Land for sale in Franklin, TN: acreage, farms and what to check before you buy

At a glance

How much is an acre of land in Franklin, TN?

No official source publishes a price per acre for Franklin or Williamson County, and an average would mislead anyway: two tracts of the same size can differ sharply in value because of what the county will let you build. What sets a tract's price is how many homes it can legally hold, how many bedrooms its soil will support on septic, whether it has a water tap, how much of it is usable rather than steep or wet, its road frontage, and any easement or greenbelt history.

For context on homes rather than land, Zillow's typical home value in August 2026 was $929,377 for Williamson County and $1,288,183 for College Grove. To price a specific tract, compare closed sales of land with the same zoning and similar usable acreage. I can pull recent land sales near any parcel you are considering.

Where to find land and acreage around Franklin

Leiper's Fork

West of Franklin, the village core is zoned LFV with 15,000-square-foot minimum lots, and the countryside around it is zoned for 5- or 15-acre minimums. The Natchez Trace Parkway passes the village, and the Land Trust for Tennessee has reported conservation easements on several nearby farms. More on the village and its land is on the Leiper's Fork page.

College Grove

College Grove's village district, CGV, has a Core subarea with 15,000-square-foot lots and a General subarea with half-acre lots; rural land outside it follows the 5- and 15-acre rules. Two golf communities sell homesites too: about 0.4 to 2 acres at The Grove and about 0.4 to 1.5 acres at Troubadour, in listings from October 2026. See the College Grove page for the area as a whole.

Elsewhere in rural Williamson County

Other unincorporated land falls under the same district system: RD-1 and RP-1 allow one-acre lots in traditional subdivisions, and the H (Hamlet) district lists 20,000 square feet. Land inside a city follows that city's zoning instead, so check which government a parcel answers to before anything else.

What to check before you buy land

Zoning district and minimum lot size

Williamson County's zoning translation table, from its ordinance update, lists these minimums for residential lots:

The minimum tells you how many lots a tract could ever be divided into. Confirm the parcel's current district with Williamson County Planning before you count on a split.

Septic: soil map or perc test

Lots that rely on septic must be approved by the Williamson County Department of Sewage Disposal Management, which has jurisdiction across the county, including inside its cities. The county assesses land by soil mapping, requiring an Extra High-Intensity soil map at the preliminary subdivision stage, or by percolation tests where it approves them. The recorded plat states how many bedrooms the lot can support, so a large house plan has to fit the soil, not just the acreage. The rules were last revised with changes effective June 16, 2026, including the expiration of soil maps, so ask how old any existing map is.

Backup area and slope

Every system needs a duplicate area held in protected reserve for future repair, and it cannot be used for the first installation. Slopes over 30 percent are unsuitable for conventional and low-pressure-pipe systems, and over 35 percent for drip systems. Septic areas must not be disturbed during construction, and water lines may not run within 10 feet of them, which affects where the house, drive and barn can go.

Water: tap or well

Public water in rural Williamson County comes from utility districts (Milcrofton, HB&TS, Mallory Valley, Nolensville College Grove) or from cities. Whether a tract has a water tap or needs a well is a per-parcel check. Middle Tennessee Electric supplies power across the county; ask how far service must be extended to your building site.

Easements, including conservation easements

Read every recorded easement: access, utility and drainage easements decide where you can build. A conservation easement restricts future development, so read the recorded document to see what it allows before you assume you can add a home or divide the land.

Flood maps

Look up the parcel on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center and check the building site, not just the parcel as a whole.

Internet

Service on rural land varies by road. Check providers at the exact address before you buy, and ask what it would cost to bring a line to your building site.

Greenbelt and rollback taxes

Tennessee's greenbelt law, the Agricultural, Forest and Open Space Land Act (TCA 67-5-1001 and following), assesses qualifying land at its use value rather than its market value. On a large tract, that can change the tax bill more than anything else; rates and the rest of the bill are on the Williamson County property tax guide.

Who qualifies

Agricultural land needs at least 15 acres, counting woodlands and wastelands; forest land needs 15 acres; open space needs 3. Two noncontiguous farm tracts can qualify if one has 15 acres and the other at least 10, or if together they total 15 acres and are separated only by a road, water or an easement. No one may place more than 3,000 acres under greenbelt in one taxing jurisdiction.

Rollback when land stops qualifying

If greenbelt land is disqualified, rollback taxes equal the difference between use-value and market-value taxes for the previous three years (farm and forest) or five years (open space), and the owner at the moment of disqualification is liable. Here is how that plays out: if you buy six acres carved from a greenbelt farm, the new parcel is below the 15-acre farm minimum. Find out before closing whether rollback is triggered and write into the contract who pays it.

Applying

First-time applications go to the county assessor of property by March 15, and approved applications must be recorded with the register of deeds.

Horse property: how many acres per horse?

UT Extension's guidance is about two to three acres per mature horse (1,000 to 1,200 pounds) if pasture is to supply most of its diet. With less land, the pasture becomes mainly an exercise area that needs active management for weeds, manure and mud. Before the county's zoning update, an Equestrian use in the old Rural and Estate districts required 200,000 square feet, about 4.6 acres; the translation table maps those districts to RD-5.

For barns, fencing and livestock setbacks, ask Williamson County Planning what the current ordinance requires for your district. For riding, the National Park Service lists the Garrison Creek trailhead on the Natchez Trace Parkway, near Leiper's Fork, as open to horseback riders. Choosing horse land comes down to pasture acreage, zoning that permits the barn you want, and trail access.

Costs beyond the land price

Budget for the work that turns a tract into a homesite: a survey, soil mapping, a septic system sized to your bedroom count, a well or a water tap, an electric extension, a driveway and any internet line. Get quotes before you close, because each depends on the specific site. If you will build, the new construction guide covers builder contracts and warranties, and the jumbo loans guide covers financing above the 2026 conforming limit; tell any lender early that the purchase is land.

Common questions

Sources

• Williamson County: Zoning District Translation Table, Update to the Williamson County Zoning Ordinance
• Williamson County Department of Sewage Disposal Management: Regulations Governing On-Site Sewage Disposal Systems (adopted May 16, 2000; revisions through June 16, 2026)
• Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury, State Board of Equalization: Greenbelt
• UT Extension PB1651: Pastures for Horses (Bates and McIntosh, rev. 2/10)
• Milcrofton Utility District: About
• Middle Tennessee Electric: Your Cooperative
• FEMA Flood Map Service Center
• Nashville Post: Land Trust scores fourth Leiper's Fork-area easement with 214-acre farm
• National Park Service: Garrison Creek
• Nashville Home Guru: The Grove vs. Troubadour Club (homesite listings, October 2026)
• Zillow Home Value Index, August 2026 (via tools/data/franklin.json)