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The city of Manilla is located in Crawford County in Iowa. The location of this city isn’t completely off the grid but you could plug into relatively urban areas. The population of this city in 2019 was just 895. You can probably already imagine how easy it is to connect to more people when the entire city’s population is below the 1000 mark.

In addition to that, Iowa in general is a great state to consider for homesteading. But we specifically call out Manilla in this list because they have a project that goes by the name ‘Sunrise Addition Phase 2’. This project would be beneficial to all of you looking to get some free land. There’s a set of requirements drafted by the Manilla Economic Development Corporation that you must fulfill. You can then qualify for the ‘No Cost Lot’ initiative post clearing the application procedure. For more information, we suggest getting in touch with the city administrative office at –

Via phone: 712-654-2632
Via email: citymnla@fmctc.com

Upside – You could easily drive to bigger cities like Des Moines and Iowa City when you want to have access to better medical facilities and school districts. So you can enjoy both the city life and the off-grid living.

The state of Minnesota is rightly called the Lake City. So if you’re an outdoorsy person, this is hands down a great option. There are plenty of cool spots for swimming, kayaking, and fishing. The place is also good for mountain biking, and hiking, and well the options are limitless.