Recent growth in the median income of farm households outpaces that of U.S. households

Since USDA?s Agricultural Resource Management Survey began collecting data in 1996, farms in ERS? collapsed classifications?residence, intermediate, and commercial?have seen overall increases in their median household income while real U.S. median household income has remained flat. This is due to a variety of factors including farm consolidation, high commodity prices, higher off-farm income, and minimal increases in real median income for all U.S. households. In 2013, commercial farms had the highest median household income (about $230,000), followed by residence farms ($83,000), and intermediate farms ($55,000).