Data Sets

State Fact Sheets: Massachusetts

• 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	14,029	5,723,064	5,737,093
1990	17,651	5,998,774	6,016,425
2000	24,507	6,324,590	6,349,097
2008 (latest estimates)	26,742	6,471,225	6,497,967
More information on Massachusetts 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	53,212	47,601	47,624
2007	53,749	48,975	48,995
Percent change	2.0	5.8	5.8

Earnings per job (2007 dollars)
2006	39,849	58,773	58,658
2007	39,149	59,584	59,458
Percent change	-3.5	2.8	2.7

Poverty rate (percent)
1979	8.2	9.6	9.6
1989	6.4	8.9	8.9
1999	7.4	9.3	9.3
2007 (latest model-based estimates)	6.2	10.0	10.0
More information on Massachusetts 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	16.1	27.8	27.8
1990	10.0	20.0	20.0
2000	9.1	15.3	15.2

Percent completing high school only
1980	43.0	36.4	36.4
1990	28.6	29.7	29.7
2000	25.0	27.3	27.3

Percent completing some college
1980	19.4	15.7	15.8
1990	29.0	23.0	23.0
2000	27.5	24.3	24.3

Percent completing college
1980	21.9	20.0	20.0
1990	32.4	27.2	27.2
2000	38.4	33.2	33.2
More information on Massachusetts 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	25,019	4,128,554	4,153,573
2007	25,841	4,172,972	4,198,813

Unemployment rate (percent)
2007	3.0	4.5	4.5
2008	3.7	5.3	5.3
More information on Massachusetts 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	1.9	1.0	1.0
2006-2007	1.1	0.5	0.5
2007-2008	-1.6	-0.6	-0.6

* 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)	5,016,290	5,017,610	4,992,934
Total farmland (acres)	577,637	518,570	517,879
Percent of total land area	11.5	10.3	10.4

Cropland (acres)	247,267	207,734	187,406
Percent of total farmland	42.8	40.1	36.2
Percent in pasture	18.6	14.4	8.7
Percent irrigated	10.7	11.3	12.1

Harvested Cropland (acres)	184,480	159,253	153,993

Woodland (acres)	219,765	210,891	212,539
Percent of total farmland	38.0	40.7	41.0
Percent in pasture	10.6	10.7	10.3

Pastureland (acres)	27,902	31,279	48,120
Percent of total farmland	4.8	6.0	9.3

Land in house lots, ponds, roads, wasteland, etc. (acres)	82,703	68,666	69,814
Percent of total farmland	14.3	13.2	13.5

Conservation practices
Farmland in conservation or wetlands reserve programs (acres)	3,114	191	580

Average farm size (acres)	79	85	67

Farms by size (percent)
1 to 99 acres	77.5	75.4	80.5
100 to 499 acres	20.5	21.9	18.0
500 to 999 acres	1.6	2.1	1.2
1000 to 1,999 acres	0.4	0.5	0.3
2,000 or more acres	0.1	0.0	0.1

Farms by sales (percent)
Less than $9,999	59.4	63.6	64.2
$10,000 to $49,999	20.7	18.7	20.2
$50,000 to $99,999	7.3	6.3	5.2
$100,000 to $499,999	10.3	9.2	7.9
More than $500,000	2.4	2.2	2.5

Tenure of farmers
Full owner (farms)	5,115	4,355	5,647
Percent of total	70.0	71.7	73.4

Part owner (farms)	1,568	1,221	1,373
Percent of total	21.5	20.1	17.9

Tenant owner (farms)	624	499	671
Percent of total	8.5	8.2	8.7

Farm organization
Individuals/family, sole proprietorship (farms)	6,023	5,020	6,318
Percent of total	82.4	82.6	82.1

Family-held corporations (farms)	592	494	566
Percent of total	8.1	8.1	7.4

Partnerships (farms)	521	376	574
Percent of total	7.1	6.2	7.5

Non-family corporations (farms)	75	65	75
Percent of total	1.0	1.1	1.0

Others - cooperative, estate or trust, institutional, etc. (farms)	96	120	158
Percent of total	1.3	2.0	2.1

Characteristics of principal farm operators
Average operator age (years)	54.2	54.9	56.3
Percent with farming as their primary occupation	49.3	54.0	48.0
Men	5,939	4,770	5,465
Women	1,368	1,305	2,226

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	7,700	7,700

	Thousands $
Final crop output	372,954	451,406
+ Final animal output	121,339	112,785
+ Services and forestry	153,435	164,397
= Final agricultural sector output	647,727	728,588

- Intermediate consumption outlays	278,106	289,312
+ Net government transactions	-31,422	-36,488
= Gross value added	338,199	402,788

- Capital consumption	76,799	80,374

= Net value added	261,400	322,414

- Factor payments	153,300	143,761
Employee compensation (total hired labor)	126,010	120,657
Net rent received by nonoperator landlords	-6,266	-9,146
Real estate and nonreal estate interest	33,556	32,250

= Net farm income	108,100	178,653

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. Greenhouse/nursery	176,784	31.0	1.1
2. Cranberries	136,820	24.0	30.2
3. Dairy products	50,904	8.9	0.1
4. Corn, sweet	17,888	3.1	1.6
5. Apples	17,860	3.1	0.7

All commodities	569,790		0.2

More information on Massachusetts'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. Wheat and products	19	254.6
2. Other	26	55.6
3. Tobacco unmfd.	8	16.0
4. Fruits and preparations	17	15.4
5. Vegetables and preparations	35	3.4

Overall rank	38	350.4

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. Middlesex County	16.7	81,708
2. Worcester County	16.4	80,550
3. Plymouth County	16.0	78,440
4. Franklin County	11.6	56,844
5. Bristol County	9.0	44,245

State total		489,820

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