Wind Energy and Property Values
With over 70,000 wind turbines operating across the United States, hundreds of thousands of people live and work around wind energy every day.
For communities considering their first wind project, one common question is whether wind turbines affect land and home values. Researchers have also been interested in this topic, and several high-quality studies on the relationship between wind energy and property values have been conducted in recent years.
Recent Studies
- A 2022 study published in the Energy Policy Journal found that wind projects led to meaningful increases in both median household income and home value.1 Researchers noted that the significant tax benefits from wind projects contributed to increased county investment in schools, highways, and hospitals, making the counties more attractive places to live.
- In 2023, Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory released a study2 that examined approximately 500,000 home transactions across 34 states and 428 different wind projects between 2005 and 2020, including data from both the preconstruction and operations phases. This new, large-scale study found no impacts from wind farms on home values in rural counties (with a population under 250,000), which host 94% of all installed wind capacity.
- A 2024 study published in the peer-reviewed Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences focused on visibility of wind turbines from homes. This study found no effect on property values for modern wind turbines installed since 2017.3 The study data shows that statistically, even homes within half a mile of a wind turbine are not affected by its presence.
“Regardless of the type or size of wind turbine studied, researchers find no statistical evidence that home values near turbines are affected before, during, or after construction.“—Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024)3
Good News for Wind Farmers
According to rural appraisers, farm acreage upon which turbines are sited often increases in value to account for the new stream of steady, long-term income the property generates by harvesting wind energy. It is not surprising that a 2014 survey of over 1,200 farmers found that those with wind turbines on their property viewed them favorably and invested twice as much money into their farms compared to farmers without turbines on their property.4
Numerous studies show that the planning, construction, and operation of wind projects have no long-term negative impact on property values.
