from last year.

Here are the top 10 states by highest average overall cropland rents:

1. California, $331 an acre.

2. Hawaii, $280 an acre.

3. Iowa, $271 an acre.

4. Illinois, $261 an acre.

5. Washington, $234 an acre.

6. Indiana, $232 an acre.

7. Nebraska, $227 an acre.

8. Idaho, $212 an acre.

9. Minnesota, $206 an acre.

10. Ohio, $188 an acre.

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Here are the top 10 states by highest average cash rents for irrigated cropland:

1. California, $470 an acre.

2. Hawaii, $437 an acre.

3. Washington, $430 an acre.

4. Arizona, $328 an acre.

5. Massachusetts, $297 an acre.

6. Idaho, $287 an acre.

7. Iowa, $285 an acre.

8. Nebraska, $283 an acre.

9. Florida, $279 an acre.

10. Indiana, $277 an acre.

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The full list of average cash rents is available here: https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/…

USDA is scheduled to release county-level cash rent data at 2 p.m. CDT on Friday, Aug. 21.

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

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