Montana Land Watch (2025)

FAQs

How much is 1 acre worth in Montana? ›

Average and median per acre prices (for unimproved land) have remained fairly constant from 2020 – 2022 with an average per acre price of $4,000+ and a median per acre price of approximately $2,000, both values notably higher from the two previous years (2018-2019).

The Homestead Act of 1862 is no longer in effect, but free land is still available out there in the great wide open (often literally in the great wide open).

The Moment You Buy It, It Doesn't Depreciate In Value – Unlike buying a new car and driving it off the lot, land in Montana doesn't depreciate like that… and it been increasing in value. It's an investment you can watch grow while having something to show for it. It's rare to find an investment that does this for you.

Dan Wilks and his brother Farris are the largest landowners in Montana, and Idaho. According to The Land Report, “The pair, who made a fortune selling an oil fracking business, recently denied reports that their land purchases were for oil and gas exploration, saying instead they were for ranching.”

The ten states with the cheapest land are Arizona, New Mexico, Mississippi, Colorado, Arkansas, New York, Missouri, Oregon, Alabama, and Michigan. Arizona is the cheapest state to buy land with a median price of $4,164 per acre.

This new act doubled the amount of land available for claim to 320 acres and later shortened the "prove up" time to three years. Railroads launched massive advertising campaigns to bring homesteaders to Montana. More than 80,000 homesteaders arrived between 1909 and the early 1920s.

Bozeman, Montana, a small city of about 56,000 people, has seen home prices soar on the back of increased migration to the area, catapulting demand for properties. A single-family home in the area rose by nearly 40 percent to more than $1.16 million as of February, according to the Bozeman Real Estate Group.

Agricultural Land Use

There were 27,048 farms with a mean farm size of 2,758 acres in 2017. Average farm size varied from less than 200 acres in Flathead, Mineral, and Ravalli and over 8,000 acres in Big Horn and Garfield counties. These farms had 48,161 agricultural producers (owners and managers) working on them.

You can print a claim form if you find property that you want to claim. Email us at Unclaimed Property@mt.gov to ask us to do a search for you. Call us toll free at (866) 859-2254 (in Helena, 444-6900) and our call center staff will search for you.

Is there still free land to homestead in the United States? ›

Unclaimed land — land to which no one has claimed ownership rights — and free-and-clear land doesn't exist in the United States. However, if you're willing to build a home or start a business, towns and cities in a handful of states will give you a free lot to build on.

Property taxes are levied on land, buildings, and certain business property. Residential property is valued in odd-numbered years. Taxes are billed annually and due in two payments on November 30 and May 31. Homeowners with a mortgage often pay property taxes with their mortgage payments.

With a median home sale price of $325,000, Laurel comes in at number one on our list of most affordable places to live in Montana. There are about 7,800 residents living in this small city.

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Montana is known for its agricultural production, but over the past 15 years, the state's farmland has been shrinking. As the state's farmland declines, the property is becoming increasingly appealing to investors.

Hunters must obtain landowner permission to hunt on all private land, which often can be obtained through simple courtesy and communication between the hunter and the landowner.

The United States farm real estate value, a measurement of the value of all land and buildings on farms, averaged $3,800 per acre for 2022, up $420 per acre (12.4 percent) from 2021. The United States cropland value averaged $5,050 per acre, an increase of $630 per acre (14.3 percent) from the previous year.

$470,084. The average Montana home value is $470,084, up 3.2% over the past year and goes to pending in around 20 days.