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 with no improvements in our five-county footprint, pooled across the year and refreshed as each quarter closes. So far the 2026 median stands at $4,399 per acre across 26 qualifying sales and 1,842.7 acres.
Blended $/Acre by County — 2026
| County | Sales | Closed Volume | Acres | Blended $/Acre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin | 3 | $1,881,000 | 158.1 | $11,899 |
| Gasconade | 5 | $1,757,000 | 290.4 | $6,050 |
| Phelps | 9 | $2,723,278 | 671.4 | $4,056 |
| Crawford | 5 | $1,036,434 | 291.2 | $3,559 |
| Dent | 4 | $995,000 | 431.6 | $2,305 |
| Total | 26 | $8,392,712 | 1,842.7 | $4,555 |
Small-sample counties deserve care: Franklin's figure is pulled up by a single St. Louis-exurb tract (Villa Ridge, $14,605/acre, Q1), and Dent's is pulled down by one 320-acre block near Edgar Springs ($2,031/acre, Q2) - the size discount at work. Read thin-sample county figures as directional, not as county-wide levels.
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 | 11 | $4,142 | $5,416 |
| Q2 2026 | 15 | $4,677 | $3,853 |
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 |
| Salem | Dent | Q2 | 31.20 | $150,000 | $4,808 |
| Cuba | Crawford | Q2 | 31.60 | $100,000 | $3,165 |
| Pacific | 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 |
| Rolla | Phelps | Q2 | 34.61 | $350,000 | $10,113 |
| Edgar Springs | Phelps | Q2 | 35.28 | $165,000 | $4,677 |
| Bland | Gasconade | Q1 | 37.26 | $190,000 | $5,099 |
| Owensville | Gasconade | Q2 | 38.89 | $245,000 | $6,300 |
| 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 |
| Steelville | Crawford | Q1 | 51.09 | $237,900 | $4,656 |
| Newburg | Phelps | Q2 | 52.26 | $140,000 | $2,679 |
| Viburnum | Crawford | Q1 | 58.50 | $100,684 | $1,721 |
| St. James | Phelps | Q2 | 69.63 | $275,000 | $3,949 |
| Rolla | Phelps | Q2 | 76.02 | $190,000 | $2,499 |
| Newburg | Phelps | Q1 | 80.00 | $330,000 | $4,125 |
| Bland | Gasconade | Q2 | 80.00 | $440,000 | $5,500 |
| Villa Ridge | Franklin | Q1 | 83.60 | $1,221,000 | $14,605 |
| St. James | Phelps | Q2 | 90.62 | $480,000 | $5,297 |
| Owensville | Gasconade | Q1 | 101.50 | $710,000 | $6,995 |
| Bourbon | Crawford | Q1 | 120.00 | $497,000 | $4,142 |
| Edgar Springs | Phelps | Q1 | 200.00 | $697,578 | $3,488 |
| Edgar Springs | Dent | Q2 | 320.00 | $650,000 | $2,031 |
Common Questions
What is raw land worth per acre in the eastern Missouri Ozarks?
Across 2026 year-to-date (through Q2), qualified closed sales traded at a median of $4,399 per acre (blended $4,555/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.