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Data Sets

State Fact Sheets: California

Population, Income, Education, and Employment
Farm Characteristics
Farm Financial Indicators
Top Commodities, Exports, and Counties
About the State Fact Sheets

Data updated March 21, 2008

Data Download
Need help?
Questions & Answers
Excel file CA-fact-sheet.xls

Population, Income, Education, and Employment

Population
  Rural * Urban * Total
Year
    1980 569,423 23,098,342 23,667,765
    1990 713,834 29,046,187 29,760,021
    2000 796,198 33,075,450 33,871,648
    2007 (latest estimates) 833,780 35,719,435 36,553,215

More information on California population
County-level Population Data
Rural Population and Migration Briefing Room
• Contact John Cromartie, 202-694-5421.

Income
  Rural * Urban * Total
Per-capita income (2005 dollars)
    2004 28,251 36,776 36,578
    2005 28,271 37,142 36,936
    Percent change 0.1 1.0 1.0
 
Earnings per job (2005 dollars)
    2004 32,639 52,142 51,743
    2005 32,750 52,238 51,842
    Percent change 0.3 0.2 0.2
 
Poverty rate (percent)
    1979 12.0 11.4 11.4
    1989 13.4 12.5 12.5
    1999 15.2 14.2 14.2
    2005 (latest model-based estimates) 14.6 13.3 13.3

More information on California poverty rates
County-level Poverty Data
Rural Income, Poverty, and Welfare Briefing Room
• See important notes about decennial and model-based intercensal poverty estimates
• Contact Robert Gibbs, 202-694-5423

Education (Persons 25 and older)
  Rural * Urban * Total
Percent not completing high school
    1980 25.3 26.6 26.5
    1990 21.9 23.9 23.8
    2000 17.8 23.3 23.2
 
Percent completing high school only
    1980 38.0 31.3 31.4
    1990 30.0 22.1 22.3
    2000 27.5 19.9 20.1
 
Percent completing some college
    1980 21.9 22.4 22.4
    1990 32.4 30.5 30.5
    2000 36.7 29.9 30.0
 
Percent completing college
    1980 14.6 19.7 19.6
    1990 15.6 23.6 23.4
    2000 18.0 26.8 26.6

More information on California education
County-level Education Data
Rural Labor and Education Briefing Room
• Contact Robert Gibbs, 202-694-5423

Employment
  Rural * Urban * Total
Total number of jobs
    2004 411,354 19,690,083 20,101,437
    2005 417,849 20,130,745 20,548,594
 
Unemployment rate (percent)
    2005 6.7 5.4 5.4
    2006 6.2 4.8 4.9

More information on California unemployment rates
County-level Unemployment and Median Household Income Data
Rural Labor and Education Briefing Room
• Contact Lorin Kusmin, 202-694-5429
 
Percent employment change
    2003-2004 0.5 1.5 1.4
    2004-2005 1.2 2.1 2.1
    2005-2006 0.6 1.5 1.5
 
Percent of 2002 employment in farm and farm-related jobs
Total 18.6 13.7 13.8
    Production 5.2 1.6 1.7
    Farm inputs 0.2 0.1 0.1
    Processing & marketing 1.1 1.6 1.6
    Wholesale & retail trade 11.0 9.8 9.9

More information on farm employment
Farm and Farm-Related Employment data
• Contact Tim Parker, 202-694-5435

* Urban and rural (metro and nonmetro) defintions are based on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) June 2003 classification. See Measuring Rurality: New Definitions in 2003 for more information.
 
More information on socioeconomic conditions
Rural Emphasis Page
• Contact Tim Parker, 202-694-5435.


Farm Characteristics

1992, 1997 and 2002 Census of Agriculture
 
  1992 1997 2002
Total land area (million acres) 99.82 99.82 99.81
    Total farmland (million acres) 28.98 28.80 27.59
        Percent of total land area 29.0 28.8 27.6
 
        Cropland (million acres) 10.48 11.06 10.99
            Percent of total farmland 36.2 38.4 39.8
            Percent in pasture 11.7 12.1 12.2
            Percent irrigated 67.0 73.2 72.3
 
            Harvested Cropland
            (million acres)
7.76 8.68 8.47
 
        Woodland (million acres) 1.15 1.21 1.19
            Percent of total farmland 4.0 4.2 4.3
            Percent in pasture 59.6 58.3 57.0
 
        Pastureland (million acres) 16.19 15.02 13.99
            Percent of total farmland 55.9 52.2 50.7
 
        Land in house lots, ponds,
        roads, wasteland, etc.
        (million acres)
1.16 1.50 1.42
            Percent of total farmland 4.0 5.2 5.1
 
Conservation practices
        Farmland in conservation or
        wetlands reserve programs
        (million acres)
0.20 0.25 0.22
            Percent of total farmland 0.7 0.9 0.8
 
Average farm size (acres) 373 327 346
 
Farms by size (percent)
            1 to 99 acres 71.5 72.9 72.0
            100 to 499 acres 17.3 16.5 17.5
            500 to 999 acres 4.8 4.4 4.5
            1000 to 1,999 acres 3.1 3.0 3.0
            2,000 or more acres 3.3 3.1 3.0
 
Farms by sales (percent)
            Less than $9,999 48.0 49.9 46.0
            $10,000 to $49,999 21.0 19.0 20.8
            $50,000 to $99,999 8.2 7.9 8.5
            $100,000 to $499,999 14.4 13.8 14.3
            More than $500,000 8.6 9.1 10.2
 
Tenure of farmers
        Full owner (farms) 56,559 64,794 60,894
            Percent of total 72.8 73.6 76.5
 
        Part owner (farms) 11,471 12,218 10,636
            Percent of total 14.8 13.9 13.4
 
        Tenant owner (farms) 9,639 10,979 8,101
            Percent of total 12.4 12.5 10.2
 
Farm organization
        Individuals/family, sole
        proprietorship (farms)
60,187 69,154 64,442
            Percent of total 77.5 78.6 80.9
 
        Family-held corporations
        (farms)
4,220 4,675 4,269
            Percent of total 5.4 5.3 5.4
 
        Partnerships (farms) 11,350 11,836 8,953
            Percent of total 14.6 13.5 11.2
 
        Non-family corporations (farms) 847 829 801
            Percent of total 1.1 0.9 1.0
 
        Others - cooperative, estate or
        trust, institutional, etc. (farms)
1,065 1,497 1,166
            Percent of total 1.4 1.7 1.5
 
Characteristics of principal farm operators
        Average operator age (years) 55.2 55.7 56.8
        Percent with farming as their
         primary occupation
51.8 49.8 61.7
        Men (persons) 68,016 74,973 67,016
        Women (persons) 9,653 13,018 12,615
 

More information on farm characteristics
Census of Agriculture
• Contact NASS Customer Service, 1-800-727-9540.

Data from the 1992 Census of Agriculture is not adjusted for coverage. See Coverage Adjustment from NASS.


Farm Financial Indicators

Farm income and value added data
  2005 2006
 
Number of farms 76,500 76,000
 
  Thousands $
       Final crop output 24,083,227 23,726,912
+     Final animal output 8,492,364 7,695,749
+     Services and forestry 2,448,279 2,716,436
=   Final agricultural sector output 35,023,870 34,139,096
 
-      Intermediate consumption outlays 16,155,431 18,538,455
+     Net government transactions -32,183 -296,470
=   Gross value added 18,836,256 15,304,172
 
-      Capital consumption 1,327,184 1,378,273
 
=   Net value added 17,509,072 13,925,899
 
-    Factor payments 7,397,405 8,020,244
         Employee compensation (total hired labor) 5,562,741 6,022,068
         Net rent received by nonoperator landlords 518,284 509,090
         Real estate and nonreal estate interest 1,316,380 1,489,086
 
=   Net farm income 10,111,667 5,905,655
 

More information on farm income
Farm Income Data
Farm Income and Costs Briefing Room
• Contact Roger Strickland, 202-694-5592.

Farm balance sheet
 
• Estimation of State-level Balance Sheets has been suspended. See the Farm Balance Sheet data page for more information.
 


Top Commodities, Exports, and Counties

Top 5 agriculture commodities, 2006
  Value of receipts
thousand $
Percent of state total
farm receipts
Percent of US value
1. Dairy products 4,492,229 14.3 19.2
2. Greenhouse/nursery 3,804,453 12.1 22.5
3. Grapes 3,032,178 9.7 91.0
4. Almonds 2,040,357 6.5 100.0
5. Cattle and calves 1,676,354 5.3 3.4
 
All commodities 31,402,706   13.1
 

More information on California's top agriculture commodities
Leading commodities for cash receipts in Excel
• Contact Roger Strickland, 202-694-5592.

Top 5 agriculture exports, estimates, FY 2006
  Rank among states Value
million $
1. Tree nuts 1 2,729.9
2. Fruits and preparations 1 2,354.8
3. Other 1 1,830.0
4. Vegetables and preparations 1 1,528.0
5. Cotton and linters 5 394.2
 
Overall rank 1 10,474.8
 

More information on agricultural exports
State Export Data
Agricultural Trade Briefing Room
• Contact Nora Brooks, 202-694-5211.

Top 5 counties in agricultural sales 2002
  Percent of state total receipts Million $
1. Fresno County 10.7 2,759.4
2. Tulare County 9.1 2,338.6
3. Monterey County 8.5 2,190.1
4. Kern County 8.0 2,058.7
5. Merced County 5.5 1,409.3
 
State total   25,737.2
 

More information on agricultural sales
Census of Agriculture
• Contact NASS Customer Service, 1-800-727-9540.


Data Sources

Prepared by Economic Research Service, USDA, Washington, DC.

For more information, contact: Tim Parker
Web administration: webadmin@ers.usda.gov
Updated date: March 21, 2008