40 Acres And A Mule - Free Land Still Available In The United States

Posted on October 10, 2007

Ever dreamed of packing up and moving away from your hectic stressful life for the peaceful, rural, prairie beauty of the Midwest? Here is a great oppurtunity for you: some places in the US will actually give you free land, if you move to their town. That’s right, free.

This dated article from CNN Money chronicles one family’s move from Las Vegas to Kansas, where they were given free land to build a house. Some places will even provide monetary credits for each member of your family.

Here is a little flavor of how it works in Ellsworth, Kansas :

In Ellsworth County, for example, there are 23 lots available for free to individuals, assuming they’re pre-qualified to build a house that is at least 1,000 square feet and agree to build a house on the land within two years time.

In addition to the land, families with children stand to receive $1,500 to $3,000 toward a down payment when they buy in the area. “Each new child is worth an additional $6,000 to our school district from the state,” said Anita Hoffhines, executive director of Ellsworth County Economic Development.

Here are some free land opportunities in Kansas. There are similar incentives in North Dakota, although as the site says that the “odds are, you are not a candidate for NW North Dakota.”. You need a portable job, financial security, and a solid moral fiber to qualify. The North Dakota site was written by some good marketers, because just reading through it gets my mind thinking through the possibilities. The article also shares that towns are willing to work deals with new business owners that plan to bring economic value to the area.

Living on the east coast, I would have never thought that the Midwest was so desperate for new residents. I have been to and through most of the northern US states and they are astonishingly beautiful, although if you are used to suburban/city living there isn’t much of anything there. In Wyoming it could be 200 miles between gas stations! It is still quite fun to dream!

» Filed Under Money Savers, Real Estate

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Comments

19 Responses to “40 Acres And A Mule - Free Land Still Available In The United States”

plonkee (4 comments.) on October 11th, 2007 8:03 am

It makes me think that they must be desparate to give away land for free. I know the idea isn’t for me (no desire to live in the sticks, and no visa either for that matter).
FinanceAndFat (1 comments.) on October 11th, 2007 3:04 pm

I’d be a bit concerned about the type of neighbors I might have in the free land neighborhood.

Very interesting to hear that these opportunities exist though.
The Happy Rock (163 comments.) on October 11th, 2007 3:25 pm

@plonkee - It must be that bad, or they are just being proactive. I would think lack of decent jobs in very rural settings would be a huge problem. As would a Visa.

@FinanceAndFat - With a free land program, I wouldn’t worry too much. A town doesn’t want to bring in the type of people that would damage their town, so they just wouldn’t get free land(I hope).
Brip Blap (1 comments.) on October 11th, 2007 9:00 pm

I’m with Plonkee - it’s not for me, but it is amazing that these states are so desperate to attract taxpayers.
Jon (1 comments.) on October 12th, 2007 9:14 am

The thing is, land is already really cheap in those areas, so how much value are you really getting? If they offered a free house on that free land, I bet you’d have some takers. Oh, and install infrastructure for high speed internet. I think I’d move there!
The Happy Rock (163 comments.) on October 12th, 2007 9:27 am

@BripBlap - You got it right, they want taxpayers.

@Jon - From what I could tell the high speed internet was available, at least in NW North Dakota. As for your comment about the house vs. the land, you make a good point, though I don’t have a clear picture of what lots are worth in rural towns.
poetloverrebelspy (3 comments.) on October 16th, 2007 1:27 pm

The NY Times published an article about this last year which painted a fairly realistic picture of the pros and cons for new settlers to North Dakota.
The Happy Rock (163 comments.) on October 17th, 2007 3:51 pm

poetloverrebelspy - Thanks for the great article link. I gave it a mention on today’s post.
Just some guy from North Dakota on November 13th, 2007 11:26 pm

I live in North Dakokta and was just looking around to see how much land costs. The cheapest land near me is $550 an acre, so it’s not like they’re giving away anything too valuable. I think there’s only about 600,000 people in the state, so we could definately use some more people. The emptiness is awesome. I can drive a couple miles out of town and there’s nothing around me, just the flat plains and the huge open sky, it’s beautiful. It’s great because I can smoke weed out in the open on a beautiful day without worrying about getting caught, ’cause if anyone’s coming I can literally see them from a mile away. By the way, we’ve had broadband here for years.
Melody on April 7th, 2008 6:03 am

I see that he titled this post “40 acres and a mule” but from what I’ve heard, rural North Dakota is not for Black people. It would be dangerous for them, I’m told. Is this true?
The Happy Rock (163 comments.) on April 7th, 2008 11:58 pm

@Melody - I am sure there is racism in North Dakota, but I really wouldn’t know if it is any worse than anywhere else. The optimist in my would like to think that it wouldn’t be dangerous or seriously harmful.
John on April 8th, 2008 1:50 am

I live in rural North Dakota and it is definitely safe for black people here. A couple of my friends throughout high school were black and they rarely encountered racism, and never violence. The black people who go to the rural North Dakota college that I attend have not experienced any violence. Pretty much the only violent crime in the state is stupid drunk people getting in bar fights and domestic violence. I’ve never heard of any hate crimes, and throughout the whole state there’s probably less than 5 murders a year. Last year I think there was 5 murders, 3 in Minot and I think a couple got killed in some small town down south, and that’s the most in a year that I can ever remember. Now that I think about it, there was a murder in East Housing(East of Dunseith) where a woman was murdered in her house by a couple of teenage girls, but I can’t remember if that was late last year or early this year.
The Happy Rock (163 comments.) on April 8th, 2008 7:45 am

@John - Thanks for the first hand information. North Dakota sounds pretty ‘normal’ for a rural area, and pretty pleasant.