2025 County-Level Cash Rents Released

OMAHA (DTN) -- USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service on Friday released its annual county-level cash rent data for 2025.

The national survey includes data from about 250,000 farmers with $1,000 or more in agricultural sales, conducted from mid-February until June. This year, DTN looked at the Corn Belt states of Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, Michigan and Indiana.

With a total of 893 counties listed, including an entry for "other counties" in several states, below is the list of highest cash rent averages for Corn Belt states and counties for non-irrigated cropland.

You can find the raw data, which includes more detailed information for irrigated cropland and pasture, here: https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/….

2025 TOP 10 AVERAGE COUNTY CASH RENTS IN CORN BELT STATES

Illinois had the most counties in the Top 10 list of county cash rent averages of the Corn Belt states in 2025. Iowa made the listing in 2024 at No. 10, climbing higher this year with counties in eighth and ninth place. Indiana made an appearance on this listing this year with a county in sixth place.

Of the 853 counties listed in the survey, these are the most expensive counties in the Corn Belt for cash-rented, non-irrigated cropland in 2024.

1. Illinois, Sangamon County, $372 per acre.

Making its way to first place, Sangamon County in Illinois ranked second in the 2024 list of Top 10 county cash rents in the Corn Belt. This year, Sangamon is in first at $372, up $3 per acre from 2024.

2. Illinois, Macon County, $361 per acre.

Rising from third place in 2024, Macon County, Illinois, is in second place with its $361-per-acre cash rent average, up $9 from 2024.

3. Illinois, Logan County, $352 per acre.

Up $26 from its 2024 average cash rent per acre, Logan County, Illinois, has moved up five spots from its eighth-place listing in 2024, now sitting at $352 per acre.

4. Illinois, Moultrie County, $350 per acre.

Moultrie County, Illinois, didn't make the 2024 listing. However, at $350-per-acre cash rent average for 2025, the county is down in cash rent by $19.

5. Illinois, De Witt County, $330 per acre.

Falling in rank from 2024, De Witt County, Illinois, reached fifth place in 2025 with its $330-per-acre average, down $10 from 2024.

6. Indiana, Benton County, $327 per acre.

Benton County, Indiana, made the Top 10 listing in 2025 with its $327-per-acre average, jumping up $28 from its 2024 average of $299 per acre.

7. Iowa, Ida County, $322 per acre.

Up $2 from its 2024 cash rent average of $320, Ida County, Iowa, made its appearance this year in seventh place with its $322-per-acre average.

8. Iowa, Butler County, $322 per acre.

Butler County's average cash rent in 2024 was $308 per acre, but the county didn't make the Top 10 listing until 2025 with its $322-per-acre average, up $14.

9. Illinois, Kendall County, $321 per acre.

Placing ninth overall, Kendall County, Illinois, had an increase of $30 per acre with its $321 listing in 2025.

10. Illinois, Bureau County, $320 per acre.

Up $18 from its 2025 average cash rent price per acre, Bureau County, Illinois, ranked 10th on the listing.

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HIGHEST AVERAGE 2025 COUNTY CASH RENT BY STATE

Of the 893 counties listed in the survey, these counties had the highest cash rent in each Corn Belt state for non-irrigated cropland in 2025.

-- Illinois: Sangamon County averaged the highest cash rent per acre in the state at $372, up $3 from its 2024 average of $369 per acre. In 2024, Piatt County ranked the highest at $377 per acre, decreasing by $54 this year.

-- Indiana: Benton County increased its average cash rent per acre by $28 from its 2024 average of $299 per acre. Benton County again has the highest average cash rent in Indiana at $327 per acre.

-- Iowa: Ida County averaged $322 per acre cash rent in 2025, up $2 from 2024 and rising above Iowa's 2024 highest cash rent county, Sioux County, by $7. Sioux County decreased this year to $315 from its 2024 average of $323 per acre.

-- Kentucky: Union County averaged the highest cash rent per acre in the state at $271. In 2024, Union County lacked respondents, therefore the number was not disclosed. In 2023, however, Union County recorded an average cash rent of $255. During the last two years, cash rent has risen $26 per acre.

-- Michigan: Huron County averaged the highest cash rent in the state at $237 per acre, up $17 from its last known average in 2023 of $220. In 2024, Ionia County averaged the highest cash rent at $180 per acre, increasing by $16 this year at $196.

-- Minnesota: Martin County again has the highest average cash rent per acre in the state at $285, down $2 from 2024.

-- Missouri: Atchison County in Missouri averaged the highest cash rent per acre in the state at $270, $26 higher than 2024. In 2023, the cash rent average in this northwest Missouri county averaged $216, a total of $54 higher over the last two years.

-- Nebraska: Dakota County averaged the highest cash rent in Nebraska at $293 per acre, up $13 from 2024 at $280 per acre. In 2024, Dakota County's average was $6 per acre lower than the year before.

-- Ohio: Darke County, $287 per acre, was without a recorded number the year prior. The last recorded cash rent average for this west-central Ohio county was in 2021 at $217 per acre.

-- Wisconsin: Lafayette County has the highest cash rent per acre in the state at $260, down $1 from its 2024 value of $261 per acre.

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For more on state-level cash rents, see "USDA's Top 10 Cash Rent States in 2025" here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

Susan Payne can be reached at susan.payne@dtn.com

Follow her on social platform X @jpusan

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