Data Sets

State Fact Sheets: Mississippi

• 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

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Population, Income, Food Insecurity, Education, and Employment

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Population
Year
1980	1,570,899	949,871	2,520,770
1990	1,549,014	1,024,202	2,573,216
2000	1,650,106	1,194,552	2,844,658
2010	1,636,272	1,331,025	2,967,297
More information on Mississippi population • County-level Population Data • Rural Population and Migration Briefing Room • Contact John Cromartie, 202-694-5421.

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Income
Per-capita income (2009 dollars)
2008	27,709	34,266	30,606
2009	27,618	33,880	30,401
Percent change	-0.3	-1.1	-0.7

Earnings per job (2009 dollars)
2008	36,016	42,508	39,180
2009	36,131	42,937	39,475
Percent change	0.3	1.0	0.8

Poverty rate (percent)
1979	26.9	19.0	23.9
1989	28.4	20.3	25.2
1999	23.1	15.6	19.9
2010 (latest model-based estimates)	25.8	18.3	22.4
More information on Mississippi 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

	2002-04 Avg.	2005-07 Avg.	2008-10 Avg.
Household-level Food Insecurity and Very Low Food Security
Percent of households
Food insecure	15.8	17.4	19.4
Very low food security	4.5	7.0	6.9
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.

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Education (Persons 25 and older)
Percent not completing high school
1980 (Census)	50.3	36.6	45.2
1990 (Census)	40.6	28.4	35.7
2000 (Census)	31.7	21.0	27.1
2006-2010 (ACS)	23.9	16.0	20.4

Percent completing high school only
1980 (Census)	27.0	32.0	29.2
1990 (Census)	27.6	27.4	27.5
2000 (Census)	30.4	27.9	29.4
2006-2010 (ACS)	32.6	28.7	30.9

Percent completing some college
1980 (Census)	11.6	16.2	13.3
1990 (Census)	19.5	25.8	22.0
2000 (Census)	23.8	30.4	26.6
2006-2010 (ACS)	27.4	31.7	29.3

Percent completing college
1980 (Census)	10.5	15.2	12.3
1990 (Census)	12.3	18.4	14.7
2000 (Census)	14.1	20.7	16.9
2006-2010 (ACS)	16.2	23.5	19.5
More information on Mississippi education • County-level Education Data • Rural Labor and Education Briefing Room • Contact Alexander Marré, 202-694-5338

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Employment
Total number of jobs
2008	791,098	752,259	1,543,357
2009	761,282	735,457	1,496,739

Percent employment change
2007-2008	-1.0	0.2	-0.4
2008-2009	-4.0	-1.6	-2.9
2009-2010	0.3	0.7	0.5

Unemployment rate (percent)
2009	11.2	8.0	9.6
2010	11.9	8.8	10.4
More information on Mississippi unemployment rates • County-level Unemployment and Median Household Income Data • Rural Labor and Education Briefing Room • Contact Lorin Kusmin, 202-694-5429

	Rural *	Urban *	Total
Federal Funds, FY 2010
Federal funding, dollars per person
All Federal funds	10,814	10,572	10,705

Federal funding by purpose (function codes)
Agriculture and natural resources	593	89	366
Community resources	675	1,562	1,073
Defense and space	903	1,597	1,215
Human resources	362	287	328
Income security	7,452	5,493	6,572
National functions	830	1,543	1,150

Federal funding by type of payments (object codes)
Grants	2,476	1,324	1,958
Direct loans	497	232	378
Guaranteed/insured loans	528	1,463	948
Retirement/disability payments	3,414	3,145	3,293
Other direct payments to individuals	2,293	1,667	2,012
Direct payments, not to individuals	294	92	203
Procurement contracts	592	1,272	898
Salaries and wages	720	1,378	1,016
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	25	24	23
Crops (acres)	381	400	400
Pasture & rangeland (acres)	793	1,033	1,033
Total acres	1,174	1,433	1,433
More information on organic agriculture • Organic Production Data • Organic Agriculture Briefing Room • Contact Catherine Greene, 202-694-5541.

Farm Characteristics

	1997	2002	2007
1997, 2002 and 2007 Census of Agriculture

Approximate total land area (acres)	30,024,752	30,020,449	30,012,193
Total farmland (acres)	11,436,287	11,097,543	11,456,241
Percent of total land area	38.1	37.0	38.2

Cropland (acres)	6,324,156	5,822,786	5,530,825
Percent of total farmland	55.3	52.5	48.3
Percent in pasture	19.7	15.4	13.4
Percent irrigated	17.5	20.2	24.7

Harvested Cropland (acres)	4,519,775	4,139,341	4,223,708

Woodland (acres)	3,348,635	3,264,040	3,610,991
Percent of total farmland	29.3	29.4	31.5
Percent in pasture	23.9	24.7	15.5

Pastureland (acres)	1,091,802	1,403,451	1,639,243
Percent of total farmland	9.5	12.6	14.3

Land in house lots, ponds, roads, wasteland, etc. (acres)	671,694	607,266	675,182
Percent of total farmland	5.9	5.5	5.9

Conservation practices
Farmland in conservation or wetlands reserve programs (acres)	729,313	807,340	1,107,406

Average farm size (acres)	271	263	273

Farms by size (percent)
1 to 99 acres	48.1	51.3	48.8
100 to 499 acres	40.3	38.8	40.4
500 to 999 acres	6.2	5.0	5.4
1000 to 1,999 acres	3.2	2.7	3.0
2,000 or more acres	2.1	2.3	2.4

Farms by sales (percent)
Less than $9,999	72.6	74.1	71.2
$10,000 to $49,999	13.0	13.0	15.4
$50,000 to $99,999	2.7	2.5	2.6
$100,000 to $499,999	6.4	5.9	4.5
More than $500,000	5.3	4.5	6.3

Tenure of farmers
Full owner (farms)	29,160	31,248	30,932
Percent of total	69.2	74.1	73.7

Part owner (farms)	9,814	8,474	8,572
Percent of total	23.3	20.1	20.4

Tenant owner (farms)	3,176	2,464	2,455
Percent of total	7.5	5.8	5.9

Farm organization
Individuals/family, sole proprietorship (farms)	37,524	39,035	36,353
Percent of total	89.0	92.5	86.6

Family-held corporations (farms)	892	608	1,248
Percent of total	2.1	1.4	3.0

Partnerships (farms)	3,310	2,166	3,769
Percent of total	7.9	5.1	9.0

Non-family corporations (farms)	136	97	219
Percent of total	0.3	0.2	0.5

Others - cooperative, estate or trust, institutional, etc. (farms)	288	280	370
Percent of total	0.7	0.7	0.9

Characteristics of principal farm operators
Average operator age (years)	55.3	57.2	58.6
Percent with farming as their primary occupation	36.8	48.8	38.0
Men	37,542	36,945	35,829
Women	4,608	5,241	6,130

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

Farm Financial Indicators

	2009	2010
Farm income and value added data

Number of farms	42,300	42,400

	Thousands $
Final crop output	1,550,317	1,914,992
+ Final animal output	2,746,894	2,975,158
+ Services and forestry	792,291	895,279
= Final agricultural sector output	5,089,502	5,785,429

- Intermediate consumption outlays	3,118,132	3,451,579
+ Net government transactions	354,295	124,324
= Gross value added	2,325,665	2,458,174

- Capital consumption	440,432	450,425

= Net value added	1,885,233	2,007,749

- Factor payments	585,445	600,964
Employee compensation (total hired labor)	196,436	199,295
Net rent received by nonoperator landlords	141,954	165,605
Real estate and nonreal estate interest	247,055	236,064

= Net farm income	1,299,788	1,406,786

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

	Value of receipts thousand $	Percent of state total farm receipts	Percent of US value
Top 5 agriculture commodities, 2010
1. Broilers	2,297,212	47.8	9.7
2. Soybeans	774,324	16.1	2.3
3. Corn	367,528	7.6	0.8
4. Cotton	226,407	4.7	3.6
5. Aquaculture	224,274	4.7	17.0

All commodities	4,807,229		1.5

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

	Rank among states	Value million $
Top 5 agriculture exports, estimates, FY 2010
1. Soybeans and products	14	505.7
2. Poultry and products	5	314.1
3. Cotton and linters	6	218.2
4. Rice	4	211.9
5. Feed grains and products	18	80.4

Total export value	22	1,416.6

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. Smith County	4.9	238,666
2. Scott County	4.7	231,571
3. Neshoba County	4.7	227,042
4. Leake County	4.6	225,042
5. Sunflower County	3.9	190,158

State total		4,876,781

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.
Current Population Survey, Food Security Supplements , 2002-2010, Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce.
Regional Economic Information System, April 2011, Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce.
1980, 1990, 2000, 2010 Census of Population, Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce.
2006-2010 American Community Survey, Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce.
Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce, Consolidated Federal Funds Report
Organic data, USDA, Economic Research Service, based on information from USDA-accredited State and private organic certifiers.
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: January 17, 2012