2026 Land Values: Eastern Missouri Ozarks
Franklin · Gasconade · Crawford · Phelps · Dent Counties, Missouri
What is bare ground actually trading for in the eastern Missouri Ozarks? This page tracks exactly that for 2026: every closed MLS sale of 30+ acres reporting zero bedrooms and bathrooms in our five-county footprint, pooled across the year and refreshed as each quarter closes. So far the 2026 median stands at $4,785 per acre across 60 qualifying sales and 4,369.0 acres.
Blended $/Acre by County: 2026
| County | Sales | Closed Volume | Acres | Blended $/Acre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin | 17 | $9,016,142 | 1,051.5 | $8,575 |
| Gasconade | 11 | $3,418,395 | 620.3 | $5,511 |
| Phelps | 12 | $3,060,122 | 764.3 | $4,004 |
| Crawford | 13 | $4,552,719 | 1,342.4 | $3,391 |
| Dent | 7 | $1,668,000 | 590.5 | $2,825 |
| Total | 60 | $21,715,378 | 4,369.0 | $4,970 |
County and quarterly figures are recomputed from the current row-level datasets behind the Bare Dirt Report series, which pick up closings reported to MARIS after each quarter's report was published; Q1 2026 has been restated under the standardized screen (Farm or Land & Lots, 30 acres or more, zero reported bedrooms and bathrooms). The quarterly posts remain as originally published. Samples are small; treat county figures as directional. Franklin carries the footprint's highest per-acre values on St. Louis-exurb influence, and the largest blocks (257 to 416 acres) close at the low end of the per-acre range, the size discount at work.
By Quarter
The year’s trend, quarter by quarter: each links to that edition’s full Ozarks Land Report.
| Quarter | Sales | Median $/Acre | Blended $/Acre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2026 | 18 | $5,562 | $6,670 |
| Q2 2026 | 22 | $4,742 | $4,537 |
| Q3 2026 | 20 | $4,487 | $4,181 |
Every Qualified Sale of 2026
Full transparency is how a report earns authority: every closing in the dataset, sorted small to large.
| City | County | Qtr | Acres | Sale Price | $/Acre |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bourbon | Crawford | Q1 | 30.00 | $100,850 | $3,362 |
| Edgar Springs | Phelps | Q3 | 30.00 | $154,000 | $5,133 |
| Rosebud | Gasconade | Q3 | 30.19 | $292,843 | $9,700 |
| Salem | Dent | Q2 | 31.20 | $150,000 | $4,808 |
| Cuba | Crawford | Q2 | 31.60 | $100,000 | $3,165 |
| Pacific | Franklin | Q2 | 31.63 | $300,000 | $9,485 |
| Union | Franklin | Q1 | 31.80 | $205,000 | $6,447 |
| Gerald | Franklin | Q3 | 32.00 | $270,000 | $8,438 |
| Unincorporated | Franklin | Q1 | 32.38 | $300,000 | $9,265 |
| Bland | Gasconade | Q2 | 32.75 | $172,000 | $5,252 |
| Newburg | Phelps | Q1 | 33.00 | $95,700 | $2,900 |
| Salem | Dent | Q3 | 33.62 | $215,000 | $6,395 |
| Steelville | Crawford | Q3 | 34.00 | $152,985 | $4,500 |
| Edgar Springs | Phelps | Q2 | 35.28 | $165,000 | $4,677 |
| Rosebud | Gasconade | Q1 | 36.00 | $195,000 | $5,417 |
| New Haven | Franklin | Q2 | 37.00 | $444,000 | $12,000 |
| Sullivan | Franklin | Q1 | 37.10 | $350,000 | $9,434 |
| Bland | Gasconade | Q1 | 37.26 | $190,000 | $5,099 |
| Gerald | Franklin | Q3 | 38.87 | $328,450 | $8,450 |
| Owensville | Gasconade | Q2 | 38.89 | $245,000 | $6,300 |
| Leasburg | Crawford | Q3 | 39.63 | $167,000 | $4,214 |
| Salem | Dent | Q2 | 40.00 | $120,000 | $3,000 |
| Bunker | Dent | Q2 | 40.40 | $75,000 | $1,856 |
| Leslie | Franklin | Q2 | 42.10 | $360,000 | $8,551 |
| Salem | Dent | Q3 | 49.00 | $208,000 | $4,245 |
| Steelville | Crawford | Q2 | 49.50 | $439,900 | $8,887 |
| Edgar Springs | Phelps | Q2 | 49.82 | $209,000 | $4,195 |
| Steelville | Crawford | Q1 | 51.09 | $237,900 | $4,656 |
| Newburg | Phelps | Q2 | 52.26 | $140,000 | $2,679 |
| Bland | Gasconade | Q3 | 52.57 | $296,915 | $5,648 |
| Robertsville | Franklin | Q1 | 56.00 | $360,000 | $6,429 |
| Berger | Franklin | Q1 | 57.40 | $628,530 | $10,950 |
| Unincorporated | Crawford | Q1 | 58.50 | $100,684 | $1,721 |
| Rolla | Phelps | Q3 | 59.54 | $265,000 | $4,451 |
| Bland | Gasconade | Q3 | 63.00 | $300,000 | $4,762 |
| Owensville | Gasconade | Q3 | 63.12 | $315,000 | $4,990 |
| Sullivan | Franklin | Q2 | 64.10 | $660,000 | $10,296 |
| St James | Phelps | Q2 | 69.63 | $275,000 | $3,949 |
| Cook Station | Crawford | Q3 | 70.00 | $180,000 | $2,571 |
| Rolla | Phelps | Q2 | 76.02 | $190,000 | $2,499 |
| Jadwin | Dent | Q3 | 76.30 | $250,000 | $3,277 |
| Cuba | Crawford | Q1 | 80.00 | $320,000 | $4,000 |
| Newburg | Phelps | Q1 | 80.00 | $330,000 | $4,125 |
| New Haven | Franklin | Q2 | 80.00 | $750,000 | $9,375 |
| Bland | Gasconade | Q2 | 80.00 | $440,000 | $5,500 |
| Villa Ridge | Franklin | Q1 | 83.60 | $1,221,000 | $14,605 |
| Bland | Gasconade | Q3 | 85.00 | $261,637 | $3,078 |
| Newburg | Phelps | Q3 | 86.15 | $300,000 | $3,482 |
| Grubville | Franklin | Q3 | 88.80 | $530,000 | $5,968 |
| St James | Phelps | Q2 | 90.62 | $480,000 | $5,297 |
| Sullivan | Franklin | Q1 | 91.11 | $520,000 | $5,707 |
| Owensville | Gasconade | Q1 | 101.50 | $710,000 | $6,995 |
| Edgar Springs | Phelps | Q3 | 102.00 | $456,422 | $4,475 |
| Steelville | Crawford | Q3 | 104.80 | $350,000 | $3,340 |
| St Clair | Franklin | Q2 | 117.60 | $502,000 | $4,269 |
| Bourbon | Crawford | Q1 | 120.00 | $497,000 | $4,142 |
| Beaufort | Franklin | Q1 | 130.00 | $1,287,162 | $9,901 |
| Steelville | Crawford | Q2 | 257.30 | $700,000 | $2,721 |
| Edgar Springs | Dent | Q2 | 320.00 | $650,000 | $2,031 |
| Bourbon | Crawford | Q3 | 416.00 | $1,206,400 | $2,900 |
Common Questions
What is raw land worth per acre in the eastern Missouri Ozarks?
Across 2026 year-to-date (through Q3), qualified closed sales traded at a median of $4,785 per acre (blended $4,970/acre). Individual tracts vary widely with access, water, timber, and location.
Why lead with the median instead of the average?
Outsized, development-influenced tracts pull the average upward and misrepresent what a recreational or grazing buyer actually pays. The median is the more honest figure.
Where does this data come from?
Regional MLS closed sales, filtered to bare ground: the methodology box above has the full rules. The quarter-by-quarter analysis lives in the quarterly Ozarks Land Report editions linked in the trend table above.