Data Sets

State Fact Sheets: Louisiana

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

Data updated October 21, 2009

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Population, Income, Education, and Employment

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Population
Year
1980	1,117,072	3,089,044	4,206,116
1990	1,091,103	3,128,870	4,219,973
2000	1,128,309	3,340,667	4,468,976
2008 (latest estimates)	1,133,982	3,276,814	4,410,796
More information on Louisiana population • County-level Population Data • Rural Population and Migration Briefing Room • Contact John Cromartie, 202-694-5421.

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Income
Per-capita income (2007 dollars)
2006	26,162	36,530	33,767
2007	27,121	37,890	35,100
Percent change	7.3	7.4	7.9

Earnings per job (2007 dollars)
2006	35,169	44,687	42,727
2007	35,734	45,010	43,123
Percent change	3.2	1.4	1.9

Poverty rate (percent)
1979	24.0	16.7	18.6
1989	29.7	21.5	23.6
1999	24.2	18.1	19.6
2007 (latest model-based estimates)	23.7	17.1	18.8
More information on Louisiana 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 Tracey Farrigan, 202-694-5489

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Education (Persons 25 and older)
Percent not completing high school
1980	52.5	38.7	42.3
1990	40.5	28.7	31.7
2000	32.6	22.7	25.2

Percent completing high school only
1980	29.0	31.6	30.9
1990	34.1	30.8	31.7
2000	36.5	31.1	32.4

Percent completing some college
1980	9.0	14.2	12.8
1990	15.2	22.3	20.5
2000	18.8	25.3	23.7

Percent completing college
1980	9.3	15.5	13.9
1990	10.2	18.1	16.1
2000	12.1	20.9	18.7
More information on Louisiana education • County-level Education Data • Rural Labor and Education Briefing Room • Contact Robert Gibbs, 202-694-5423

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Employment
Total number of jobs
2006	501,271	1,933,459	2,434,730
2007	512,029	2,005,056	2,517,085

Unemployment rate (percent)
2007	4.4	3.6	3.8
2008	5.3	4.4	4.6
More information on Louisiana 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
2005-2006	3.9	2.9	3.2
2006-2007	0.3	51.9	35.5
2007-2008	1.2	1.9	1.7

* Urban and rural (metro and nonmetro) definitions 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

	1997	2002	2007
1997, 2002 and 2007 Census of Agriculture

Approximate total land area (acres)	27,882,310	27,879,582	27,668,285
Total farmland (acres)	8,367,843	7,830,664	8,109,975
Percent of total land area	30.0	28.1	29.3

Cropland (acres)	5,567,627	5,071,537	4,691,344
Percent of total farmland	66.5	64.8	57.8
Percent in pasture	16.3	16.6	13.5
Percent irrigated	17.1	18.3	19.4

Harvested Cropland (acres)	4,022,664	3,332,146	3,342,048

Woodland (acres)	1,068,660	1,017,937	1,188,689
Percent of total farmland	12.8	13.0	14.7
Percent in pasture	32.0	29.5	17.8

Pastureland (acres)	1,096,526	1,194,963	1,544,080
Percent of total farmland	13.1	15.3	19.0

Land in house lots, ponds, roads, wasteland, etc. (acres)	635,030	546,227	685,862
Percent of total farmland	7.6	7.0	8.5

Conservation practices
Farmland in conservation or wetlands reserve programs (acres)	182,379	273,839	524,824

Average farm size (acres)	275	286	269

Farms by size (percent)
1 to 99 acres	57.0	57.7	60.9
100 to 499 acres	29.1	28.4	27.7
500 to 999 acres	7.0	6.7	5.0
1000 to 1,999 acres	4.6	4.6	3.7
2,000 or more acres	2.4	2.7	2.7

Farms by sales (percent)
Less than $9,999	65.2	66.5	69.3
$10,000 to $49,999	15.9	16.3	16.4
$50,000 to $99,999	4.4	4.7	3.6
$100,000 to $499,999	10.9	9.0	6.0
More than $500,000	3.7	3.5	4.7

Tenure of farmers
Full owner (farms)	17,769	17,184	20,472
Percent of total	58.4	62.7	68.0

Part owner (farms)	8,753	7,358	7,024
Percent of total	28.8	26.8	23.3

Tenant owner (farms)	3,903	2,871	2,610
Percent of total	12.8	10.5	8.7

Farm organization
Individuals/family, sole proprietorship (farms)	26,736	24,915	25,716
Percent of total	87.9	90.9	85.4

Family-held corporations (farms)	1,214	952	1,639
Percent of total	4.0	3.5	5.4

Partnerships (farms)	2,141	1,323	2,395
Percent of total	7.0	4.8	8.0

Non-family corporations (farms)	120	89	136
Percent of total	0.4	0.3	0.5

Others - cooperative, estate or trust, institutional, etc. (farms)	214	134	220
Percent of total	0.7	0.5	0.7

Characteristics of principal farm operators
Average operator age (years)	53.5	55.1	57.3
Percent with farming as their primary occupation	43.8	54.0	41.8
Men	27,908	24,866	26,248
Women	2,517	2,547	3,858

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

Farm Financial Indicators

	2007	2008
Farm income and value added data

Number of farms	30,000	30,000

	Thousands $
Final crop output	1,781,159	1,887,786
+ Final animal output	1,006,673	1,049,784
+ Services and forestry	333,115	339,062
= Final agricultural sector output	3,120,947	3,276,632

- Intermediate consumption outlays	1,770,550	1,847,406
+ Net government transactions	216,654	149,189
= Gross value added	1,567,051	1,578,415

- Capital consumption	268,703	285,575

= Net value added	1,298,348	1,292,840

- Factor payments	458,698	502,981
Employee compensation (total hired labor)	198,652	202,432
Net rent received by nonoperator landlords	110,691	156,728
Real estate and nonreal estate interest	149,355	143,821

= Net farm income	839,650	789,859

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

	Value of receipts thousand $	Percent of state total farm receipts	Percent of US value
Top 5 agriculture commodities, 2008
1. Rice	399,650	13.2	12.4
2. Corn	389,162	12.8	0.8
3. Cane for sugar	327,720	10.8	38.6
4. Soybeans	272,424	9.0	0.9
5. Cattle and calves	191,012	6.3	0.4

All commodities	3,034,676		0.9

More information on Louisiana's top agriculture commodities • Leading commodities for cash receipts in a text file • Contact Ted Covey, 202-694-5344.

	Rank among states	Value million $
Top 5 agriculture exports, estimates, FY 2008
1. Rice	3	261.5
2. Soybeans and products	18	204.8
3. Feed grains and products	18	127.3
4. Wheat and products	30	121.0
5. Cotton and linters	11	102.6

Overall rank	31	925.8

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

	Percent of state total receipts	Thousands $
Top 5 counties in agricultural sales 2007
1. Union Parish	5.1	133,773
2. Lincoln Parish	4.6	119,727
3. Franklin Parish	4.1	106,258
4. Sabine Parish	4.0	105,344
5. East Carroll Parish	3.7	96,037

State total		2,617,981

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

Data Sources

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, county data, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Regional Economic Information System, April 2008, Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce.
1980, 1990, and 2000 Census of Population, Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce.
Farm Income and Costs Briefing Room, Economic Research Service, USDA.
Foreign Agricultural Trade of the United States (FATUS), Economic Research Service, USDA.
Census of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA.

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

For more information, contact: Tim Parker

Web administration: webadmin@ers.usda.gov

Updated date: October 21, 2009