Home | Texas Land Trends

Working Land Loss

Texas lost nearly 3.7M acres of working lands between 1997 and 2022, with a significant loss of over 1.8M acres in the last 5-year period.
Population Growth

From 1997 to 2022, the Texas population increased by 55% from 19M to 30M residents, or over 1,100 new people per day.
Land Fragmentation

Average ownership size declined from 581 acres in 1997 to 509 acres in 2017, but increased to 541 acres in 2022.

Explore Land Trends Data

View and compare 25-year trends in land use, market value and other metrics in private lands across Texas.

A Changing Texas

Texas working lands are undergoing a fundamental change, one that has implications for rural economies, national and food security, and conservation of water and other natural resources. Native landscapes are increasingly threatened by suburbanization, rural development and land fragmentation driven by rapid population growth.

Texas Land Facts

From 1997 to 2022

Texas population increased 55%

Average appraised market value increased 505%

Small farms increased by 31% as mid-sized farms decreased by 27%

Working land loss over last 5 years contributes 51% of total loss over last 25 years

What does this mean?

Population

The state’s increasing population, particularly within or surrounding urban centers, continues to have a significant influence on the continued increase of land values, change in ownership sizes, and loss of working lands.

Land Value

Like more traditional home real estate values, rural land values vary by location, land use, property size, and other characteristics. Changes in land value are closely tied to distance from major metropolitan growth areas. Statewide, the average appraised market value rose 55% since 2017, from $1,951/acre to $3,021/acre, and 505% from $499/acre in 1997.

Farming and Ranching Operations

As urban centers grow in population, the demand for surrounding rural land increases, raising land market values, and subsequently increasing landowners’ incentive to subdivide or sell their working lands for suburban/urban use. This concept continues to play out in both small (<100 acres) and mid-sized (100-2,000 acres) ownerships near major urban centers and transportation corridors. Over the last 5 years, the total number of operations decreased by over 17K in conjunction with a decrease of over 1.5M acres of operations.

Land Use

The shift in ownership size or loss of larger ownerships through fragmentation may have potential implications for profitability and continued stability of working lands. In the last 25 years, Texas lost nearly 3.7M acres of designated working lands, converted to non-agricultural uses. Over 1.8M acres were lost from 2017 to 2022.

Resources

Status Update and Trends of Texas Working Lands 2025 report

This report is published every five years, following the availability of the USDA NASS Census of Agriculture data, and serves to describe the status and recent changes in topics such as land use, ownership size and property values of private working lands of Texas.

Conservation Easements in Texas

This special series report describes the state’s current participation and growing need for land conservation easements. In this report, we assess the value of all conservation easement acres in Texas within three broad categories of ecosystem services to describe the significant impact these lands have on the state's economy.

Trends in Land Ownership Along Texas Borderlands

This report describes changes in population density and the resulting land ownership patterns and land use changes over time within the Texas Borderland counties. This assessment also identifies regions where rapid changes have occurred and where similar changes can be expected in the future.

Status Update and Trends of Texas Working Lands 2019 report

This report is published every five years, following the availability of the USDA NASS Census of Agriculture data. It describes the status and recent changes in topics such as land use, ownership size, and property values of private working lands in Texas.

Texas landowner changes and trends

This special series report describes the state’s growing population and changing rural landowners, highlighting landowner factors such as age, land residency, and land-use preferences.

Status Update and Trends of Texas Working Lands 2014 report

This report is published every five years, following the availability of the USDA NASS Census of Agriculture data, and serves to describe the status and recent changes in topics such as land use, ownership size and property values of private working lands of Texas.

Land Trends Data Explorer User Guide

This guide serves as an introductory tutorial to the web-based data explorer of the Texas Land Trends site

Texas Land Trends Update Presentation

View a PDF of the Texas Land Trends presentation.