County · North Carolina · USDA NASS 2025

Watauga County

cropland

$66.00/ac

NC avg $105.00

Pasture

$24.50/ac

irrigated —

Soil NCCPI

0.184

NC avg 0.520

Rank · cropland

59/95

percentile 38

Δ since 2019

+32%

NC +17%

USDA's 2025 survey puts non-irrigated cropland in Watauga County at $66 per acre per year, with pasture at $24.5/acre. The county's soils index 0.18 (NCCPI), below the North Carolina county average of 0.52 — individual parcels run higher or lower, which moves real rents. Non-irrigated cropland rent here is up 32% since 2019; Watauga County ranks 59 of 95 North Carolina counties.

All counties · 95 rows

#	County	Cropland ↓	Irrigated	Pasture	NCCPI
1	Hyde	188.00	—	—	0.555
2	Tyrrell	171.00	—	—	0.625
3	Wilson	155.00	150.00	—	0.672
4	Washington	139.00	—	—	0.670
5	Wayne	135.00	110.00	48.50	0.606
6	Beaufort	133.00	—	—	0.702
7	Greene	125.00	115.00	49.00	0.614
8	Pasquotank	124.00	—	—	0.715
9	Bertie	123.00	—	—	0.656
9	Halifax	123.00	—	51.00	0.679
11	Hertford	122.00	—	—	0.639
12	Camden	120.00	—	—	0.602
12	Henderson	120.00	—	23.00	0.363
12	Lenoir	120.00	—	—	0.593
15	Martin	118.00	—	—	0.670
16	Edgecombe	117.00	—	40.00	0.665
17	Johnston	115.00	—	34.00	0.625
17	Nash	115.00	135.00	34.50	0.655
19	Northampton	113.00	—	—	0.695
19	Pitt	113.00	—	—	0.651
21	Harnett	111.00	200.00	38.50	0.561
22	Onslow	110.00	—	—	0.539
22	Sampson	110.00	126.00	50.50	0.574
24	Alleghany	109.00	—	38.50	0.348
25	Chowan	107.00	100.00	—	0.645
26	Gates	102.00	—	—	0.612
26	Perquimans	102.00	—	—	0.707
28	Currituck	99.50	—	—	0.548
28	Pamlico	99.50	—	—	0.631
30	Ashe	98.00	235.00	23.00	0.255
31	Craven	95.00	—	35.50	0.608
32	Cumberland	94.50	—	43.00	0.516
33	Union	93.00	—	42.50	0.504
34	Jones	91.00	—	—	0.603
35	Duplin	89.50	145.00	45.50	0.589
36	Carteret	89.00	—	—	0.525
37	Lee	88.50	—	24.50	0.567
38	Transylvania	88.00	—	—	0.215
39	Columbus	86.00	—	42.50	0.575
40	Stanly	84.00	—	29.50	0.471
40	Yadkin	84.00	—	43.50	0.565
42	Bladen	83.50	—	—	0.566
43	Pender	83.00	150.00	32.00	0.529
44	Brunswick	82.50	—	—	0.483
45	Surry	82.00	110.00	33.50	0.461
46	Anson	81.00	—	44.50	0.523
47	Cabarrus	79.00	—	25.00	0.610
48	Robeson	77.50	90.00	46.00	0.590
49	Granville	75.50	81.00	26.00	0.681
49	Iredell	75.50	100.00	32.00	0.599
51	Madison	73.00	—	24.50	0.176
51	Wake	73.00	91.00	33.00	0.563
53	Randolph	72.00	—	26.00	0.584
54	Scotland	71.00	—	—	0.439
55	Avery	70.00	—	—	0.192
55	Rowan	70.00	—	36.00	0.644
57	Franklin	69.50	83.50	24.00	0.614
58	Wilkes	68.50	—	36.50	0.367
59	Davie	66.00	—	33.50	0.617
59	Watauga	66.00	—	24.50	0.184
61	Clay	65.00	—	28.50	0.218
62	Cherokee	64.50	—	21.50	0.203
63	Forsyth	62.00	—	20.00	0.541
64	Hoke	61.00	—	—	0.417
65	Haywood	59.50	240.00	23.00	—
66	Jackson	58.50	—	—	0.200
66	Mitchell	58.50	—	28.50	0.241
66	Person	58.50	117.00	32.50	0.621
69	Davidson	57.50	—	24.50	0.616
70	Rockingham	56.50	90.00	13.50	0.561
71	Stokes	55.50	—	25.50	0.464
72	Moore	54.50	125.00	24.50	0.452
73	Alexander	54.00	—	40.00	0.479
74	Macon	53.50	—	22.50	0.214
75	Buncombe	51.00	210.00	30.50	0.286
76	Richmond	48.50	—	—	0.354
77	Warren	48.00	—	31.00	0.660
78	Rutherford	47.50	—	21.00	0.452
79	Mcdowell	46.50	—	—	0.262
79	Vance	46.50	67.00	35.00	0.586
81	Alamance	46.00	100.00	24.00	0.641
82	Chatham	44.50	110.00	30.00	0.613
83	Lincoln	44.00	—	31.50	0.643
84	Durham	43.50	—	—	0.610
85	Caldwell	43.00	—	39.00	0.308
86	Cleveland	40.00	—	24.50	0.534
86	Orange	40.00	75.00	28.50	0.682
88	Burke	39.00	220.00	20.00	0.367
88	Guilford	39.00	59.00	18.50	0.643
90	Catawba	38.50	—	31.50	0.590
90	Montgomery	38.50	—	—	0.551
92	Gaston	37.00	—	21.00	0.614
93	Caswell	36.00	105.00	25.50	0.554
94	Yancey	35.50	—	24.50	0.180
95	Polk	34.00	—	—	0.402

A county average is the starting point, not your number. FieldLease adjusts it for your parcel — measured soil, tillable acres, flood exposure — and checks it against what you’re paid.

Check a parcel in Watauga

Source: USDA NASS cash rents survey, county estimates, latest published year per series. Soil productivity from USDA SSURGO (NCCPI). Planning-grade market data — not an appraisal, legal, or financial advice. Free · instant · nobody calls you.