The Best Sustainable Land for Homestead or Survival Retreat

Location and Land Characteristics are the two key elements when searching for your homestead and/or survival retreat. Meshing these two elements within your price range will take a lot of work and miles of driving and walking.

Location for many people is contingent on work. However, if you are reading this page you are likely of the mind to create work wherever you find appropriate land. Requirements for the location of your homestead and/or survival retreat are largely personal; however, here are our recommendations for some key things to consider. As you look through the list make a chart or table and start prioritizing since you will likely be compromising on some issue.

1. State Regulation: Some states clearly have a heavy hand and want to regulate every activity of their citizens, while others are more freedom loving. What are the things that are important to or impact you and your family?
1. Homeschool Laws: The HSLDA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association) has a great chart for determining your state’s level of regulation.
2. Homebirth Laws: In 37 states it is legal to acquire the services of a midwife. In those where it is illegal, a Certified Nurse Midwife can still practice. Check your state’s stance on Homebirth here
3. Firearms Laws: A states stance on firearms is a good indicator or how much they will be in your business. The official firearms laws for each state from ATF
2. Crime: Obviously a key issue. Crime rates vary greatly from city to city. After checking your state overall, check the cities around you. If a crisis hits, what is the nature of the people you will be dealing with. Here is a great crime comparison tool.
3. Population Density: Determine how many folks will be coming to get your little family garden check population density here.
4. Rainfall/Growing Season: NOAA has the most accurate state by state rainfall data. Also, check this out if you desire more info on soil, nitrogen levels and other complex growing data
5. Unemployment Rate: Unemployment makes folks desperate, doing things they would not normally do. Although it varies greatly from year to year and even month to month sometimes, check out the state averages before committing to an area.
6. ACT/SAT Scores: Yes, I’d rather deal with intelligent people but it is just a test score after all. Here is a blog with a map depicting SAT scores in 2007.
7. Tax Burden: How much of your money is the chosen state going to get. Here is the state by state tax burden.
8. Cost of Living: There are many places to find cost of living calculators. Here is a cost of living tool.

For more state by state comparisons try out this fun interactive map. Play with the different indices and overlay those things that are important to your family.

Land Characteristics

1. How Much is enough and not too much?:
1. 1/4 Acre: According to The Backyard Homestead you can fit in 12-4’x8’ vegetable beds, various fruit trees, Herbs, a 25’x50’ grain patch, 12 chickens, 2 pigs, rabbits, and a couple bee hives; pretty impressive.
2. 1/2 Acre: By adding a 1/4 acre of pasture to the above you could add a couple goats or a cow.
3. 20+ Acres: A family can be fully self-sufficient with enough cash crop to support them on 20 acres.
2. Community/Family: Depending on your extended family you may or may not want to have them close by. You know them best, if a crisis falls will they be knocking on your door looking for a hand out? Helping one another will be key in a natural or man-made crisis but you do not want to surround yourself with greedy, lazy people that will deplete what you have worked so hard to gather for your family.

   We want to surround ourselves with hard working folks with different skills and equipment. In fact gathering like-minded people who are looking for land is the best route to take. A community is much stronger than one household. Five or ten well-equipped families with 10-20 acres each, all in the same area is an ideal scenario! Start talking to your neighbors and friends at church; get some people thinking about equipping their families and getting some land.

3. Soil: A person can bring in soil and construct raised beds for gardening but good soil on the land will be much easier, especially considering a vineyard or fruit and nut trees. Check here for data
4. Mountains: This criteria is more for a survival retreat, however they always make for good scenery. If they are tall enough to be in the snow line you will have seasonal snow melt and runoff to irrigate with. Only beware being too far east of a mountain range as you will be dried up. Many of these places you will likely have to drill very deep wells and get limited output.
5. Water Source: A natural water source be it a stream, river, or good pond will open up all type of possibilities from micro-hydro power to irrigation to fish farming. I would rather have a smaller piece of land with a water source that more land without.
6. Terrain: Variable terrain gives you options. You may want to dig a house into the southern side of a hill, put up an antenna on a high spot, or dig a pond in the valley.
7. Woods: It is much easier to create an open field than a forest and lumber has many uses around a homestead. Habitat for deer, turkey and other wild game is more likely to be found in the woods.

Whether you plan on living off the land or keeping your day job in the city, having a piece of dirt allows you to equip your family in even greater ways. If a crisis does occur your family will be in a much better position to survive and thrive. Finding that “perfect” spot won’t be easy but stick with it for it’s a big step in having a well-equipped family.

Download our workbook to get the essential state rankings to help you make an informed decision. Plus, it's packed with all kinds of other helpful information to equip your family!

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