The U.S. military is something of a real estate tycoon.
Over the years, the Defense Department has amassed nearly 30 million acres of land worldwide spanning 45 countries and eight U.S. territories, according to data from the 2018 budget. And a map drawn up by Visual Capitalist shows exactly how that looks, on a state-by-state basis.
“This map visualizes the share of a state comprised by military sites, which the Department of Defense defines as a specific geographic location that has individual land parcels or facilities assigned to it,” according to the Visual Capitalist. “The geographical location is leased to, owned by, or otherwise under the jurisdiction of the DoD.”
According to the data, the DoD’s portfolio is worth a stunning $749 billion. The Army has control of the most land with 51%, and the Air Force follows with 32%.
The state with the most DoD-owned land by percentage is Hawaii, which boasts 5.6%. However, by space, the honor goes to New Mexico with a whopping 3.8 million acres.
In total, the 2018 data shows that of the 26.9 million acres the DoD owns, 98% of it is in the U.S. Abroad, the U.S. owns large swaths of land in Germany, Japan and South Korea.
Sarah Sicard is a Senior Editor with Military Times. She previously served as the Digitial Editor of Military Times and the Army Times Editor. Other work can be found at National Defense Magazine, Task & Purpose, and Defense News.
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