Highest non-irrigated cropland rent
- 1Cascade County$45.50
- 2Pondera County$44
- 3Flathead County$42.50
- 4Lake County$42.50
- 5Sheridan County$42.50
Lowest non-irrigated cropland rent
- 1Beaverhead County$18.50
- 2Stillwater County$20
- 3Wheatland County$21.50
- 4Sanders County$21.50
- 5Carter County$21.50
Biggest increases, 2025→2026
- 1Lake County+37.1% (+$11.50)
- 2Wheatland County+22.9% (+$4)
- 3Phillips County+22.0% (+$5.50)
- 4Richland County+15.8% (+$4.50)
- 5Golden Valley County+14.0% (+$3.50)
Biggest drops, 2025→2026
- 1Musselshell County−14.8% (−$4)
- 2Rosebud County−13.8% (−$4)
- 3Jefferson County−13.5% (−$3.50)
- 4Valley County−11.5% (−$3.50)
- 5Toole County−10.3% (−$3.50)
All 52 counties
Montana cash rent table, 2026
$ per acre · tap a column to sort · — = not published
| Beaverhead County | Southwest | $18.50 | $121 | — | — |
| Big Horn County | South Central | $27.50 | $102 | $6.90 | −6.8% |
| Blaine County | North Central | $29 | — | $9.60 | +3.6% |
| Broadwater County | Central | — | $215 | $13.50 | — |
| Carbon County | South Central | $32.50 | $116 | $10 | +10.2% |
| Carter County | Southeast | $21.50 | — | $10.50 | −2.3% |
| Cascade County | Central | $45.50 | $99.50 | $14 | +2.2% |
| Chouteau County | North Central | $36.50 | — | $10.50 | 0% |
| Custer County | Southeast | — | $103 | $5.90 | — |
| Daniels County | Northeast | $33 | — | $10.50 | +3.1% |
| Dawson County | Northeast | $35.50 | — | $8.30 | +7.6% |
| Fallon County | Southeast | $26.50 | — | $11.50 | +1.9% |
| Fergus County | Central | $34.50 | — | $11 | +11.3% |
| Flathead County | Northwest | $42.50 | $71 | $16 | −5.6% |
| Gallatin County | Southwest | $39 | $173 | $14.50 | +2.6% |
| Garfield County | Northeast | $29 | — | $7.40 | +11.5% |
| Glacier County | North Central | $29 | $73.50 | $8 | 0% |
| Golden Valley County | Central | $28.50 | — | $12.50 | +14.0% |
| Hill County | North Central | $30.50 | — | $10.50 | −1.6% |
| Jefferson County | Southwest | $22.50 | $97.50 | $8 | −13.5% |
| Judith Basin County | Central | $34 | — | $14.50 | +1.5% |
| Lake County | Northwest | $42.50 | $92.50 | $22 | +37.1% |
| Lewis and Clark County | Central | — | $86 | — | — |
| Liberty County | North Central | $29.50 | $60 | — | +1.7% |
| Madison County | Southwest | — | $127 | $11 | — |
| McCone County | Northeast | $27 | — | — | −8.5% |
| Meagher County | Central | — | — | $8.50 | — |
| Missoula County | Northwest | — | — | $8.70 | — |
| Musselshell County | Central | $23 | — | $5.60 | −14.8% |
| Park County | South Central | $32.50 | $91.50 | $12 | −8.5% |
| Petroleum County | Central | — | — | $13.50 | — |
| Phillips County | North Central | $30.50 | $66 | $10 | +22.0% |
| Pondera County | North Central | $44 | $86 | $16.50 | +6.0% |
| Powder River County | Southeast | — | — | $7.30 | — |
| Powell County | Northwest | — | $80 | $8.70 | — |
| Prairie County | Southeast | $38.50 | $153 | $6 | +5.5% |
| Ravalli County | Northwest | $35.50 | $87 | $29 | — |
| Richland County | Northeast | $33 | $143 | $8.60 | +15.8% |
| Roosevelt County | Northeast | $30 | — | $9.30 | −7.7% |
| Rosebud County | Southeast | $25 | — | $6.70 | −13.8% |
| Sanders County | Northwest | $21.50 | $62 | $4.70 | 0% |
| Sheridan County | Northeast | $42.50 | — | $8 | +6.3% |
| Silver Bow County | Southwest | — | $58.50 | $8.60 | — |
| Stillwater County | South Central | $20 | $103 | $9.50 | −2.4% |
| Sweet Grass County | South Central | — | $69.50 | $8.10 | — |
| Teton County | North Central | $42 | $108 | $11.50 | +9.1% |
| Toole County | North Central | $30.50 | — | $12 | −10.3% |
| Treasure County | South Central | — | $131 | $4.40 | — |
| Valley County | Northeast | $27 | $62.50 | $11 | −11.5% |
| Wheatland County | Central | $21.50 | — | $7.10 | +22.9% |
| Wibaux County | Southeast | $32.50 | — | $13.50 | +8.3% |
| Yellowstone County | South Central | $27.50 | $132 | $6.50 | +3.8% |
Counties NASS published only in 2025 show a dash for 2026; their pages carry the 2025 figure.
Price the dirt last
The average isn't your ceiling
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.