Did you know that there are states with free land?
The federal Homestead Act of 1862 handed out 160 acre parcels to anyone willing to farm them. That law is long gone. Its last claim was granted in 1988.
What replaced it is smaller and more local. Rural towns and counties losing population give away building lots to anyone who will move in and put up a house, because a new family on the tax roll is worth more to them than an empty lot.
Those programs are real, and seven towns are handing out residential lots right now. Two of them will also pay you to build. We called through all 18 towns commonly listed as offering free land, checked each one against its own official page, and found that five have quietly ended and five more have nothing current published at all.
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Grab your $15 here. Takes two minutes.
Where You Can Actually Get Free Land Right Now
Seven towns are giving away residential building lots today, and we confirmed every one of them against the town's own published program before putting it on this list. Two of them hand you money on top of the land.
Start here. The detail on each one follows, and further down we cover the programs that ended so you stop chasing them. If land is not the angle you are after, we also cover the simpler ways to get free money and a few ways people live rent free without moving at all.
| Town | What you get | What it really costs | Call |
|---|---|---|---|
| ElwoodNebraska | Free 110 x 115 lot, plus 10% of build cost back, up to $25,000 | $500 refundable deposit, $50 permit | (308) 785-2480 |
| ManillaIowa | Free lot, no utility hookup fees, 5 year full tax abatement | Build to the addition covenants | (712) 654-2632 |
| New RichlandMinnesota | Free 86 x 133 lot, 90 minutes to the Twin Cities | About $14,000 in assessments over 15 years | (507) 465-3514 |
| CurtisNebraska | Free lot on a paved street with utilities | Two years to finish, must live there | (308) 367-4122 |
| OsborneKansas | Free lot in the Sunset Addition | City application and build requirement | (785) 346-2670 |
| ClaremontMinnesota | Free residential lot | Household income limits apply | (507) 528-2137 |
| Loup CityNebraska | Free lot in the John Subdivision | $1,000 refundable deposit, 1,100 sq ft minimum | Sherman County ED |
One thing to be honest about before you go further. The lot is free. The house is not. Every program here requires you to build, and construction, utility hookups, permits, and a well or sewer connection are where the real money goes. Free land saves you the lot price, which in these towns was never the expensive part anyway. What it really buys you is a town that wants you there and will often stack other incentives on top. Price the build honestly first, because the costs that blindside first time buyers are exactly the ones that make a free lot stop feeling free.
Elwood, Nebraska (the best deal on this list)
Get a free lot and up to $25,000 back. Village Office (308) 785-2480, 304 Calvert Ave, weekdays 8am to 4pm. Program page: elwoodnebraska.com.
Elwood gives you a 110 by 115 foot lot in the Wheatfield Addition for nothing. You put down a refundable $500 deposit and a $50 building permit fee, and the $500 comes back when the home is finished. Construction has to start within a year and you have to be living in it within two.
Here is the part that makes Elwood different from every other town on this list. When the home is done, the village pays you 10% of your construction cost back, up to $25,000. On a $250,000 build that is a $25,000 check after you move in. No other free land program we found does this.
The requirements are a stick built home with an attached two car garage, subject to the addition covenants. Eight homes have already been completed under the program and lots are still available. Elwood is a village in Gosper County in south central Nebraska, near Johnson Lake.
Manilla, Iowa (best for first time buyers)
Free lot, five years of no property tax, and down payment help. City of Manilla (712) 654-2632, Bank Iowa (712) 654-2962, MED Corp at 443 Main Street. Program page: manillaia.com.
The Manilla Economic Development Corporation, the city, and Manilla Municipal Utilities are offering 15 single family lots in the Sunrise Addition Phase II at no cost to anyone who builds a single family home to the covenants. Streets are paved, utilities are on site, and there are no hookup fees, which quietly removes one of the biggest hidden costs of a free lot elsewhere.
On top of the free lot you get a five year 100% property tax abatement. And if this is your first home, there is separate down payment assistance of up to $34,999 for buyers who qualify for conventional financing and meet the income requirements, which stacks with the other ways to pull a down payment together.
Stack those three and a first time buyer in Manilla is looking at no lot cost, no hookup fees, no property tax for five years, and help with the down payment. Manilla is a town of about 780 in Crawford County in western Iowa. Twelve homes have already gone up in the earlier phase of the addition.
New Richland, Minnesota (closest to a city)
Free lot within 90 minutes of the Twin Cities. City of New Richland (507) 465-3514, 203 Broadway Ave N. Program page: the Homestake Subdivision page.
New Richland gives you an 86 by 133 foot lot on the northwest side of town in the Homestake Subdivision. The land itself is free, and the city is upfront about what it is not. You pay development assessments for streets, utilities, and infrastructure, and those run about $14,000, reduced from roughly $25,000 through Tax Increment Financing. You pay them over 15 years in semi annual installments with your property taxes.
To get the reduced assessment rate your household income has to be under $66,950 for a family of two or fewer, or under $76,993 for a family of three or more. You need a lender pre approval letter before you pick a lot, approval takes up to four weeks, and you have one year from the deed date to build. If the deposit and assessments are the sticking point, there are routes into a home with little or nothing down that work alongside a free lot.
Fourteen thousand dollars is not free, but it is spread over 15 years and it buys you a lot in a town with a golf course, a bike trail, a big lake, and a commute to the Twin Cities that a lot of people would accept. If rural Kansas is too far off the map for you, this is the one to look at.
Curtis, Nebraska
Free residential and commercial lots. Andrew Lee, City Administrator, (308) 367-4122, curtis@curtis-ne.com. Listed as current by the State of Nebraska.
Curtis has free sites for both residential lots and commercial or industrial use. The lots sit on paved roads with utilities already run, so you are not paying to bring power and water across a field or to put in a driveway approach. That is a real saving and it is the difference between a free lot you can build on and a free lot that costs $30,000 to make usable.
You have to show you have the cash or a construction loan, and this is worth sorting before you call, because the banks that actually do land and construction lending are a much shorter list than the ones that do mortgages. You then finish the home within two years of the agreement, and actually live there. This cannot be a vacation property. Families enrolling children in the local schools may qualify for additional cash incentives.
Curtis is a town of about 805 in Frontier County and is home to the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture. Note that the town's own free lots page is currently offline, so go through the city administrator rather than the web page other articles link to.
Osborne, Kansas
Free residential lots plus commercial incentives. Economic Development (785) 346-2670, 130 N 1st Street. Program page: discoverosborne.com.
Osborne offers free residential property in the Sunset Addition on the western edge of town, north of Main Street, and runs incentives on the commercial side too. It is one of the few places here where a homeowner and a business owner both have something to apply for.
You file an application with the city. Osborne has historically used a refundable deposit returned once construction is finished, which is the standard structure across Kansas towns. Confirm the current deposit amount and build deadline when you call, because those get adjusted and the page does not always keep up.
Claremont, Minnesota
Free residential lot, income qualified. City Hall (507) 528-2137, Monday through Thursday, 7:30am to 3pm. Program page: cityofclaremontmn.gov.
Claremont promotes its free lot program directly on the city homepage, which makes it one of the easiest on this list to verify for yourself in about ten seconds. The program is income qualified, so your household size and gross annual income decide whether you are eligible.
The income thresholds get adjusted, so treat any dollar figure you read on a blog as out of date and get the current numbers from City Hall. Claremont is in Dodge County in southeastern Minnesota, roughly halfway between Rochester and Owatonna.
Loup City, Nebraska
Free lot, refundable deposit. Sherman County Economic Development, development@shermancountyprogress.com.
Loup City opened the John Subdivision through its Community Redevelopment Authority with free lots for anyone willing to build. The lots are north of 10th and G streets, two blocks from Loup City Schools and next to Peterson Park. The town has a golf course, a swimming pool, and lakes nearby.
There are two tracks. The market rate track asks for a $1,000 refundable deposit returned once your home is built, with a 1,100 square foot minimum and a build deadline. The workforce housing track is income dependent and adds purchase assistance if you fall below the income standard.
The old loupcity.com subdivision page now returns a 404, so contact Sherman County Economic Development rather than the link most articles still publish.
Flagler, Colorado (businesses only)
Commercial lots from a 480 acre parcel. Town Hall (719) 765-4571, but read this first. Program page: flagler.colorado.gov.
Flagler sits about two hours east of Denver with a population near 650. The town has set aside roughly 480 acres and awards lots to businesses based on how many jobs they will create locally. This is the best documented program in this entire article. The town publishes the steps, the program details, the application, the fee ordinance, and a map of the parcels.
Two things to know. This is a business incentive, not a way to get a house lot. And the town specifically asks applicants not to call about it, so read the published steps and submit the application instead of picking up the phone.
The old flaglercolorado.com free land page is dead. The town moved to a .gov address, and most articles still linking to the old URL send you to a 404.
Five More Towns Worth a Phone Call
These towns have run free lot programs and are still widely listed as active everywhere else online. We could not find a current published page confirming lots are available, so treat them as a phone call rather than a plan. Several may well still have lots. We just will not tell you they do when we cannot see it.
Mankato, Kansas
Call (785) 378-3141. The program page is still up and lists 26 lots in the Johnson Addition, close to the high school, the hospital, and half a mile from the shopping center, with utilities at or near the lots. Terms are a 1,200 square foot minimum excluding basement, garage, and porches, construction started within six months and finished within two years, lender approval, and an interview with the city council.
The catch is that the page carries no date and the resolution it cites is from 2006. Twenty six lots may not be sitting there waiting. Call before you plan around it.
Wilson, Kansas
Call (785) 452-5507. Wilson has offered free lots in a development called Prairie Estates on a family friendly cul de sac. The important detail nobody mentions is that while the lot is free, special assessments are charged for the water lines and streets in the new addition. Those can be billed with your property taxes and spread over 10 years or paid in a lump sum when you build.
Wilson is a town of about 860 northeast of Wichita, next to Wilson Lake, which has over 100 miles of shoreline and is the clearest lake in Kansas. The town's free land page is currently returning an error, so call the city.
Marquette, Kansas
Call (785) 546-2205 or email marquette@lrmutual.com, weekdays 9am to noon and 1pm to 4pm. Marquette became the poster child for free land in Kansas through its Westridge Addition on the west side of town, with lots from about 11,000 to 25,000 square feet. The terms were to start building within 120 days and finish at least 1,000 square feet within a year.
The city site is still online but no longer publishes a free land page, so we cannot confirm it is taking applications. Worth the call if central Kansas appeals to you.
Marne, Iowa
Call (712) 249-5086 or email marneiowa@gmail.com. Marne is a town of roughly 120 people an hour outside Omaha in southwestern Iowa. Farm consolidation gutted the population and the town gave away shaded, grassy lots to anyone who would build. The program ran for well over a decade.
The published requirements were a proposed floor plan, at least 1,200 square feet, no trailer homes, and no horses or livestock. The city website is live but does not currently show a free lot page.
Plainville, Kansas
Plainville is in Rooks County with a population around 2,000 and has offered lots measuring 155 feet wide by 93 feet deep. The structure mirrors Osborne. You put down a $500 deposit and the city returns it once the lot is transferred to you. Manufactured homes are not allowed, everything has to be on a permanent foundation, and construction has to finish within 18 months.
The county page blocks automated checks, so we could not verify the listing is current.
Programs That Ended or Changed
These five still show up on nearly every free land list online. They should not. Skip them.
Buffalo, New York: no longer a dollar
For years Buffalo's Urban Homestead Program let residents buy city owned property inside designated Urban Renewal Areas for one dollar plus closing costs, and nearly every free land article still repeats that number. The old program URL now returns a 404.
Buffalo replaced it with a Homestead Plan where residents, nonprofits, and developers apply to the Division of Real Estate to buy vacant city owned parcels starting around $1,000. Eligible uses are new construction, side yard acquisition, renovation, and related purposes, and the city began approving sales under the new plan in 2026. Still cheap, and still worth a look if you want to be in a real city. Just not a dollar.
Beatrice, Nebraska: lots all claimed
Beatrice passed its own Homestead Act of 2010 on the 148th anniversary of the original 1862 law, offering free city lots first come first served to people who would build and stay five years. The final lots have been claimed, the city no longer promotes it, and Nebraska's own state listing of free land communities no longer includes Beatrice.
It is still a pleasant town of around 12,000 about 40 miles south of Lincoln, and the city runs other housing and development incentives. Just do not go expecting a free lot.
Lincoln, Kansas: program page gone
Lincoln ran a free home site program with lots near the baseball park, the golf course, and the shopping area. The housing page every other article links to now redirects to a 404, and the current city site shows no free lot program at all. Aggregator sites still list Lincoln as active. We could find nothing to support that.
Muskegon, Michigan: businesses only, and dated
Muskegon appears on free land lists because of a 2010 land giveaway tied to industrial and commercial park property in Michigan's Renaissance Zones, with lower utility rates and tax benefits. The source everyone cites is a news article from 2010, not a live program page. If you run a business looking at west Michigan, ask the city and county economic development offices about current Renaissance Zone incentives. If you want a free house lot, this is not it.
Agate, Colorado: ended
Agate once gave out parcels from a 60 acre property, mostly to people raising livestock and growing crops, with a share of the proceeds going to the Meadowlark Cooperative. The lot was free but you covered the build. The town stopped offering free lots and has not brought the program back.
40 States Without Free Land
These are the states that do not offer free land:
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington State
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- District of Columbia (DC)
FAQs
Certain states offer free land programs to attract new residents. The program generally provides a lot of land for homesteading in an effort to encourage economic growth in less populated areas.
If you want to find free land, then the top states that offer free land include Kansas, Minnesota, and Nebraska. Some restrictions typically apply, such as building a home within a certain time frame or using the land for agricultural purposes.
Generally, small towns or counties in these states will have the best availability of free land. This is because they are trying to increase their population and jumpstart their economy. So if you're looking for a place to start a new life, one of these states could be the perfect fit for you.
While there is such a thing as “free” land, there are also definitely states where you can find cheap land. This is often land that is less developed or in a remote location.
Some states with cheap land include Alaska, Arkansas, Montana, and North Dakota. Prices will vary depending on the size and location of the property, but you can typically find good deals in these states.
Again, restrictions may apply when purchasing cheap land. For example, you may have to pay taxes on the property or develop it within a certain time frame. But if you're willing to put in some work, buying cheap land can be a great way to get a lot of space for a relatively small investment.
There are a few states that offer programs to help residents with the cost of housing. For example, the state of Maine has a program called “Housing Choice Vouchers” which helps low-income families afford rent.
There are also a few cities in the U.S. that have programs to provide free or reduced-cost housing.
Finally, there are a few religious organizations that offer free or reduced-cost housing for people in need. For example, the Catholic Charity USA provides housing assistance to low-income families and individuals across the country.
Summary
Free land is real, and the short answer is Elwood, Manilla, New Richland, Curtis, Osborne, Claremont, and Loup City. Those seven have published, current residential lot programs. Flagler makes eight if you are placing a business rather than building a house. Five more are worth a phone call. Five that everyone still lists have ended or changed.
The pattern is consistent once you look at enough of them. A small town loses people, opens a subdivision, asks for a refundable deposit and a minimum square footage, and gives you a deadline to finish building. The lot costs nothing. The house costs what a house costs. The towns that understand this are the ones adding money on top, which is why Elwood and Manilla are the two worth looking at hardest.
So run the real numbers first. Construction, utility hookups, permits, assessments, and the cost of living somewhere with one grocery store. Budget the move itself too, since for almost everyone reading this a free lot means an out of state move. Then call the town at the top of the table and ask what is available this month. Program pages go stale faster than anyone updates them, including the towns own pages, which is exactly why most articles on this subject are years out of date.
