About the US Land Value Book
A free, weekly-updated book of land, home and rental values for every US state, county, city, ZIP code and neighborhood, published by Buildocrat Property Technologies Ltd, the publisher of the Nigeria Land Value Book.
Sources
| Residential land | FHFA, "The Price of Residential Land for Counties, ZIP Codes, and Census Tracts in the United States" (Davis, Larson, Oliner and Shui), pooled 2012–2022, 2015 prices (version 4.0, June 2024) data |
| Price trend | FHFA House Price Index (through 2026 Q2) |
| Home values and rents by tract | U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates |
| Rents | HUD Fair Market Rents and Small Area Fair Market Rents, FY2026 |
| Farmland | USDA NASS land values and Census of Agriculture (2026) |
| Cost to build | U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Construction (2025) |
| Boundaries and places | U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundaries, Gazetteer files and ZIP Code Tabulation Areas; neighborhoods and subdivisions © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) |
| Map | © Mapbox, © OpenStreetMap, © Maxar |
This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau. FHFA, Census, HUD and USDA data are public domain; the book is not endorsed by any of these agencies.
Method
Each census tract gets a land value per square foot from FHFA's published figure for the tract, its ZIP code or its county (in that order), moved forward to today with the county's FHFA price index; where FHFA publishes nothing, land is modelled from the tract's home values and density. Home values are the Census survey medians and quartiles, indexed forward. Rents start from HUD's Fair Market Rent for the ZIP code or county and are adjusted by how the tract's survey rents compare with the county. Any spot on the map blends the nearest tracts by distance. Accuracy check: for 16,568 ZIP codes, the county figure scaled by the ZIP's home values lands within a factor of 2 of FHFA's own ZIP land price 93% of the time; tract and ZIP figures are used directly where FHFA publishes them.
Price tiers
Within each metro area, tracts are ranked by typical home value into Top tier (top 10%), Upper (next 25%), Mid (middle 35%) and Entry (lowest 30%). Outside metro areas, tracts are Small town, Rural or Farmland by how built-up they are. The tiers describe prices only; they are not based on, and say nothing about, the people who live there.
Limits
Indicative values for screening, budgeting and negotiation, not an appraisal. For lending, a tax appeal or legal use, hire a state-licensed or certified appraiser. Land values are for a standard quarter-acre residential lot; zoning, utilities, flood risk, title and access can move a real lot far from the average.
Contact
Buildocrat Property Technologies Ltd. WhatsApp +234 701 802 4292, email buildocrat@gmail.com.