Data Sets

State Fact Sheets: Virginia

• 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	1,005,072	4,341,725	5,346,797
1990	1,000,091	5,187,267	6,187,358
2000	1,071,452	6,007,063	7,078,515
2008 (latest estimates)	1,107,452	6,661,637	7,769,089
More information on Virginia 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	27,522	43,705	41,380
2007	27,579	44,093	41,727
Percent change	0.4	1.8	1.7

Earnings per job (2007 dollars)
2006	32,678	53,745	51,352
2007	32,056	53,533	51,108
Percent change	-3.8	-0.8	-1.0

Poverty rate (percent)
1979	15.9	10.9	11.8
1989	15.7	9.2	10.2
1999	14.0	8.8	9.6
2007 (latest model-based estimates)	14.9	9.1	9.9
More information on Virginia 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	56.5	33.0	37.6
1990	41.6	21.5	24.8
2000	31.7	16.0	18.5

Percent completing high school only
1980	25.0	29.2	28.4
1990	30.5	25.9	26.6
2000	33.6	24.5	26.0

Percent completing some college
1980	9.7	16.2	14.9
1990	17.5	25.4	24.0
2000	21.5	26.9	26.0

Percent completing college
1980	8.7	21.6	19.1
1990	10.4	27.3	24.5
2000	13.1	32.6	29.5
More information on Virginia 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	548,686	4,282,116	4,830,802
2007	557,431	4,378,706	4,936,137

Unemployment rate (percent)
2007	4.2	2.8	3.0
2008	5.4	3.8	4.0
More information on Virginia 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	0.6	2.7	2.4
2006-2007	1.0	1.5	1.4
2007-2008	1.3	0.2	0.4

* 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)	24,900,924	25,340,202	25,275,225
Total farmland (acres)	8,753,625	8,624,829	8,103,925
Percent of total land area	35.2	34.0	32.1

Cropland (acres)	4,525,365	4,194,158	3,274,137
Percent of total farmland	51.7	48.6	40.4
Percent in pasture	35.8	30.2	14.9
Percent irrigated	1.8	2.3	2.4

Harvested Cropland (acres)	2,600,860	2,623,776	2,544,997

Woodland (acres)	2,736,045	2,667,732	2,319,491
Percent of total farmland	31.3	30.9	28.6
Percent in pasture	23.5	23.9	21.2

Pastureland (acres)	1,139,762	1,412,483	2,150,933
Percent of total farmland	13.0	16.4	26.5

Land in house lots, ponds, roads, wasteland, etc. (acres)	352,453	350,456	359,364
Percent of total farmland	4.0	4.1	4.4

Conservation practices
Farmland in conservation or wetlands reserve programs (acres)	104,634	107,610	70,112

Average farm size (acres)	177	181	171

Farms by size (percent)
1 to 99 acres	56.7	56.8	59.8
100 to 499 acres	35.8	35.7	33.2
500 to 999 acres	5.0	4.6	4.2
1000 to 1,999 acres	1.9	2.1	2.0
2,000 or more acres	0.7	0.8	0.8

Farms by sales (percent)
Less than $9,999	65.9	67.3	67.1
$10,000 to $49,999	21.5	20.6	21.1
$50,000 to $99,999	4.2	3.9	4.0
$100,000 to $499,999	6.2	6.0	5.0
More than $500,000	2.2	2.3	2.9

Tenure of farmers
Full owner (farms)	31,995	31,814	32,143
Percent of total	64.8	66.8	67.8

Part owner (farms)	13,847	13,138	12,799
Percent of total	28.0	27.6	27.0

Tenant owner (farms)	3,524	2,654	2,441
Percent of total	7.1	5.6	5.2

Farm organization
Individuals/family, sole proprietorship (farms)	43,445	42,851	41,173
Percent of total	88.0	90.0	86.9

Family-held corporations (farms)	1,603	1,531	2,027
Percent of total	3.2	3.2	4.3

Partnerships (farms)	3,866	2,757	3,625
Percent of total	7.8	5.8	7.7

Non-family corporations (farms)	184	192	242
Percent of total	0.4	0.4	0.5

Others - cooperative, estate or trust, institutional, etc. (farms)	268	275	316
Percent of total	0.5	0.6	0.7

Characteristics of principal farm operators
Average operator age (years)	55.8	56.7	58.2
Percent with farming as their primary occupation	41.5	53.6	42.8
Men	43,591	40,825	39,537
Women	5,775	6,781	7,846

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	47,400	47,000

	Thousands $
Final crop output	822,685	1,128,163
+ Final animal output	1,914,638	1,881,209
+ Services and forestry	867,699	872,050
= Final agricultural sector output	3,605,022	3,881,422

- Intermediate consumption outlays	2,070,865	2,226,136
+ Net government transactions	-12,399	-45,919
= Gross value added	1,521,758	1,609,366

- Capital consumption	611,064	641,095

= Net value added	910,694	968,271

- Factor payments	462,293	418,104
Employee compensation (total hired labor)	313,359	300,045
Net rent received by nonoperator landlords	-36,177	-59,717
Real estate and nonreal estate interest	185,111	177,776

= Net farm income	448,401	550,167

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. Broilers	563,175	18.8	2.4
2. Cattle and calves	395,946	13.2	0.8
3. Dairy products	371,088	12.4	1.1
4. Turkeys	271,152	9.0	6.1
5. Greenhouse/nursery	256,494	8.6	1.6

All commodities	2,999,439		0.9

More information on Virginia'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	24	186.8
2. Live animals and meat	17	124.0
3. Poultry and products	11	121.5
4. Soybeans and products	19	119.2
5. Other	21	99.1

Overall rank	32	906.7

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. Rockingham County	18.4	534,142
2. Augusta County	6.7	194,814
3. Accomack County	5.3	153,040
4. Page County	5.1	148,344
5. Shenandoah County	3.5	101,576

State total		2,906,188

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