2022 Land Report: Who owns the most land in the United States? (2024)

FAQs

Who owns the most land in USA 2022? ›

The 2022 Land Report 100, compiled each year by The Land Report magazine, released its annual list of landowners who own the most acres in the United States. The nation's largest private landowners are the Emmerson family in California who own over 2.4 million acres.

1. EMMERSON FAMILY. The nation's largest private landowners, California's Emmerson family, are a prime example of this trend. Through their Sierra Pacific Industries, the Emmersons increased their landholdings by more than 100 square miles to over 2.4 million acres.

The largest landowners in the United States are the Emmerson family, with 2,330,000 acres of land.

Amazon founder and chairman Jeff Bezos has amassed 420,000 acres in recent years. Other noteworthy farmland investors include Ted Turner and Thomas Peterffy. According to data published by the U.S. Agriculture Department, about 80% of rented farmland is owned by investors who do not farm themselves.

After gaining permission from the Vatican, Burhans underwent a comprehensive of bringing the Church into the 21st century. A live database provides a visual of all its land holdings. Conclusion: The Catholic Church owns the most land, far more than McDonald's and billionaire Bill Gates.

Land that is not owned by the federal government may be owned by state or local governments, but much of the remaining land is privately-owned land. Privately-owned land is defined as land owned by an individual or group that is kept for their exclusive use. Privately-owned land is where many Americans live.

Private individuals and corporations own about 60 percent of U.S. land while Federal, State, and local governments own the rest.

Billionaire John Malone has the title of the largest private land owner in the United States. His fortune was made in the media space, where he still today owns many media assets we all consume today.

Why does the US government own so much land? ›

Policymakers were afraid of running out of forest land, so they decided to hold on the land they had. They figured the government could manage the land better than private interests.

When Nevada became a state in 1864, its constitution explicitly said that the state wouldn't claim any public land that wasn't spoken for. This left the vast majority of Nevada's land in the public estate, managed by the federal government.

King Ranch, largest ranch in the United States, composed of a group of four tracts of land in southeastern Texas, totaling approximately 825,000 acres (333,800 hectares). The King Ranch was established by Richard King, a steamboat captain born in 1825 in Orange county, New York.

Who is the richest man in the world? As of June 1, 2023, the richest man in the world is Bernard Arnault, the CEO and chairman of LVMH of France; he's worth $215 billion. He moved into the number one spot after Elon Musk's fortune fell in late 2022 as shares of electric carmaker Tesla fell.

A new database shows the LDS church is the nation's fifth largest private landowner.

Popes usually get paid hendsomely, the current wage he gets is $32,000 on a monthly basis but he refused to get any of that money. Instead, Pope Francis decided to either donate this money to the church, use it to endow a foundation, placed in trust or pass it on to a family member.

For Latter-day Saints, who have 16.3 million members, our church's wealth translates to about $6,130 per member, or 161 times the Catholics' money-to-member ratio.

There is plenty of publically-held land owned by the federal government or states. However, there is no land in the US that does not have a designated owner.

The BLM holds the coal mineral estate to more than 570 million acres (2,300,000 km²) where the owner of the surface is the federal government, a state or local government, or a private entity.

How much money is all the land in the US worth? ›

New Estimates of Value of Land of the United States (PDF)

Estimates suggest that this 1.89 billion acres of land are collectively worth approximately $23 trillion in 2009 (current prices), with 24% of the land area and $1.8 trillion of the value held by the federal government.

The wealthiest farmer in the United States lives and farms in California.

In 2018, the number of foreign-owned acres crested 30 million and in 2021 foreign entities owned just over 40 million acres of U.S. agricultural land. On the other hand, in 2011, 1.26 billion acres of agricultural land was domestically owned, and in 2021, that number was 1.25 billion acres.

That's just short of 44% of the total number of blocks. Those empty blocks add up to 4.61 million square km (1.78 million sq. mi), which corresponds to just under 47% of the total area of the United States.

The state with the highest percentage of federal land is Nevada, of which 80.1%, or 56,262,610 acres of its total landmass is federally managed.

The richest person ever is thought to have been an emperor with an accumulation of wealth often described as “unimaginable” or “incalculable.” The title goes to 14th-century African emperor Mansa Musa, and his wealth has been estimated to be the modern day equivalent of $400 billion.

Corn Ranch, or Launch Site One, is a spaceport in the West Texas town of Van Horn, Texas. The 670-square-kilometer (165,000-acre) land parcel was purchased by Internet billionaire Jeff Bezos.

Who owns the biggest farm in America? ›

The Microsoft co-founder is considered the largest private owner of farmland in the country with some 269,000 acres across dozens of states, according to last year's edition of the Land Report 100, an annual survey of the nation's largest landowners.

People own most farmland. Some 2.6 million owners are individuals or families, and they own more than two thirds of all farm acreage. Fewer than 32,500 non family held corpor ations own farmland, and they own less than 5 percent of all U.S. farmland.

John Wayne's iconic 2,000 acre ranch is on the market for $12 million.

Home Grown: Agriculture in the U.S.

Wheat, corn, and soybeans are the major crops grown in the U.S.—and cotton also makes the cut as a profitable non-food crop. Much of these crops feed not only Americans, but other parts of the world too.

Q: Does the Federal Government ever sell public land? A: The answer is yes. Lands identified as excess to the Federal Government's needs or more suited to private ownership are sometimes offered for sale.

The federal government's power of eminent domain has long been used in the United States to acquire property for public use.

The majority of the land in Nevada is owned by the federal government but also serves to protect several of the state's most well-known attractions including Lake Tahoe, Red Rock Canyon (pictured), and Great Basin National Park.

According to the Legislative Counsel Bureau, 85.9 percent of Nevada is owned and controlled by various federal entities. 2 Only Alaska has a greater percentage of public lands (95.8 percent). The public lands are not subject to taxation, depriving Nevada of a main source of revenue.

How much is an acre of land worth 2022 usa? ›

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.

King Ranch, largest ranch in the United States, composed of a group of four tracts of land in southeastern Texas, totaling approximately 825,000 acres (333,800 hectares). The King Ranch was established by Richard King, a steamboat captain born in 1825 in Orange county, New York.

John Malone is the largest private landowner in the United States. Malone made his fortune as a media tycoon, building the company Tele-Communications, Inc, or TCI, and acting as its CEO before selling it to AT&T for $50 billion in 1999.

The most expensive plot of land ever sold is located at 2 Murray Road in Hong Kong's Central Business District. On 16 May 2017, the government of Hong Kong sold the plot, which measures 31,000 sq ft (2,880 m^2) for HK$23.28 billion (US$3,003,780,000) to local developer Henderson Land Development.

In 2018, the number of foreign-owned acres crested 30 million and in 2021 foreign entities owned just over 40 million acres of U.S. agricultural land. On the other hand, in 2011, 1.26 billion acres of agricultural land was domestically owned, and in 2021, that number was 1.25 billion acres.

Texas. Texas tops the list of states offering cheap farmland. With its lengthy hot seasons and mild winters, the Lone Star State is especially ideal for growing cotton. The state is also a big beef cattle producer, so the price per acre may be lower due to the high demand for grazing land.

The average cost per acre of land in Florida has risen some because of the demand. The average cost per acre starts around $6,100.

How much of America's land is unused? ›

Of them, 4,871,270 blocks totaling 4.61 million square kilometers were reported to have no population living inside them. Despite having a population of more than 310 million people, 47 percent of the USA remains unoccupied.

The United States cropland value averaged $4,420 per acre, an increase of $320 per acre (7.8 percent) from the previous year. The United States pasture value averaged $1,480 per acre, an increase of $80 per acre (5.7 percent) from 2020.