Data Sets

State Fact Sheets: Vermont

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

Data updated May 9, 2008

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Population, Income, Education, and Employment

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Population
Year
1980	356,521	154,935	511,456
1990	385,699	177,059	562,758
2000	409,938	198,889	608,827
2007 (latest estimates)	413,893	207,361	621,254
More information on Vermont population • County-level Population Data • Rural Population and Migration Briefing Room • Contact John Cromartie, 202-694-5421.

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Income
Per-capita income (2006 dollars)
2005	32,675	36,347	33,893
2006	33,672	37,280	34,871
Percent change	3.1	2.6	2.9

Earnings per job (2006 dollars)
2005	33,671	42,825	36,895
2006	32,966	42,722	36,382
Percent change	-2.1	-0.2	-1.4

Poverty rate (percent)
1979	12.3	11.4	12.1
1989	10.2	9.1	9.9
1999	9.7	8.8	9.4
2005 (latest model-based estimates)	10.5	10.3	10.4
More information on Vermont 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

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Education (Persons 25 and older)
Percent not completing high school
1980	29.9	26.6	29.0
1990	20.5	16.3	19.2
2000	14.5	11.5	13.6

Percent completing high school only
1980	37.0	35.2	36.4
1990	36.0	31.3	34.6
2000	34.4	28.0	32.4

Percent completing some college
1980	15.4	16.1	15.6
1990	21.3	23.4	21.9
2000	24.1	25.7	24.6

Percent completing college
1980	17.8	22.1	19.0
1990	22.3	29.0	24.3
2000	27.0	34.8	29.4
More information on Vermont 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
2005	276,261	150,198	426,459
2006	282,276	152,057	434,333

Unemployment rate (percent)
2006	3.8	3.5	3.7
2007	4.1	3.5	3.9
More information on Vermont 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
2004-2005	1.1	0.2	0.8
2005-2006	1.7	1.4	1.6
2006-2007	-0.9	-0.4	-0.7

Percent of 2002 employment in farm and farm-related jobs
Total	15.8	14.8	15.5
Production	2.7	1.5	2.3
Farm inputs	0.1	0.1	0.1
Processing & marketing	1.1	1.8	1.4
Wholesale & retail trade	11.0	10.5	10.8
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	2002
1992, 1997 and 2002 Census of Agriculture

Total land area (million acres)	5.92	5.92	5.92
Total farmland (million acres)	1.28	1.32	1.24
Percent of total land area	21.6	22.2	21.0

Cropland (million acres)	0.66	0.63	0.57
Percent of total farmland	51.5	48.1	45.6
Percent in pasture	24.0	21.8	14.2
Percent irrigated	0.3	0.4	0.4

Harvested Cropland (million acres)	0.48	0.47	0.45

Woodland (million acres)	0.48	0.52	0.52
Percent of total farmland	37.5	39.3	42.0
Percent in pasture	19.2	13.3	10.4

Pastureland (million acres)	0.09	0.09	0.09
Percent of total farmland	6.7	6.6	7.2

Land in house lots, ponds, roads, wasteland, etc. (million acres)	0.05	0.08	0.07
Percent of total farmland	4.3	6.0	5.2

Conservation practices
Farmland in conservation or wetlands reserve programs (million acres)	0.00	0.01	0.00
Percent of total farmland	0.2	0.6	0.1

Average farm size (acres)	235	186	189

Farms by size (percent)
1 to 99 acres	33.2	47.3	49.8
100 to 499 acres	55.6	44.8	41.8
500 to 999 acres	9.6	6.4	6.2
1000 to 1,999 acres	1.3	1.4	1.9
2,000 or more acres	0.2	0.2	0.4

Farms by sales (percent)
Less than $9,999	45.0	56.8	60.6
$10,000 to $49,999	15.0	17.0	15.7
$50,000 to $99,999	13.1	8.0	6.0
$100,000 to $499,999	25.4	16.5	15.0
More than $500,000	1.6	2.0	2.8

Tenure of farmers
Full owner (farms)	2,925	4,218	4,011
Percent of total	53.8	59.7	61.0

Part owner (farms)	2,106	2,295	2,162
Percent of total	38.7	32.5	32.9

Tenant owner (farms)	405	550	398
Percent of total	7.5	7.8	6.1

Farm organization
Individuals/family, sole proprietorship (farms)	4,665	6,061	5,716
Percent of total	85.8	85.8	87.0

Family-held corporations (farms)	225	332	261
Percent of total	4.1	4.7	4.0

Partnerships (farms)	485	575	483
Percent of total	8.9	8.1	7.4

Non-family corporations (farms)	21	27	20
Percent of total	0.4	0.4	0.3

Others - cooperative, estate or trust, institutional, etc. (farms)	40	68	91
Percent of total	0.7	1.0	1.4

Characteristics of principal farm operators
Average operator age (years)	51.4	52.7	53.9
Percent with farming as their primary occupation	64.4	51.2	53.1
Men (persons)	4,777	5,996	5,604
Women (persons)	659	1,067	967

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

	2005	2006
Farm income and value added data

Number of farms	6,300	6,300

	Thousands $
Final crop output	80,958	87,922
+ Final animal output	485,357	402,125
+ Services and forestry	68,353	63,173
= Final agricultural sector output	634,667	553,220

- Intermediate consumption outlays	268,496	276,158
+ Net government transactions	-11,112	-16,064
= Gross value added	355,059	260,998

- Capital consumption	61,411	63,990

= Net value added	293,648	197,008

- Factor payments	88,914	93,814
Employee compensation (total hired labor)	59,996	61,695
Net rent received by nonoperator landlords	496	-117
Real estate and nonreal estate interest	28,422	32,236

= Net farm income	204,734	103,194

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, 2006
1. Dairy products	352,912	70.5	1.5
2. Cattle and calves	47,854	9.6	0.1
3. Greenhouse/nursery	27,200	5.4	0.2
4. Hay	18,491	3.7	0.4
5. Maple products	11,398	2.3	30.7

All commodities	500,792		0.2

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

	Rank among states	Value million $
Top 5 agriculture exports, estimates, FY 2006
1. Dairy products	15	26.0
2. Other	46	5.7
3. Seeds	33	3.6
4. Fruits and preparations	27	2.6
5. Feeds and fodders	42	2.3

Overall rank	46	41.9

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

	Percent of state total receipts	Million $
Top 5 counties in agricultural sales 2002
1. Franklin County	24.4	115.4
2. Addison County	22.4	105.9
3. Orleans County	12.1	57.3
4. Orange County	6.8	32.0
5. Chittenden County	5.9	28.1

State total		473.1

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, June 2005, 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: May 9, 2008