How many acres in a section?
A section is one square mile — 640 acres. Pick a piece of the Public Land Survey System grid below to get its acreage, and add your ownership share to see your net acres. No email required, and the math is printed with the result.
These are the nominal PLSS figures — a section is treated as a full 640 acres. Real sections vary slightly on the ground (survey error, correction lines, water boundaries, and fractional lots along township edges), so your recorded description or a survey is the authority for the exact acres. This tool is an estimate, not a legal description or a title opinion.
Section, township, and range — the PLSS grid
Across most of the western and central United States, land is described using the Public Land Survey System (PLSS). The grid starts with townships — blocks six miles on a side — located by township lines (running north and south) and range lines (running east and west). A description like T2N-R3W just means the township that is 2 north and 3 west of a survey origin.
Each township is a 6 × 6 arrangement of 36 sections. A section is one square mile — 640 acres. Sections are then cut into halves (320 acres), quarters (160 acres), and quarter-quarters (40 acres). So a description like NE/4 NE/4, Sec 14, T2N-R3W points to one 40-acre corner of one square mile.
Township = 6 mi × 6 mi = 36 sections = 23,040 acres
Section = 1 mi × 1 mi = 640 acres
1/2 section = 320 acres
1/4 section (NW/4) = 160 acres
1/2 of 1/4 = 80 acres
1/4 of 1/4 (NE/4 NE/4) = 40 acres
1/4 of 1/4 of 1/4 = 10 acres Ownership is described the same way. If you own a fraction of the minerals under a tract, your net mineral acres are the tract's acreage multiplied by your fractional interest.
Turn your net acres into a value
Once you know your net acres, you can estimate what they're worth. Start with the net mineral acres calculator to nail down your interest, then run it through the mineral rights value calculator for a market-orientation range.
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Acres, sections, and townships — FAQ
How many acres are in a section?
A section is one square mile, which is 640 acres. The Public Land Survey System (PLSS) divides land into square-mile sections, so a full section always measures 640 acres — subject to small survey variations on the ground.
How many acres are in a quarter section?
A quarter section is 160 acres — one quarter of a 640-acre section (for example the NW/4). Quarters are often split again into quarter-quarters of 40 acres each (for example the NE/4 NE/4).
How many acres are in a township?
A township is 23,040 acres. A township is a 6-mile by 6-mile block made up of 36 sections, and 36 × 640 acres = 23,040 acres.
What is the PLSS (section, township, and range)?
The Public Land Survey System is the grid used to describe land across most of the western and central United States. Land is divided into 6-mile-square townships located by township (north–south) and range (east–west) lines. Each township holds 36 numbered sections of one square mile (640 acres), and sections are split into halves, quarters, and quarter-quarters. Mineral descriptions such as "NE/4 NE/4, Section 14, T2N-R3W" come straight from this grid. See our net mineral acre definition for how ownership maps onto it.