Michigan Land Values 2026: Lapeer vs the State Average

Michigan land values reached $6,800 per acre in 2025 for farm real estate, with cropland at $6,350 and pasture at $3,100, per USDA NASS. Lapeer County trades below that cropland average because 84 percent of its farms are under 180 acres and the parcel mix includes more woodland than the cash-crop counties driving the state number.

Pricing a Michigan rural parcel from the $6,350 statewide figure alone is a poor starting point. Below we walk through the 2025 USDA Land Values release, why Michigan trails Minnesota and Wisconsin on cropland despite leading on overall farm real estate, and what the Lapeer and St. Clair county Census of Agriculture data shows about how a Thumb-region parcel is actually composed.

This is general information about land valuation, not an appraisal or tax opinion. For a parcel-specific number, a county assessor record and a Michigan-licensed appraiser are the right places to start.

The 2025 USDA Land Values Numbers for Michigan

Michigan farm real estate averaged $6,800 per acre on January 1, 2025, with cropland at $6,350 and pasture at $3,100, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service Land Values Summary released August 8, 2025. These are the three statewide reference points sellers compare county-level offers against.

The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service publishes its Land Values Summary every August. The 2025 report covers calendar-year farmland values as of January 1, 2025, and is the most current statewide benchmark for cropland and pasture prices in Michigan.

Three Michigan numbers matter for sellers. Farm real estate (the all-in figure including farm buildings) reached $6,800 per acre, up 7.8 percent from $6,310 a year earlier. Cropland on its own, stripping out improvements, came in at $6,350 per acre, up 8.2 percent. Pasture trailed at $3,100, up 4.4 percent from $2,970. Each of those three is a different question. A Detroit-metro investor calling about a Lapeer corn-and-soy parcel cares about the cropland number; a Sanilac County hunting parcel with a brushy creek bottom and no plow history is closer to the pasture number.

The five-year cropland trajectory

Source: USDA NASS Land Values, multi-year compilation. Michigan cropland is up 42.1 percent over the past five years. That tracks broader national land-value inflation driven by row-crop margins, commodity prices, and limited supply. The pace has eased (five-year-ago growth was double-digit) but it has not stopped.

The flip side: a seller who bought a Michigan parcel in 2019 or earlier and is looking at a 2026 sale is generally selling into a strong absolute number. A seller who inherited in 2023 and is comparing offers to a year-and-a-half-old appraisal is likely working from a stale baseline.

Why Michigan Trails Wisconsin and Minnesota on Cropland

Michigan cropland at $6,350 per acre in 2025 sits $900 below Wisconsin ($7,250) and $650 below Minnesota ($7,000), a gap driven by Michigan’s smaller-farm mix and lower-yield soil types relative to the corn-and-soy belt counties that dominate cropland averages in the neighboring states.

The three Lake States are grouped together by USDA because they share growing seasons and crop mixes. They do not share cropland values.

Michigan is $900 per acre below Wisconsin and $650 below Minnesota — wider than what a single year of price growth can close. The driver isn’t a single factor. Michigan’s mix tilts more toward smaller mixed-use operations: orchards, vegetables, dairy, and Thumb-region cash crops on parcels that are often divided across multiple heirs and operators rather than consolidated into thousand-acre row-crop blocks. Soil productivity also varies. Wisconsin’s southwest and Minnesota’s southern counties pull harder yields per acre on the prime cropland, which prices in.

On farm real estate (the all-in number) Michigan looks competitive at $6,800 versus the Lake States $6,690 average. Michigan slightly outperforms there because the farm-building-and-infrastructure premium per acre is meaningful in a state with smaller farm sizes. But that’s not what most sellers of bare rural land are actually selling, which is why the cropland number is the more honest comparison.

What the County Data Says

Lapeer County had 1,050 farms across 162,365 acres in 2022, with cropland making up 75.5 percent and woodland 12 percent, per USDA’s Census of Agriculture county profile. St. Clair County had 1,060 farms across 170,294 acres, with cropland at 87.8 percent and far less woodland. That land-cover ratio difference directly drives per-acre price variance between the two neighboring Thumb counties.

Statewide averages flatten a lot. To understand what a specific parcel might be worth, the 2022 Census of Agriculture county profiles are where the Thumb-region pattern surfaces.

Lapeer County 2022 snapshot

• 1,050 farms total, up 4 percent since 2017
• 162,365 acres in farms, down 2 percent
• Average farm size: 155 acres (down from 163 in 2017)
• 122,549 cropland acres — that’s 75.5 percent of land in farms
• 19,495 woodland acres and 7,174 pastureland acres
• $123 million market value of products sold, up 42 percent since 2017
• Soybeans for beans: 45,181 harvested acres (the dominant cash crop)
• Vegetables harvested, all: 3,401 acres

Lapeer’s farm-size distribution is the part that matters most for valuation. Sixty percent of Lapeer farms (629 of 1,050) are smaller than 50 acres. Another 25 percent are 50 to 179 acres. Only 8 percent of Lapeer’s farm operations are 180 acres or larger. When the state cropland average is built on a weighted blend that includes consolidated 800-acre cash-crop operations in southern Michigan, a typical 40-acre Lapeer parcel with a mix of cropland, woodland, and a creek bottom rarely commands the state-average per-acre number. USDA’s Economic Research Service documents the same farm-size-versus-cropland-value pattern at the national level.

The $123 million market value of products sold in Lapeer County — up 42 percent since 2017 — reflects strong agricultural output relative to farm count: roughly $117,000 per farm on average. That production history matters for buyers evaluating active-rotation parcels. The dominant cash crop, soybeans at 45,181 harvested acres, is what drives comparisons to state-average cropland values. Lapeer parcels that are predominantly woodland or pasture rather than harvested cropland price on a separate scale — closer to the recreational and timber valuation metrics than the $6,350 USDA cropland benchmark.

St. Clair County 2022 snapshot

• 1,060 farms total, down 2 percent since 2017
• 170,294 acres in farms, down 7 percent
• Average farm size: 161 acres
• 149,465 cropland acres — 87.8 percent of land in farms (notably higher than Lapeer’s 75.5 percent)
• 10,191 woodland acres and 3,680 pastureland acres
• $109 million market value of products sold, up 35 percent since 2017

St. Clair tells a different Thumb-region story. The same average farm size as Lapeer, similar count of farms, but much more concentrated cropland — 88 percent versus 76 percent. A St. Clair parcel that’s been in active rotation is closer to the cropland average. A Lapeer parcel of the same dimensions often has more diverse land cover and trades at a discount per acre because of it.

This is one example of why our team’s standard practice is to pull the county assessor record and overlay it on USDA cropland and woodland classifications before issuing a written offer. Two parcels with identical Lapeer addresses can have very different valuation footings.

The Numbers Beyond the USDA Survey

Michigan rural land outside the USDA farm census still trades regularly: hunting tracts, lakeshore parcels, severance-pending mineral acreage, and inherited family parcels that haven’t been actively farmed in a generation. These parcels are not in the $6,350 cropland average because they aren’t classified as cropland, and they price on a different set of comps — closing in the $1,500 to $4,000 per-acre band depending on access and stand type.

USDA NASS captures land in farms. A meaningful share of Michigan rural land is not in farms — recreational woodland, hunting tracts, lakeshore parcels, severance-pending mineral acreage, and inherited family parcels that have been out of active use for a generation. Those parcels need a different valuation lens.

Transfer tax burden on a Michigan sale

The state transfer tax (SRETT) rate is $3.75 per $500 of consideration, or 0.75 percent (MCL § 207.525). On top of that, every county outside Wayne County charges $0.55 per $500, or 0.11 percent (MCL § 207.504). The combined rate on a typical Michigan rural land sale is 0.86 percent. On a $100,000 sale that’s $750 state plus $110 county. Statutory exemptions in MCL § 207.526 and 207.505 cover some intra-family conveyances and court-ordered transfers without specific consideration, which is worth checking when an inherited parcel is being conveyed to settle an estate rather than sold to a third party.

The combined 0.86 percent rate is meaningful on larger rural parcels. On a $300,000 sale, the state and county transfer taxes together run roughly $2,580 — a closing-cost line worth factoring into net-proceeds planning alongside title company charges. One planning note: certain intra-family conveyances and court-ordered transfers without specific consideration may qualify for exemption under MCL § 207.526 and 207.505. Confirming eligibility with a Michigan-licensed real estate attorney before closing is worth the conversation when the consideration is substantial.

State income tax on the capital gain

Michigan does not have a separate capital-gains schedule. Land-sale gains are taxed as ordinary income at the state’s flat individual rate, set at 4.25 percent for tax year 2026. The Michigan Department of Treasury confirmed on April 15, 2026 that general-fund growth (which decreased 1.56 percent) did not exceed inflation (2.70 percent), so no rate-reduction trigger was met. That settles the 2026 rate for sellers planning a closing this year. Federal capital-gains treatment applies on top and follows the standard short-term-versus-long-term split.

For heirs selling Thumb-region farmland shortly after inheriting, the stepped-up basis provision under IRC § 1014 often eliminates or minimizes the taxable federal gain — and Michigan’s income tax follows the federal adjusted gain figure for land sales. A seller who inherited land valued at $180,000 on the date of death and sells six months later at $185,000 faces Michigan income tax only on the $5,000 appreciation above the stepped-up basis, not the full proceeds. A qualified tax professional should run the specific numbers for your estate, especially when the holding period between inheritance and sale crosses into a new tax year.

Recording and closing costs

Michigan’s recording fee is a flat $30 per document regardless of page count (MCL § 600.2567). Most title companies in the Thumb region complete the search, deed preparation, and recording within five to ten business days once a clean title commitment is in hand. Statewide e-recording adoption (via Simplifile, CSC, ePN) is high, which removes one source of timeline drag.

For most Michigan rural land sales, the combined closing-cost burden is modest compared with commission-based listing alternatives. The title company’s charges — search, commitment, deed preparation, and the $30 recording fee — typically run $800 to $1,500 on a Thumb-region parcel, depending on the complexity of the title search and any required curative work. Cash buyers in our process absorb these on the buyer side; sellers receive the full net offer amount. The Thumb’s e-recording infrastructure typically clears search, commitment, and recording within five to seven business days once all required signatures are collected.

Inherited Parcels and the Recent UPHPA Change

Michigan’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act took effect April 2, 2025 under Public Act 215 of 2024, codified at MCL § 600.3401 et seq. It changes how forced partition sales work when co-heirs disagree: any partitioning heir must give other co-owners a notice and a right of first refusal at an independently appraised value, and courts must weigh physical division ahead of forced sale.

If the parcel was inherited and ownership is split across multiple heirs, Michigan’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act became effective April 2, 2025 under Public Act 215 of 2024, codified at MCL § 600.3401 et seq. The UPHPA changes how a forced sale works when co-owners disagree.

Under the new framework, a co-owner seeking partition must give other co-owners notice and a right of first refusal at an independently appraised value. Courts must also weigh whether physical division (rather than sale) is preferable. For families with three or four heirs to a 60-acre parcel where one wants to cash out and two want to keep it for hunting, the UPHPA is the operative statute. The Michigan Courts probate division hears partition petitions at the county level. Selling a clean-title heir-property parcel to a single cash buyer remains the simplest path, but the buyer needs to confirm the chain of recorded title and the heir authority before closing, which is why our team commissions a preliminary title search on every inherited Michigan parcel before issuing a written offer. The same Tennessee parallel is worth a read if you’re working through heir-property mechanics for the first time: our overview of selling inherited land in Tennessee covers the broader pattern that the Michigan UPHPA now formalizes here.

For estates under $50,000 in gross value (with up to $250,000 of indebtedness deducted for encumbered real property), Michigan’s small-estate summary procedure under MCL § 700.3982 skips formal probate entirely. Many inherited Michigan rural parcels with outstanding mortgages or back taxes qualify under that threshold once the indebtedness deduction is applied. For federal capital-gains treatment, IRS Publication 559 covers stepped-up basis on inherited property under IRC § 1014, which is often what makes a near-date-of-death sale tax-efficient at the federal level.

Severed Minerals and the Dormant Mineral Act

Michigan’s Dormant Mineral Act, MCL § 554.291, deems severed oil and gas interests abandoned and revested in the surface owner after 20 years of non-use, non-lease, non-transfer, and non-claim. The statutory reversion is automatic, but the chain-of-title cleanup still requires a quiet-title action to clear the deed for sale.

A surprising number of Thumb-region and Northern Lower Peninsula parcels have severed oil-and-gas interests recorded against them, often dating to a 1970s-or-earlier severance that’s never been activated. Michigan’s Dormant Mineral Act, MCL § 554.291, deems severed oil and gas interests abandoned and revested in the surface owner when they go 20 years without being used, leased, mortgaged, transferred, drilled, produced, or claimed. The mechanic is automatic by statute but the cleanup requires a quiet-title action, not just a calendar.

If a recorded severance is encountered during the title search and the activity history can be confirmed, the surface owner has a path to recover the minerals. We work with the title company on that question early in the process so the offer reflects what the seller will actually convey at closing.

What This Means for an Actual Michigan Sale

Michigan parcel valuation depends on land-cover composition, not just the $6,350 cropland headline: a 40-acre Lapeer parcel that’s 60 percent cropland and 30 percent woodland prices in the $4,500-$5,500 per-acre band, while a 120-acre St. Clair tract in active corn-and-soy rotation with road frontage can clear the state cropland average. Recreational parcels price separately on hunting-and-cabin demand.

The state-average $6,350 cropland number is a starting reference, not an offer floor. A 40-acre Lapeer parcel that’s 60 percent cropland, 30 percent woodland, and 10 percent low-lying pasture lands somewhere below the cropland average and above the pasture average. Call it $4,500 to $5,500 per acre, county- and access-dependent. A 120-acre St. Clair tract in active corn-and-soy rotation with road frontage and tile drainage can price at or above the state cropland average. A Roscommon recreational parcel with no farm history and seasonal-only access prices on hunting-and-cabin demand, not USDA cropland comps.

For the seller’s perspective on what we actually pay across the state, see what we pay for Michigan land — the page that covers our offer process, Thumb-region focus, and out-of-state-seller handling. When ready for a written number on a specific Michigan parcel, the fastest path is to send us the address and we’ll return a fair cash offer in 24 hours, with closings in as little as 14 days on clear-title parcels.

This piece reflects 2025 USDA NASS data and Michigan code as of May 2026. Christian Smith, Managing Partner at Perspective Properties LLC, reviewed the citations against the source statutes.