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USDA NASS · 2026 county estimates

Kentucky cash rent, county by county

What tenants paid per acre across 98 Kentucky counties. For non-irrigated cropland, it runs from $17 in Whitley County to $259 in Union County, with a county median of $124.50.

State avg · Non-irrigated cropland
$169/acre
2026 · +$3 (+1.8%) vs 2025
State avg · Irrigated cropland
$217/acre
2026 · +$8 (+3.8%) vs 2025
State avg · Pasture
$39.50/acre
2026 · +$4.50 (+12.9%) vs 2025

Highest non-irrigated cropland rent

  1. 1Union County$259
  2. 2Henderson County$236
  3. 3Logan County$232
  4. 4Webster County$229
  5. 5Simpson County$217

Lowest non-irrigated cropland rent

  1. 1Whitley County$17
  2. 2Estill County$22
  3. 3Morgan County$25
  4. 4Jackson County$26.50
  5. 5Laurel County$32.50

Biggest increases, 2025→2026

  1. 1Jackson County+32.5% (+$6.50)
  2. 2Magoffin County+16.7% (+$5)
  3. 3Rockcastle County+16.1% (+$10)
  4. 4Bullitt County+13.7% (+$10)
  5. 5Montgomery County+13.2% (+$7)

Biggest drops, 2025→2026

  1. 1Estill County−29.0% (−$9)
  2. 2Bracken County−22.8% (−$21)
  3. 3Adair County−16.8% (−$26)
  4. 4Washington County−15.2% (−$11)
  5. 5Lincoln County−13.4% (−$15)
All 98 counties

Kentucky cash rent table, 2026

$ per acre · tap a column to sort · — = not published

Adair CountyCentral$129—$41−16.8%
Allen CountyCentral$129—$55.50−12.8%
Anderson CountyBluegrass$73—$31+1.4%
Ballard CountyPurchase$161——+0.6%
Barren CountyCentral$150—$59.50—
Bath CountyBluegrass————
Boone CountyNorthern$45—$32—
Bourbon CountyBluegrass$105—$54+1.9%
Boyle CountyBluegrass——$44—
Bracken CountyNorthern$71—$19−22.8%
Breckinridge CountyCentral$127—$36−3.8%
Bullitt CountyCentral$83—$29.50+13.7%
Butler CountyCentral$144—$20—
Caldwell CountyMidwestern$170—$420%
Calloway CountyPurchase$161—$52−7.5%
Campbell CountyNorthern$45——−10.0%
Carlisle CountyPurchase$180——+5.9%
Carroll CountyNorthern$80——−11.1%
Carter CountyEastern Or Mountain——$24.50—
Casey CountyCentral$111—$32.50+0.9%
Christian CountyMidwestern$200$219$51−0.5%
Clark CountyBluegrass$93—$54+2.8%
Clay CountyEastern Or Mountain————
Clinton CountyCentral$85——−7.6%
Crittenden CountyMidwestern$168—$33−5.6%
Cumberland CountyCentral$80—$340%
Daviess CountyMidwestern$207—$33.50−4.6%
Edmonson CountyCentral$118—$43.50−4.1%
Estill CountyEastern Or Mountain$22—$21−29.0%
Fayette CountyBluegrass$80—$39.50−4.8%
Fleming CountyBluegrass$132—$33+6.5%
Franklin CountyBluegrass$70——+6.1%
Fulton CountyPurchase$191——+1.6%
Garrard CountyBluegrass$60.50—$38−7.6%
Grant CountyNorthern$75.50—$26.50—
Graves CountyPurchase$170——+4.3%
Grayson CountyCentral$110—$41+1.9%
Green CountyCentral$142—$38−6.6%
Greenup CountyEastern Or Mountain$42.50—$20—
Hancock CountyMidwestern$160—$32.50—
Hardin CountyCentral$142—$52−10.1%
Harrison CountyBluegrass$101—$29+1.0%
Hart CountyCentral$148—$52.50−6.3%
Henderson CountyMidwestern$236——+0.9%
Henry CountyNorthern$95—$33.50+9.2%
Hickman CountyPurchase$180——−4.3%
Hopkins CountyMidwestern$160———
Jackson CountyEastern Or Mountain$26.50—$14+32.5%
Jefferson CountyCentral————
Jessamine CountyBluegrass$60——−10.4%
Kenton CountyNorthern$46—$22—
Larue CountyCentral$181—$45−10.0%
Laurel CountyEastern Or Mountain$32.50—$28.50−8.5%
Lawrence CountyEastern Or Mountain————
Lewis CountyEastern Or Mountain——$39—
Lincoln CountyBluegrass$97—$38.50−13.4%
Livingston CountyPurchase$168—$45.50—
Logan CountyMidwestern$232—$55−7.6%
Lyon CountyPurchase————
Madison CountyBluegrass$40—$28−4.8%
Magoffin CountyEastern Or Mountain$35——+16.7%
Marion CountyCentral$173—$46−0.6%
Marshall CountyPurchase$131———
Mason CountyBluegrass$90—$39−10.0%
McCracken CountyPurchase$140——−6.0%
McLean CountyMidwestern$191——+0.5%
Meade CountyCentral$174—$49.50+2.4%
Mercer CountyBluegrass$79———
Metcalfe CountyCentral$180—$35−6.2%
Monroe CountyCentral$150—$51.50—
Montgomery CountyBluegrass$60—$43.50+13.2%
Morgan CountyEastern Or Mountain$25—$16.50−12.3%
Muhlenberg CountyMidwestern$148——+2.1%
Nelson CountyCentral$180—$42.50−5.3%
Nicholas CountyBluegrass——$35—
Ohio CountyMidwestern——$38—
Oldham CountyNorthern$95.50——+1.6%
Owen CountyNorthern————
Pendleton CountyNorthern$50—$13.50—
Pulaski CountyEastern Or Mountain$105—$41−7.1%
Robertson CountyBluegrass————
Rockcastle CountyEastern Or Mountain$72—$30+16.1%
Russell CountyCentral$92—$48.50+4.0%
Scott CountyBluegrass$110—$43+10.0%
Shelby CountyBluegrass$166——+0.6%
Simpson CountyMidwestern$217——+0.5%
Spencer CountyBluegrass$122——+0.8%
Taylor CountyCentral$162—$45−3.6%
Todd CountyMidwestern$200—$55.50−4.8%
Trigg CountyPurchase$175—$52−5.4%
Union CountyMidwestern$259—$46.50−4.4%
Warren CountyCentral$200—$54.50+1.0%
Washington CountyBluegrass$61.50—$35.50−15.2%
Wayne CountyEastern Or Mountain$130—$35.50+4.0%
Webster CountyMidwestern$229—$46.50+0.9%
Whitley CountyEastern Or Mountain$17—$15.50−5.6%
Wolfe CountyEastern Or Mountain$54.50———
Woodford CountyBluegrass$113—$29−11.7%

Counties NASS published only in 2025 show a dash for 2026; their pages carry the 2025 figure.

Price the dirt last

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Run your own yield, price and costs to see the most rent a crop budget can carry before land pushes the farm under its target return.

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Sources & method

Where these numbers come from

  • Every rent on these pages is a published estimate from the USDA NASS Cash Rents Survey: the average cash rent paid per acre for non-irrigated cropland, irrigated cropland and pasture. We pull the 2024–2026 county and state series straight from Quick Stats.
  • NASS skips counties with too few survey reports, or withholds them to protect respondents, and lumps them into an "other counties" total. Those counties get no page here, and missing years show as a dash. We do not estimate, average or interpolate around the gaps.
  • The coefficient of variation (CV) is NASS's measure of sampling precision. Lower is tighter; the higher the CV, the wider the real range around the county figure.
  • "Bordering counties" are the ones that share a boundary under the Census Bureau county adjacency file, including across state lines.
  • An average rent is a benchmark, not a fair price for a specific field. Soil, drainage, fertility, improvements and lease terms all move the number.

Data last refreshed October 8, 2026.