Ready to Split from Illinois? These 5 States Offering Free Land

Is the process of getting free land like in the movies?

When I think about claiming a stake on a plot of free land in the United States, I immediately think about a movie scene depicting the Oklahoma Land Rush.

The scene is from Far and Away starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman as a young couple from Ireland who came to America to "obtain land and prosper freely," according to IMDB.

In the movie, everyone is lined up in a field with their horses, wagons, and buggies waiting for a 12-noon gunshot start when everyone rushes out to slam a flag into the ground where they are claiming their piece of freedom.

There's no gunshot start, or any horses and covered wagons involved with the current land giveaway happening in several U.S. states.

Where can I get free land in the United States?

Several towns and communities around the country offer the opportunity to receive a plot of land, with some stipulations to build on it within a certain amount of time.

Here are the 5 U.S. states that have free land available:

5 States Offering Free Land in U.S.

These states are offering free plots of land to build on, but there are some stipulations.

LOOK: Here are the best lake towns to live in

Many of the included towns jump out at the casual observer as popular summer-rental spots--the Ozarks' Branson, Missouri, or Arizona's Lake Havasu--it might surprise you to dive deeper into some quality-of-life offerings beyond the beach and vacation homes. You'll likely pick up some knowledge from a wide range of Americana: one of the last remaining 1950s-style drive-ins in the Midwest; a Florida town that started as a Civil War veteran retirement area; an island boasting some of the country's top public schools and wealth-earners right in the middle of a lake between Seattle and Bellevue; and even a California town containing much more than Johnny Cash's prison blues.