The Illinois Trend: 2020–2025
Before drilling into individual counties, here's the statewide backdrop. USDA NASS tracks three farmland value measures for Illinois every year: cropland value per acre, all-farm real estate value per acre (a blend across all land types plus buildings), and pastureland value per acre. All three have climbed steadily since 2020.
| Year | Cropland | All-Farm Real Estate | Pastureland |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $7,300 | $6,700 | $2,800 |
| 2021 | $7,900 | $7,200 | $3,100 |
| 2022 | $8,800 | $7,980 | $3,500 |
| 2023 | $9,010 | $8,190 | $3,700 |
| 2024 | $9,550 | $8,700 | $3,970 |
| 2025 | $9,850 | $8,930 | $4,200 |
Cropland led the climb, up roughly 35% from 2020 to 2025. Pastureland grew from a smaller base but at a similar pace. None of this guarantees where values go from here — it's the historical record, not a forecast.
How to Read These Numbers
Every county section below combines three different kinds of data, and they answer different questions:
- USDA NASS Census of Agriculture (2022) — a county-wide average value per acre for all agricultural land, including any buildings on it, gathered every five years. It tells you where the county sits, not where your specific field sits.
- USDA NASS Cash Rent Survey — the going annual rent per acre for non-irrigated cropland, tracked yearly. This is a useful proxy for buyer demand and income potential, since rent trends usually move ahead of sale prices.
- Our own closed sales — actual MARIS MLS closing prices on actual acreage, sold by this team. These are not estimates; they're what real buyers actually paid for real Southern Illinois ground.
The USDA figure is a five-years-updated average across every acre in the county — pasture, timber, and prime black dirt all blended together, plus any buildings. Your farm is not the county average; it's a specific set of acres with its own soil types, drainage, tillable percentage, and location. That's exactly why the last section of this guide is about bridging from a county number to your number.
Fayette County
all agricultural land, including buildings
Cash rent trend (non-irrigated cropland, $/acre, USDA NASS):
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $138 | $140 | $140 | $172 | $190 | $190 | $181 |
Our real closed sales in Fayette County:
| Location | Acres | Price | $/Acre | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vandalia | 1,410 | $8,352,000 | $5,923 | Jan 2024 |
| Vandalia (US Hwy 40) | 126.71 | $1,515,428 | $11,960 | Sep 2025 |
| Vandalia | 115 | $1,380,000 | $12,000 | Jun 2024 |
| Brownstown | 118 | $1,180,000 | $10,000 | Apr 2023 |
| Vandalia | 68.6 | $1,107,500 | $16,144 | Jan 2026 |
| Farina | 76.54 | $825,746 | $10,788 | Jan 2025 |
Figures above are a county average and closed comps — not an appraisal of any specific parcel.
Fayette is our anchor county — 30 farms and $20.7 million closed since 2018. Note the spread: per-acre prices here range from just under $6,000 on the largest tract to over $16,000 on a smaller, more recent parcel. Tract size, soil quality, and timing all move the number more than the county average ever could. See the full Fayette County profile →.
Marion County
all agricultural land, including buildings
Cash rent trend (non-irrigated cropland, $/acre, USDA NASS):
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $132 | $135 | $135 | $165 | $180 | $156 | $166 |
Our real closed sales in Marion County:
| Location | Acres | Price | $/Acre | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Odin | 232.32 | $1,785,000 | $7,683 | Dec 2021 |
| Alma | 177.39 | $1,206,252 | $6,800 | Jul 2023 |
| Salem | 142.86 | $1,185,738 | $8,300 | Dec 2021 |
| Salem (England Rd) | 176 | $1,056,000 | $6,000 | Jun 2025 |
| Salem (Route 37) | 80 | $960,000 | $12,000 | Jan 2025 |
| Sandoval (Fairman Rd) — online auction | 76.08 | $806,448 | $10,599 | Apr 2026 |
Figures above are a county average and closed comps — not an appraisal of any specific parcel. The Sandoval sale is an online-auction result; auction list prices aren't set the way traditional list prices are, so it isn't a traditional-listing comparison.
Marion is home ground for this team — 21 farms and $11.6 million closed since 2018, plus our most recent live auction just outside Salem. It's also where our online-auction model has the deepest track record, including the 76-acre Sandoval tract above. See the full Marion County profile →.
Clinton County
all agricultural land, including buildings
Cash rent trend (non-irrigated cropland, $/acre, USDA NASS):
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $158 | $160 | $158 | $196 | $218 |
2024 and 2025 cash-rent figures not yet published for Clinton County at time of writing.
Our real closed sales in Clinton County:
| Location | Acres | Price | $/Acre | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlyle | 281.45 | $4,537,660 | $16,122 | Jan 2025 |
| Shattuc | 205.8 | $2,037,000 | $9,898 | Jul 2021 |
| Shattuc (Diamond Springs) | 120 | $1,350,000 | $11,250 | Sep 2021 |
| Patoka (Sharp Rd) | 120 | $870,000 | $7,250 | Sep 2021 |
| Boulder | — | $658,224 | n/a — acreage not on record | Nov 2025 |
Figures above are a county average and closed comps — not an appraisal of any specific parcel.
Clinton is big-tract country and it shows in the USDA figure — the highest 2022 county-level ag land value on this list. Eleven farms and $10.8 million closed here since 2018, including the $4.5 million Carlyle tract. See the full Clinton County profile →.
Bond County
all agricultural land, including buildings
Cash rent trend (non-irrigated cropland, $/acre, USDA NASS):
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $135 | $138 | $138 | $168 | $185 | $204 | $232 |
Our real closed sales in Bond County:
| Location | Acres | Price | $/Acre | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mulberry Grove | 118.75 | $926,250 | $7,800 | Nov 2018 |
| Greenville | 141 | $600,000 | $4,255 | Apr 2024 |
Figures above are a county average and closed comps — not an appraisal of any specific parcel.
Bond's cash rent has climbed the fastest of any county on this list — up 72% from 2019 to 2025 — even as its two closed sales here show real spread between row-crop and mixed-use ground. Three farms and $1.58 million closed since 2018. See the full Bond County profile →.
St. Clair County
all agricultural land, including buildings
Cash rent trend (non-irrigated cropland, $/acre, USDA NASS):
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $152 | $155 | $155 | $190 | $210 | $255 |
2024 cash-rent figure not yet published for St. Clair County at time of writing.
Our real closed sale in St. Clair County:
| Location | Acres | Price | $/Acre | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freeburg (Jefferson Rd) — online auction | 67.72 | $873,588 | $12,898 | Jun 2026 |
Figures above are a county average and closed comp — not an appraisal of any specific parcel. This is an online-auction result; auction list prices aren't set the way traditional list prices are, so it isn't a traditional-listing comparison.
St. Clair carries the highest USDA county figure on our list — this is the Metro East corridor, and it shows in both the census number and our own signature result: a 67.72-acre Freeburg tract that closed through online auction at $12,898 per acre, well above the county average. See the full St. Clair County profile →.
Madison County
all agricultural land, including buildings
Cash rent trend (non-irrigated cropland, $/acre, USDA NASS):
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $155 | $160 | $158 | $195 | $215 | $231 |
2024 cash-rent figure not yet published for Madison County at time of writing.
Our real closed sale in Madison County:
| Location | Acres | Price | $/Acre | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trenton | 38.64 | $435,000 | $11,258 | Sep 2020 |
Figures above are a county average and closed comp — not an appraisal of any specific parcel.
Madison blends farm and rural-home ground, with 11 total closings and $2.4 million in volume here since 2018. The Trenton sale's per-acre price, well above the county's blended USDA average, reflects a smaller, higher-demand parcel rather than a typical large tract. See the full Madison County profile →.
Montgomery County
all agricultural land, including buildings
Cash rent trend (non-irrigated cropland, $/acre, USDA NASS):
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $249 | $253 | $245 | $296 | $322 | $312 |
2022 cash-rent figure not yet published for Montgomery County at time of writing.
Our real closed sales in Montgomery County:
| Location | Acres | Price | $/Acre | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsboro | 160 | $1,260,000 | $7,875 | Dec 2021 |
| Fillmore | 103.77 | $1,074,019 | $10,350 | Mar 2023 |
Figures above are a county average and closed comps — not an appraisal of any specific parcel.
Montgomery carries the highest cash rent of any county on this list — north of $300 per acre in three of the last four reported years — pointing to strong tenant demand for the row-crop ground here. Two farms and $2.33 million closed since 2018. See the full Montgomery County profile →.
Jefferson County
all agricultural land, including buildings
Cash rent trend (non-irrigated cropland, $/acre, USDA NASS):
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $122 | $125 | $125 | $150 | $165 | $146 | $129 |
Our real closed sale in Jefferson County:
| Location | Acres | Price | $/Acre | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centralia (Carpenter) | 40 | $160,000 | $4,000 | Jun 2021 |
Figures above are a county average and closed comp — not an appraisal of any specific parcel.
Jefferson carries the lowest USDA county figure on this list, and it's also where we're actively expanding — the Mt. Vernon corridor is seeing growing buyer demand even as historical closings here remain limited. See the full Jefferson County profile →.
Your Farm vs. the Average
Every number in this guide is real, and every one of them is also, in its own way, incomplete. A USDA county average blends every acre — timber, pasture, prime black dirt, and everything in between — into one number, plus whatever buildings happen to sit on that land. Our closed sales are real transactions, but each one reflects a specific tract's soil, tillable percentage, drainage, access, and timing, not yours.
Your farm is not the county average — it's a specific set of acres with its own soil types, drainage, tillable percentage, and location.
The things that move a specific farm up or down from its county's benchmark: the mix of soil types and productivity index across the tract, how much of it is actually tillable versus timber or pasture, tile drainage (or the lack of it), road frontage and access, whether there's a tenant in place or the ground is vacant possession, any homesite or buildings, and mineral rights status. None of that shows up in a county average — all of it shows up in a real valuation.
That's the bridge from everything above to a real number: a free valuation that runs your specific ground through GAIA, our land intelligence engine, reviewed by a certified local appraiser — the same data-based value, typical market sale, and auction value framework behind every closing in this guide.