Quarter Section, PLSS Definition

A quarter section is the result of dividing a standard section into four equal parts using its center lines — the east-west line connecting the midpoints of the north and south boundaries, and the north-south line connecting the midpoints of the east and west boundaries. Each of the four resulting parcels is one-fourth of the section, nominally 160 acres, and is identified by its compass position: northeast quarter (NE), northwest quarter (NW), southeast quarter (SE), or southwest quarter (SW).

The quarter section became the standard unit of American homesteading. The Homestead Act of 1862 granted 160 acres — one quarter section — to qualifying settlers who lived on the land for five years and made improvements. This association between 160 acres and the family farm shaped rural land patterns across the Midwest and Great Plains. Today, the boundaries of quarter sections are still visible in the grid of roads, fences, and field edges that characterizes agricultural landscapes in PLSS states.

In a legal description, the quarter section is written before the section number: "SW 22 3N 5E 5th Meridian" identifies the southwest quarter of Section 22. When a quarter section is itself subdivided, the smaller unit is written first: "NESW" identifies the northeast quarter of the southwest quarter — approximately 40 acres in the southwest portion of the section.

Quarter sections in fractional sections, particularly those bordering the north and west edges of a township, may contain more or fewer than 160 acres due to convergence corrections and other survey adjustments. In those cases, the actual acreage is recorded on the BLM survey plat. For standard interior sections, however, 160 acres is a reliable approximation that is used in everyday agricultural and real estate contexts.