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State Fact Sheets: Vermont

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 VT-Fact-Sheet.xls
PDF file VT-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Population, Income, Food Insecurity, Education, and Employment

Population
  Rural * Urban * Total
Year
    1980 356,521 154,935 511,456
    1990 385,699 177,059 562,758
    2000 409,938 198,889 608,827
    2010 414,480 211,261 625,741

More information on Vermont 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 37,968 41,747 39,228
    2009 37,980 41,641 39,205
    Percent change 0.0 -0.3 -0.1
 
Earnings per job (2009 dollars)
    2008 35,862 45,935 39,431
    2009 35,943 46,426 39,687
    Percent change 0.2 1.1 0.6
 
Poverty rate (percent)
    1979 12.3 11.4 12.1
    1989 10.2 9.1 9.9
    1999 9.7 8.8 9.4
    2010 (latest model-based estimates) 12.8 11.7 12.4

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 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 9.0 10.2 13.8
    Very low food security 3.6 4.6 6.1

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) 29.9 26.6 29.0
    1990 (Census) 20.5 16.3 19.2
    2000 (Census) 14.5 11.5 13.6
    2006-2010 (ACS) 9.9 8.5 9.4
 
Percent completing high school only
    1980 (Census) 37.0 35.2 36.4
    1990 (Census) 36.0 31.3 34.6
    2000 (Census) 34.4 28.0 32.4
    2006-2010 (ACS) 34.3 27.3 32.0
 
Percent completing some college
    1980 (Census) 15.4 16.1 15.6
    1990 (Census) 21.3 23.4 21.9
    2000 (Census) 24.1 25.7 24.6
    2006-2010 (ACS) 25.1 25.6 25.2
 
Percent completing college
    1980 (Census) 17.8 22.1 19.0
    1990 (Census) 22.3 29.0 24.3
    2000 (Census) 27.0 34.8 29.4
    2006-2010 (ACS) 30.7 38.7 33.3

More information on Vermont 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 276,982 152,051 429,033
    2009 269,259 149,593 418,852
 
Percent employment change
    2007-2008 -0.0 0.5 0.2
    2008-2009 -2.3 -1.4 -2.0
    2009-2010 0.5 1.6 0.9
 
Unemployment rate (percent)
    2009 7.3 6.2 6.9
    2010 6.7 5.4 6.2

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

Federal Funds, FY 2010
  Rural * Urban * Total
Federal funding, dollars per person
   All Federal funds 10,447 12,580 11,168
 
Federal funding by purpose (function codes)
      Agriculture and natural resources 86 149 107
      Community resources 1,088 1,270 1,150
      Defense and space 770 3,346 1,640
      Human resources 195 155 182
      Income security 6,963 4,941 6,280
      National functions 1,344 2,719 1,809
 
Federal funding by type of payments (object codes)
      Grants 2,571 2,388 2,509
      Direct loans 397 413 402
      Guaranteed/insured loans 645 1,079 792
      Retirement/disability payments 3,546 2,528 3,202
      Other direct payments to
      individuals
1,740 1,189 1,554
      Direct payments, not to
      individuals
59 71 63
      Procurement contracts 754 2,927 1,488
      Salaries and wages 734 1,985 1,157

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 394 487 537
Crops (acres) 50,317 61,603 68,074
Pasture & rangeland (acres) 16,307 23,519 23,566
Total acres 66,624 85,122 91,639

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) 5,919,571 5,919,718 5,898,698
    Total farmland (acres) 1,315,315 1,244,909 1,233,313
        Percent of total land area 22.2 21.0 20.9
 
        Cropland (acres) 632,339 567,509 516,924
            Percent of total farmland 48.1 45.6 41.9
            Percent in pasture 21.8 14.2 9.0
            Percent irrigated 0.4 0.4 0.4
 
            Harvested Cropland (acres) 473,026 454,699 433,074
 
        Woodland (acres) 517,028 523,204 502,823
            Percent of total farmland 39.3 42.0 40.8
            Percent in pasture 13.3 10.4 8.2
 
        Pastureland (acres) 86,835 89,095 137,165
            Percent of total farmland 6.6 7.2 11.1
 
        Land in house lots, ponds,
        roads, wasteland, etc. (acres)
79,113 65,101 76,401
            Percent of total farmland 6.0 5.2 6.2
 
Conservation practices
        Farmland in conservation or
        wetlands reserve programs
        (acres)
8,024 1,376 6,752
 
Average farm size (acres) 186 189 177
 
Farms by size (percent)
            1 to 99 acres 47.3 49.8 52.4
            100 to 499 acres 44.8 41.8 40.0
            500 to 999 acres 6.4 6.2 5.6
            1000 to 1,999 acres 1.4 1.9 1.6
            2,000 or more acres 0.2 0.4 0.4
 
Farms by sales (percent)
            Less than $9,999 56.8 60.6 58.9
            $10,000 to $49,999 16.7 15.7 20.0
            $50,000 to $99,999 8.0 6.0 5.6
            $100,000 to $499,999 16.5 15.0 11.3
            More than $500,000 2.0 2.8 4.2
 
Tenure of farmers
        Full owner (farms) 4,218 4,011 4,502
            Percent of total 59.7 61.0 64.5
 
        Part owner (farms) 2,295 2,162 2,116
            Percent of total 32.5 32.9 30.3
 
        Tenant owner (farms) 550 398 366
            Percent of total 7.8 6.1 5.2
 
Farm organization
        Individuals/family, sole
        proprietorship (farms)
6,061 5,716 5,848
            Percent of total 85.8 87.0 83.7
 
        Family-held corporations
        (farms)
332 261 360
            Percent of total 4.7 4.0 5.2
 
        Partnerships (farms) 575 483 608
            Percent of total 8.1 7.4 8.7
 
        Non-family corporations (farms) 27 20 40
            Percent of total 0.4 0.3 0.6
 
        Others - cooperative, estate or
        trust, institutional, etc. (farms)
68 91 128
            Percent of total 1.0 1.4 1.8
 
Characteristics of principal farm operators
        Average operator age (years) 52.7 53.9 56.5
        Percent with farming as their
         primary occupation
51.2 53.1 49.6
        Men 5,996 5,604 5,518
        Women 1,067 967 1,466
 

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 7,000 7,000
 
  Thousands $
       Final crop output 112,812 107,401
+     Final animal output 393,569 511,876
+     Services and forestry 74,405 84,276
=   Final agricultural sector output 580,786 703,553
 
-      Intermediate consumption outlays 320,943 349,698
+     Net government transactions 8,659 -15,389
=   Gross value added 268,502 338,465
 
-      Capital consumption 76,032 77,644
 
=   Net value added 192,470 260,821
 
-    Factor payments 108,306 104,807
         Employee compensation (total hired labor) 71,805 69,265
         Net rent received by nonoperator landlords 3,521 4,138
         Real estate and nonreal estate interest 32,980 31,404
 
=   Net farm income 84,165 156,015
 

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 state total
farm receipts
Percent of US value
1. Dairy products 443,208 72.3 1.4
2. Cattle and calves 41,912 6.8 0.1
3. Maple products 30,260 4.9 41.1
4. Greenhouse/nursery 24,100 3.9 0.2
5. Hay 10,159 1.7 0.2
 
All commodities 612,650   0.2
 

More information on Vermont'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
  Rank among states Value
million $
1. Dairy Products 12 27.4
2. Other 43 7.9
3. Seeds 32 6.9
4. Feeds and fodders 43 4.7
5. Fruits and preparations 26 3.6
 
Total export value 47 51.7
 

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 state total receipts Thousands $
1. Addison County 24.0 161,417
2. Franklin County 23.8 160,619
3. Orleans County 12.2 82,348
4. Orange County 6.4 43,292
5. Rutland County 5.2 35,286
 
State total   673,713
 

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