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State Fact Sheets: United States
• Population, Income, Food Insecurity, Education, and Employment
• Federal Funds
• Organic Agriculture
• Farm Characteristics
• Farm Financial Indicators
• Top Commodities, Exports, and Counties
• About the State Fact Sheets

Data updated January 17, 2012

Data Download
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Excel file US-Fact-Sheet.xls
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Population, Income, Food Insecurity, Education, and Employment

Population
  Rural * Urban * Total
Year
    1980 45,582,560 180,959,644 226,542,204
    1990 44,769,175 203,940,698 248,709,873
    2000 48,841,966 232,579,940 281,421,906
    2010 51,043,753 257,701,785 308,745,538

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

Income
  Rural * Urban * Total
Per-capita income (2009 dollars)
    2008 31,530 42,284 40,512
    2009 31,415 41,244 39,635
    Percent change -0.4 -2.5 -2.2
 
Earnings per job (2009 dollars)
    2008 36,523 53,234 50,772
    2009 36,343 53,178 50,695
    Percent change -0.5 -0.1 -0.2
 
Poverty rate (percent)
    1979 15.9 11.6 12.4
    1989 17.3 12.2 13.1
    1999 14.8 11.9 12.4
    2010 (latest model-based estimates) 17.8 14.8 15.3

More information on United States 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

Household-level Food Insecurity and Very Low Food Security
  2002-04 Avg. 2005-07 Avg. 2008-10 Avg.
Percent of households
    Food insecure 11.4 11.0 14.6
    Very low food security 3.6 4.0 5.6

More information on Food Insecurity
• Food Security in the United States Briefing Room
• Definitions of Food Insecurity and Very Low Food Security
• Comparisons of prevalence rates of food insecurity between States must take account of the margins of error, which are sizeable for many States. Margins of error are published along with State prevalence rates in each year’s Household Food Security in the United States report.
• Contact Alisha Coleman-Jensen, 202-694-5456.

Education (Persons 25 and older)
  Rural * Urban * Total
Percent not completing high school
    1980 (Census) 41.8 31.6 33.5
    1990 (Census) 31.4 23.3 24.8
    2000 (Census) 23.5 18.8 19.6
    2006-2010 (ACS) 17.6 14.7 15.0
 
Percent completing high school only
    1980 (Census) 35.0 34.4 34.6
    1990 (Census) 35.2 28.9 30.0
    2000 (Census) 35.9 27.1 28.6
    2006-2010 (ACS) 36.8 27.4 29.0
 
Percent completing some college
    1980 (Census) 12.4 16.4 15.7
    1990 (Census) 21.0 25.8 24.9
    2000 (Census) 25.5 27.8 27.4
    2006-2010 (ACS) 28.1 28.0 28.1
 
Percent completing college
    1980 (Census) 10.6 17.6 16.2
    1990 (Census) 12.4 22.1 20.3
    2000 (Census) 15.1 26.4 24.4
    2006-2010 (ACS) 17.5 29.9 27.9

More information on United States education
• County-level Education Data
• Rural Labor and Education Briefing Room
• Contact Alexander Marré, 202-694-5338

Employment
  Rural * Urban * Total
Total number of jobs
    2008 26,464,878 153,145,328 179,610,192
    2009 25,644,194 148,165,008 173,809,200
 
Percent employment change
    2007-2008 -0.7 -0.1 -0.2
    2008-2009 -3.7 -3.6 -3.6
    2009-2010 -0.5 -0.5 -0.5
 
Unemployment rate (percent)
    2009 9.0 9.3 9.3
    2010 9.2 9.7 9.6

More information on United States unemployment rates
• County-level Unemployment and Median Household Income Data
• Rural Labor and Education Briefing Room
• Contact Lorin Kusmin, 202-694-5429

Federal Funds, FY 2010
  Rural * Urban * Total
Federal funding, dollars per person
   All Federal funds 10,288 10,898 10,798
 
Federal funding by purpose (function codes)
      Agriculture and natural resources 330 42 89
      Community resources 926 1,507 1,412
      Defense and space 860 1,757 1,610
      Human resources 256 191 201
      Income security 6,969 5,601 5,825
      National functions 947 1,800 1,660
 
Federal funding by type of payments (object codes)
      Grants 1,796 1,546 1,587
      Direct loans 284 278 279
      Guaranteed/insured loans 743 1,391 1,285
      Retirement/disability payments 3,507 2,797 2,913
      Other direct payments to
      individuals		 2,173 1,923 1,964
      Direct payments, not to
      individuals		 278 70 104
      Procurement contracts 684 1,762 1,586
      Salaries and wages 822 1,131 1,081

Total does not include Statewide funds undistributed at the county level.

More information on Federal Funds
• Program Function and Object Code Definitions
• Federal Funds and Development Policy Briefing Room
• Federal Funds Data
• Contact Richard Reeder, 202-694-5360


* The terms “rural” and “urban” here refer to data for nonmetro and metro areas, a county-level classification defined by the Office of Management and Budget. We use the June 2003 version of nonmetro and metro areas because it reflects conditions at the beginning of the decade. See Measuring Rurality: What is Rural? for a discussion of differences between metro-nonmetro categories and the Census Bureau’s rural-urban classification.
 
More information on socioeconomic conditions
• Rural Emphasis Page
• Contact Tim Parker, 202-694-5435.

Organic Agriculture

  2006 2007 2008
Number of certified operations 9,501 11,367 12,941
Crops (acres) 1,885,904 2,285,643 2,655,382
Pasture & rangeland (acres) 1,051,569 2,005,040 2,160,577
Total acres 2,937,473 4,290,684 4,815,959

More information on organic agriculture
• Organic Production Data
• Organic Agriculture Briefing Room
• Contact Catherine Greene, 202-694-5541.

Farm Characteristics

1997, 2002 and 2007 Census of Agriculture
 
  1997 2002 2007
Approximate total land area (acres) 2,262,462,020 2,263,960,501 2,260,994,361
    Total farmland (acres) 954,752,502 938,279,056 922,095,840
        Percent of total land area 42.2 41.4 40.8
 
        Cropland (acres) 445,324,765 434,164,946 406,424,909
            Percent of total farmland 46.6 46.3 44.1
            Percent in pasture 14.9 13.9 8.8
            Percent irrigated 11.5 11.6 12.7
 
            Harvested Cropland (acres) 318,937,401 302,697,252 309,607,601
 
        Woodland (acres) 76,854,833 75,878,213 75,098,603
            Percent of total farmland 8.0 8.1 8.1
            Percent in pasture 40.4 41.0 38.1
 
        Pastureland (acres) 398,232,125 395,278,829 408,832,116
            Percent of total farmland 41.7 42.1 44.3
 
        Land in house lots, ponds,
        roads, wasteland, etc. (acres)		 34,340,781 32,957,068 31,740,212
            Percent of total farmland 3.6 3.5 3.4
 
Conservation practices
        Farmland in conservation or
        wetlands reserve programs
        (acres)		 31,901,955 32,723,967 38,547,450
 
Average farm size (acres) 431 441 418
 
Farms by size (percent)
            1 to 99 acres 49.2 51.0 54.4
            100 to 499 acres 34.7 33.1 31.0
            500 to 999 acres 8.1 7.6 6.8
            1000 to 1,999 acres 4.6 4.7 4.2
            2,000 or more acres 3.4 3.7 3.6
 
Farms by sales (percent)
            Less than $9,999 55.3 59.3 59.8
            $10,000 to $49,999 21.4 19.4 18.3
            $50,000 to $99,999 7.4 6.6 5.7
            $100,000 to $499,999 12.7 11.3 10.9
            More than $500,000 3.2 3.3 5.3
 
Tenure of farmers
        Full owner (farms) 1,384,565 1,428,136 1,522,033
            Percent of total 62.5 67.1 69.0
 
        Part owner (farms) 615,902 551,004 542,192
            Percent of total 27.8 25.9 24.6
 
        Tenant owner (farms) 215,409 149,842 140,567
            Percent of total 9.7 7.0 6.4
 
Farm organization
        Individuals/family, sole
        proprietorship (farms)		 1,922,590 1,909,598 1,906,335
            Percent of total 86.8 89.7 86.5
 
        Family-held corporations
        (farms)		 81,621 66,667 85,837
            Percent of total 3.7 3.1 3.9
 
        Partnerships (farms) 185,607 129,593 174,247
            Percent of total 8.4 6.1 7.9
 
        Non-family corporations (farms) 8,811 7,085 10,237
            Percent of total 0.4 0.3 0.5
 
        Others - cooperative, estate or
        trust, institutional, etc. (farms)		 17,247 16,039 28,136
            Percent of total 0.8 0.8 1.3
 
Characteristics of principal farm operators
        Average operator age (years) 54.0 55.3 57.1
        Percent with farming as their
         primary occupation		 47.1 57.5 45.1
        Men 2,006,092 1,891,163 1,898,583
        Women 209,784 237,819 306,209
 

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

Farm Financial Indicators

Farm income and value added data
  2009 2010
 
Number of farms 2,200,210 2,200,930
 
  Thousands $
       Final crop output 168,021,780 172,068,036
+     Final animal output 119,845,824 140,715,835
+     Services and forestry 42,699,844 39,486,099
=   Final agricultural sector output 330,567,448 352,269,970
 
-      Intermediate consumption outlays 190,012,149 192,648,874
+     Net government transactions 1,119,152 935,105
=   Gross value added 141,674,451 160,556,202
 
-      Capital consumption 30,091,031 30,694,908
 
=   Net value added 111,583,420 129,861,294
 
-    Factor payments 49,940,341 50,798,120
         Employee compensation (total hired labor) 25,028,365 23,694,290
         Net rent received by nonoperator landlords 9,757,680 12,641,835
         Real estate and nonreal estate interest 15,154,296 14,461,995
 
=   Net farm income 61,643,080 79,063,174
 

More information on farm income
• Farm Income Data
• Farm Income and Costs Briefing Room
• Contact Timothy Park, 202-694-5446.

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, 2010
  Value of receipts
thousand $		 Percent of US
total value		  
1. Cattle and calves 51,531,014 16.4  
2. Corn 44,768,644 14.2  
3. Soybeans 33,169,674 10.6  
4. Dairy products 31,361,181 10.0  
5. Broilers 23,696,132 7.5  
 
All commodities 314,352,697    
 

More information on United States's top agriculture commodities
• Leading commodities by cash receipts in Excel.
• Other cash receipts data.
• Contact Ted Covey, 202-694-5344.

Top 5 agriculture exports, estimates, FY 2010
    Value
million $
1. Soybeans and products   22,086.4
2. Other   14,896.0
3. Feed grains and products   11,912.2
4. Live animals and meat   8,906.6
5. Wheat and products   8,666.6
 
Total export value   108,663.7
 

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

Top 5 counties in agricultural sales 2007
  Percent of US total receipts Thousands $
1. Fresno County, CA 1.3 3,730,546
2. Tulare County, CA 1.1 3,335,014
3. Kern County, CA 1.1 3,204,147
4. Merced County, CA 0.8 2,330,408
5. Monterey County,CA 0.7 2,178,470
 
US total   297,220,491
 

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: January 17, 2012